This week, our travel-pic theme is X for Xerox – black-and-white reproductions of some pics we’ve taken around the world. Today, its Mazatlan-Moggie! Why a picture of a cat? Because there aren’t enough cat pictures on the Internet! Seriously, though, this gorgeous grey mackerel tabby was sunning herself on a driveway in Mazatlan as we walked past…
See that boat through the rock arch in today’s picture? That’s bobbing about in the Pacific Ocean. Whereas the boat in the foreground is in the Gulf of California – and the arch marks the end of the Baja Peninsula – or Lands End. The point where a sea, or gulf, meets an ocean…
Malecon is a Spanish word for boardwalk, or embankment, or esplanade. And there are a number of famous Malecons – the most famous is probably in Havana, Cuba (the 8km long Avenida de Maceo). Other Malecons include Mazetlan’s which is 21km long and a collection of roads and avenues. It’s not, strictly speaking, a…
This is the border between Mexico and the United States. So is the entire state of Hawaii. No, I haven’t gone mad. You see, in 1953 the US Department of Justice interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act to say that there is a 100 mile zone surrounding borders … and that includes border crossings, or “ports…
Imagine a town of just a few thousand people in the 1930s, quietly ekeing out an existence from fishing, and fruit-growing, and not much else. Then imagine that in 1945, the first ‘tourist trade’ begins – with DC3s carrying 20 passengers at a time. For another decade or so things are still quiet – although…
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mazatlan is a gorgeous building, not unlike many similar cathedrals around the world – and especially around Latin America. Apart from the Star of David stained-glass windows. But more on that later. Religion, and especially Roman Catholicism, has played an integral part in the life of Mexico.…
One of my guilty pleasures as a young married man was was watching TV’s “Love Boat” on a weekend evening with my new bride – and each week, they’d transport us via the magic of television to Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. So when Shirley and I got the chance to go on a…
This week’s travel theme is Mexico and today we are at one of the busiest border crossings in the world – where Tijuana in Mexico becomes San Ysidro in the United States. It’s possible to catch a tram (or light rail, to be more accurate) from the heart of San Diego right to the border…
This week’s travel theme is Mexico and we are going to consider the similarities – and the differences – with its neighbour to the north. At roughly the same time as kids in the US are celebrating Halloween, south of the border it’s the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. But while there…
Mismaloya’s a lovely spot, made most famous by the Tennessee Williams play (and later movie) “Night of the Iguana” It’s a beach about 15km south of Puerto Vallarta – and in many ways, it’s the reason that Puerto Vallarta exists as anything other than a fishing village. The movie was shot in Mismaloya –…
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