La ferry y la playa

What Marcelle failed to mention in her previous blog is the impressive wipe-out she had on a banana boat in Cabo San Lucas. Marcelle has avoided going into the sea, as she prefers terra firma. I have been nagging her to give the ocean a go, and we settled on a 15 minute banana boat ride instead. On the first big corner, incidentally no more than 100m from El Arco, Marcelle slid off the boat and into the water with an impressive splash. She claims that the guy in front of her (not me) pulled her off. Opinion is divided on the matter. I also decided not to point out to her the seal colony 40m away.

From Cabo San Lucas we headed to San Jose del Cabo, via the "Cabo Corridor", a 40km stretch of golf courses and time shares. It's quite depressing, as the coastline must have been quite beautiful 50 years ago. San Jose is a sleepy tourist trap, without much to report.

From San Jose we took a fun 18-hour ferry to Mazatlan. The ferry was a pleasant change of transport. We upgraded to our own small cabin, and had a good night's listing sleep. We also got to see hundreds of mantarays jumping out of the water and flopping back down, as well as a couple of sea turtles from the side of the boat.

Marcelle nursing a Pacifico on the ferry.

Mazatlan, our next stop, had been made out to be quite dangerous, yet we really enjoyed the place. We stayed in the old historical part of town, and our hotel would seem to even predate its surroundings. The Hotel Belmar would have been splendid in the 40's. Unfortunately it would appear that no upkeep has happened at all over the past 70 years. The walls are peeling and there was a layer of dust almost everywhere. We even had a resident mouse in our room who kept us awake on our first night by eating his way through my nuts (the edible ones, you sick perverts). Yet location-wise it was, like chakalaka, nca! We were no more than 15m from the sea, and in fact had to close our balcony doors at night as the sea was too noisy. It´s a tough life, but someone has to do it.

Whilst in Mazatlan we also took a walk up to El Faro, Mazatlan´s lighthouse. Apparently it is the second highest in the world after Gibraltar, at 157m above sea level. It was a very pretty walk, and the views were great.

At El Faro, the lighthouse in Mazatlan.

It was also in Mazatlan where, my religious friends will be pleased to hear, Marcelle and I finally found Jesus. Alas, he was only our hobie-cat skipper. But, Jesus, he could sail that boat.

Jesus sailing off. He will return one day, I´m sure.

From Mazatlan we bussed down the coast to Puerta Vallarta. Two oddities of the Spanish language are that, firstly, one pronounces 'll' as 'y', and, secondly, v's are pronounced as b's. So Vallarta is actually pronounced "Ba-yarta". God help you if your name is Viv or Phillip, or even Milli Vanilli. Anywho, we are digressing. Puerta Vallarta was great. We took a tour to an offshore island where we got to explore the hidden beach - here is where is it for those who like this kind of stuff: http: hidden beach map, and here is a whole article on it as well: hidden beach article.

At the hidden beach.

Proof the Marcelle swam.

At the hidden beach, with the tunnel entrance behind.

We also got to try paddleboarding for the first time. It's harder than it looks. Whilst in Puerta Vallarta we took a day trip to a nearby surfer town called Sayulita. I even tried surfing again. It would appear that my last attempt to surf 16 years ago would prove to be just as successful as this time. I'll try again when I am 50.

Puerta Vallarta also had an amazing array of statues on their malecon (their waterfront). Some were very macabre, but they were all very interesting.

Because mermaids need motorboating too.

One of the many awesome statues in Puerta Vallarta.

So, until the next time, good-vll!