Into the Tropics

So, on Wednesday 11th May, we bid good riddance to Gomez Palacio and made our way south to Dorango, where we spent a very pleasant afternoon and overnight stay.

Dorango is a lovely city, quite the opposite from the one we had just left. Apart from anything else it's a world heritage sight, or at least the cathedral is and the cathedral is a delightful piece of 19th century baroque architecture, unlike many catholic ecclesiastical buildings. It's actually quite

Durango Cathedral at night

restrained but it is beautiful (sorry pic is sideways on but couldn't work out how to turn it around). We stayed in a very old and gloriously shabby hotel which was immediately opposite the cathedral. It is probably a 19th century building, constructed around a central quadrangle with stone columns, old tiles on the floor, and stone and tilework steps. All the rooms had original wooden shutters and the place was gently falling apart.

Sue on hotel balcony, overlooking cathedral

Cowboy country, Durango

Old colonial hotel at Durango

The main pedestrian thoroughfare called the Constitucion is a delight, it passes from one park to another park via a park in the middle and has a lovely, lively feel to it. A lot of Western films were made in and around Durango and it does have a bit of a Hollywood feel to it, there is a similar walk of fame and bronze statues of movie stars like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne.

We left Durango on Thursday morning and made our way south to Mazatlan on the Pacific coast. The road from Durango to Mazatlan comes down through the Sierra Madre where it loses many thousands of feet via a series of tunnels and quite dramatic bridges with gulp inducing drops over the edge. We also realised once we had arrived at Mazatlan that we had crossed the Tropic of Cancer so we are now truly in the tropics!

Mazatlan is essentially a large holiday destination but we managed to find a lovely campsite to the north of the main town, away from the tack and kiss me quick of the golden triangle. We parked up right next to the Ocean and went to sleep each night listening to the big combers crashing onto the rocks.

Footloose Lucy parked at Punto Cerrato, Mazatlan

Waves crashing at Punto Cerrato

Brown Pelicans at Punto Cerrato

Frigate bird

It was surprisingly easy to catch a bus which took us along the coast, through the main holiday bit and into the old town of Mazatlan. We spent a happy couple of days visiting the market, the lovely plazas and taking a water taxi out to Stone Island.

Fish seller at old Mazatlán market

Street cobbler, old Mazatlán

On Sunday 15th May we went on our way down the coast to a sleepy fishing town called San Blas, also a bit of a magnet for surf bums. There we camped at Los Cocos campsite which was basically a coconut grove. Whilst a lovely setting, it had a down side which was that it was also home to thousands of mosquitos and sand flies which had Sue doing a dirvish dance in an attempt to keep them from biting every exposed part of her (in spite of being covered with mozzie spray).

Campsite at San Blas

The highlight of our trip to San Blas was a superb boat trip up the river through the mangrove swamps and jungle where we saw a wide variety of birds. If you enjoy bird watching (the feathered variety) then we hope you will like this small selection of the many photographs which Alan took. If you are not at all interested in birds, then skip through!

Great egret among mangroves

Boat billed heron

Boat billed heron, close up

Northern Potoo, disguised as a piece of tree

Yellow-crowned night heron

Tri-colour heron

Terrapin

Whilst in San Blas, we met up with Ian and Penelope, an Australian couple who are spending 4 years travelling round the world. We met them briefly in Creel and then we were following in each others footsteps on the road down from Mazatlan. They have a large and very impressive Isuzu truck which dwarfs Footloose Lucy but which looks entirely suited for 4 years of travelling. They have been on the road now for a year, having started in Alaska. Ian very kindly helped us download the IOverlanders App which has maps of the entire world and marks campsite spots which will make life a lot easier for us from now on.

Unsurprisingly, it was very, very hot and we also decided that we wanted to avoid the next big holiday destination further down the coast. So, on Tuesday 17th May we went back inland through the Central Western Highlands and made our way to Lake Chapala just south of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city. Our journey took us through Tequila and fields of blue agave, the plant from which Tequila is made, and we have purchased a bottle! Alan has been reminded of a well known quotation: one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

Faro (lighthouse) at Lake Chapala

Thanks to IOverlander we found a lovely campsite right next to the lake, close to the little town of Jocotepec. The great thing about this place is that, whilst it is hot during the day, it is wonderfully cool at night so you get a good night's sleep. And, of course, Alan has been photographing more birds by the lakeside!

 Flamboyant tree at Lake Chapala

Sue relaxing at the campsite

Black crowned night heron with supper

Ian and Penelope joined us here a day later and we have very much enjoyed their company and generally chilling out. They are off to Cuba shortly so our ways will part, but we may meet up further down the line.

With aussie friends and their gert big truck

We left Lake Chapala this morning (Friday 20th May) and have arrived at a delightful village called Comala which is in the volcanic area of Colima. More about this in our next post!