Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Day 79 - March 14, 2012 Mazatlan - Playa Cueta

Neither Tobey or I was too keen to stay in Mazatlan today. It is a nice enough place, but we both prefer smaller villages to the hustle and bustle of cities of 600,000+. Before leaving we did, however, go to the Zona Dorada malecon to see that area. We were approached by a guy pitching a timeshare presentation. He offered us $3000 pesos ($238 USD) but we would have to pay for a hotel room – about $1500 pesos – in order to qualify. Apparently you can’t be in an RV, you have to be staying in a hotel to qualify for their gifts. No thanks!  Neither of us wanted to spend 3+ hours doing that again.

We took the MEX15Libre road and the scenery changed to dry  desert. It is a similar to Arizona with dry brush and saguaro cactus. All over Mexico we have seen these roadside shrines. We asked if they were memorials for people killed in auto accidents, but we were told they are placed along the roads to bless that section of the highway for safe travel.

We have also seen lots of RUTA 2010 road signs as we have traveled across Mexico and didn’t know what that was all about. Tobey did a little research and found out that 

Mexico celebrated its 200 year anniversary of its Independence from Spain in 2010.  2010 also marked the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. These two historical events were celebrated with a great deal of fanfare all over Mexico, and part of the program included increasing awareness of these historical moments by marking six geographical routes involved with the events. Three were connected to the Independence movement and three  with the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican Tourism Ministry provided information for people interested in traveling along and retracing the paths and itineraries of the major players and military campaigns of both of these events. 

We are in the state of Sinaloa. Sinaloa is an important supplier of agricultural produce and is known as the “breadbasket of Mexico.” Close to 1/3 of Mexico’s total produce comes from Sinaloa including corn, wheat, beans, sugar cane, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and melons. Today we drove past miles of tomato fields.

Sinaloa is also host to a large number of shrimp and fish farms along the coast, as well as the most important source of offshore shrimping. We are boondock camping at Playa Ceuta along the malecon and could see several fishing boats off in the distance.

We met two workers from the Federal Wildlife Conservation Department when we arrived. They told us they patrol the beaches for miles in both directions looking for places where turtles have come ashore during the night and bury their eggs. They excavate and transport the eggs to a sanctuary where they are reburied and eventually hatch. The babies are usually released at night so the sea birds don’t pick them off before they have a chance to get safely into the water. One of the men has been working for the Conservation Dept. for 30 years! He told us that the busiest laying/hatching time is between August and December, but there are still some turtles even now.

We again were treated to a beautiful sunset. It is windy and cool – possibly a two blanket night! Is Mexico trying to prepare us for re-entry to the US?

We traveled 87 miles today. We actually drove to #81 on the map to look at a couple of RV parks, then followed the green road (15D)between #81 and 82 to arrive at Playa Ceuta but our mapping program wouldn’t show it!
GPS 23.89486°N, 106.94817°W