Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 6

Day 6: March 19th, 2009 - Mazatlan, Mexico

We woke up early this morning as well – 7:00 a.m., dressed, and met everyone up in the Mermaid Grill for breakfast. After breakfast we watched the ship pull into the marina. The weather was wonderful – in the 80’s. We got off the ship just after 9:00 a.m. and made our way past the time share pushers and found our guide for the day out on a little patio surrounded by gift shops. His name was Hugo and he was from King David’s Tours. I had made a reservation for us all on the internet before the trip. Hugo was a great guide and we had lots of fun with him. First he took us (by shuttle) to a catamaran boat and gave us a tour of the area (before we boarded the boat Sadie bought a dress for $7, I talked the man down from $10). We saw pirate caves, sea lions, rock formations, and learned a bit of the history of Mazatlan. After our tour we went to Stone Island and got on a tractor pulled trailer. While riding through a small, poor, Mexican town we stopped by a man selling fresh roasted peanuts for $1 (or 10 pesos) per bag. Sadie wanted a bag and I told her she could buy one if she had the money. I had forgotten that her aunt Cindy had given her some pesos before our trip. Sadie whipped out a 10 peso coin and bought her own bag of peanuts (which she munched on throughout the rest of the trip). We got to our final destination –Malakey, a small restaurant right on the beach. We all grabbed a table under the palm leaf umbrellas and settled in. Jim, Sadie, and I went with the first group of horse back riders while the others stayed at the table. Sadie decided to share a horse with me and Jim hopped on his own horse. We rode through the small village for a bit and then out onto the beach. Our guide seemed to disappear half the time and Sadie and I were left leading the group. We didn’t mind – our horse knew where it was going. It was a nice ride – only about 25 minutes or so. We went back to the restaurant and the others went on their ride while we stripped down and went out to the water for some fun. Sadie had brought her bucket and shovel and she and I made a sand castle. We also found several sea shells. Jim and Sadie stayed in the water for longer while I went up to the restaurant and enjoyed some fresh made tortillas chips and salsa (with Mimi) and took advantage of the open bar. When the others got back from their ride lunch was served. We had fresh breaded fish, a grilled chicken leg, and cheese quesadillas with rice, beans, tortilla chips and salsa. It was all very tasty. We got to play on the beach a little longer and shop at some of the vendors (I picked up a beach dress and shawl for $25) and then it was time to go. We paid $30 per adult and $15 per child for all of this tour – including food and drinks! It was an amazing deal. Hugo was a nice, funny, informative guide and we would recommend him to anyone. After Hugo dropped us off at the Marina we hung out at the patio for a bit. Sadie and Hailey danced to the music, Drew was fast asleep in his stroller, and the rest of us enjoyed a cold margarita. We got back on the ship at about 4:15 p.m. We all cleaned up and met for dinner. After dinner we played a quick game of Bingo (none of us won) and watched a music/comedy show that Sadie fell asleep in. We were all in bed at about 10:00 p.m. Gallery.