Mazatlan, Mexico Vacation. 5
At the Hotel Las Flores I made sure to ask for a porter for our big bags because
otherwise Ben tries to struggle along with them himself. The security guard from the hotel came and helped us. The hotel is set a long way back from the road
. It was a slightly winding pebble-stoned drive to the entrance which is completely and fully open. There is no door. It has always been this way. Once there was even a swimming pool under the roof of that hotel in the lobby but that is
no longer the case and they have it paved with
a sort of creamy marble floor with many inclusions which give it a textured surface. This marble is widely used in various ways and sizes throughout the hotel
and I think it is a beautiful local stone. There is a large variety of local stone in many colours.
Behind the long reception desk on the wall there is a large, long stained glass
window lit from behind. It shows many parrots and tropical foliage and is so
beautiful. The reception women were young, attractive, in uniforms, but didn't
speak particularly good English. This hotel is interesting to us because Mexican people vacation there too, and not only sun-starved tourists. It seems that a
lot of Canadians now like this hotel. The lobby I described is long and large
and the breezes constantly flow through from the ocean. It is open at the far side to the ocean where there is a roofed bar and a glassed restaurant. The sand and ocean waves are right outside the door. I'm afraid that Mazatlan will suffer
quite a lot from the rise of the oceans. Much of it is built on former
lagoons and wetlands. There are large inlets from the ocean where it rushes in
at high tide. Some areas even have bridges to the little houses for when the
waters are high. The area all round about the city is very flat, although there
are some higher hills overlooking the ocean and some taller islands offshore.
It is a classical case for trouble with global warming. At least those offshore
island mostly protect our hotel's area from the full surge of the Pacific ocean
. Mazatlan is on the mainland but at the souther level of the tip of the Baha Peninsula that runs down from California USA. That long peninsula can't be seen,
but its effect is felt in protection from the full surge of the great Pacific Ocean. I hope for the best for dear Mazatlan.
A bellman escorted us to our room and we were very pleased with it. In the same
categories they are all alike, but they seem person because the hotel is finished in local materials with local furniture. The furniture smells delightful. It's the fragrance of the wood. I don't know what wood it is, though. I always
associate that smell with Mexico. We had a kitchenette with
wooden upper and lower cupboards, a large sink, a gas refrigerator and gas countertop stove. There was a heavy, square Mexican table and very upright, carved chairs. No wonder the Spaniards are said to be proud because they carry themselves so very erect. They must have been trained to it for generations by the shape of their right angle chairs with no cushioning! The long wall the table is on
is all red brick, with wide amounts of fairly casually applied grey cekment between them. The floor was the usual creamy marble. All the wood in the room which once had been jclassically very dark had been painted white and then given a
honey coloured brushed on coat of stain so that it was fresh looking, ligh-hearted, warm and beautiful. It looked a little like golden pine from a distance, but fresher than that. With the carving it looked gorgeous. There were two quewen sized beds. Ben snores, so I don't want to be too close. Then I wear wax earplugs, and I can still hear him, but it doesn't disturb my sleep.
The beds are on platforms with the creamy coloured marble faciang. Bedspreads are pretty. Blankets are not needed except for weather like we encountered. The
brick balcony with marble floor had two comfortable outdoor chairs and a small
table. It get the afternoon sun because the hotel faces west across the ocean so you often can see the most marvellous tropical sunsets! The big island (Deer
Island) and a smaller one, are just across from us, so if we really wanat tgo enjoy a full view of a spectacular sunset we must walk a ways along tahe beach to
where we can see past the islands right to the horizon of the Pacific.
The beach has pale sand with much ground down shell bits in it. It is particularly interesting to walk along the tidal edge to see what kinds of shells or varied coloured stones have been deposited. I love the walk on thefresh and untouched firm sand after the water goes out again. The waves gather
a long way out and finally begin to rise so that you can see into atheir jade green under parts before they grow a foaming crest and finally thrown themselves to foam in and surge around the legs of those who are wading or planning to get wet all over and swim.
Beaches in Mexico are not private. They are open to everyone and the whole population so we can all walk for miles and miles along these glorious unblockedshores. It's nice to have the peoples mixed together, both local and visitors.
There are also many peddlars carrying various things that aren't too heavy so they can offer them to the tourists. One interesting thing is hand-woven fresh green palm fronds formed into brimmed hats with deep crowns. There are always silver jewellery carriers, basket carriers, beach clothing carriers, ornament carriers. We bought a gorgeous little stone turtle made of black onox and the upper
shell of jade, goldstone, and some other pieces of carefully shaped stone to make the tiles of his top shell. It is a lovely little piece and will join
my four other little turtles of various kinds.
The only thing we didn't like about our room was the odour from the kitchens. It floated up on the south wind. We made an attempt to change the room and were
offered a ninth floor room so we didn't unpack. That night the wind shifted to
a strong north wind and we had no more trouble after that so we didn't change.
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