Mazatlan, January 22-24

Caroline, Dan, and Chico the dog, our hosts in Mazatlan

Our time in Mazatlan was fantastic!  On Thursday we went to Stone Island with Dan and Caroline, where we enjoyed the beach and the local cuisine: coconuts. 

Dan also gave us a tour of a local garden, where we saw countless beautiful flowers and a large hummingbird with a bright red bill.  What was it?  I have no idea.  I guess this is the beginning of my Central America bird confusion; there are just too many species!

Zach and Zoe, our friends from the ferry, joined us at Stone Island, and together we swam a ways out to an island in the Sea of Cortez and explored for awhile.  Huge crabs were everywhere, along with small, electric-blue fish and dome-shaped, sea cucumber-like things that we dubbed "nipples."  They covered the intertidal zone.  We explored some caves too, seeing bats and more crabs, before heading back.

Our island, way out there

That night, we cooked up a feast!  Caroline and Dan went out to a movie, and when they came back we were just about done with stir-fried veggies, rice, salad, sweet potatoes, cookies, and chicken.  We all stayed up way too late enjoying the food and company.

Zoe cutting beets

The next day Tam and I ran some errands, and, after visiting two bike shops, finally gave up on finding a very specialized part for Tam's bike and fixed it more permanently ourselves.

Now the rear brake cable is in the middle.  Slightly better than string and duct tape.

We did some more bike maintenance in the afternoon then met up with Agustin, the wonderfully friendly guy we had met on the ferry.  Coincidentally, he and his wife live just a few blocks from Dan and Caroline's place.  It was a pleasure to meet his wife, Gloria, and to tag along to their favorite taco place.  Great food and a great evening!  Thanks, Agustin and Gloria!

Zoe, Zach, Gloria, Agustin, and Tam

Unfortunately Tam had started feeling sick before dinner, and it got worse later.  So, even though we were planning to leave today, we stayed one more day for her to recover.  The rest will do us both good, I'm sure.  Tomorrow, back on the road!