Our back-to-back cruise on Holland America’s ms Zuiderdam started in San Diego, cruised many ports in Mexico then stopped in Guatemala, Panama City, transited the Panama Canal, to Cartagena, Columbia , Half Moon Cay, Bahamas and finally finished in Miami, Florida.
Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipio, known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific coast across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.
Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word for ‘place of deer’. The city was colonized in 1531 by the Conquistadors where many indigenous people lived. By the mid-19th century, a large group of immigrants arrived from Germany. Over time, Mazatlán developed into a commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. It served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. The German settlers also influenced the local music, banda, with some genres being an alteration of Bavarian folk music. The settlers established the Pacifico Brewery on 14 March 1900. Mazatlán has a rich culture and art community; in addition to the Angela Peralta Theater, the city has many galleries, museums and buildings of historic value.
Mazatlán is also the hometown of Pedro Infante, one of the most popular actors and singers of the Cinema of Mexico’s golden years.
Mazatlán was well regarded by film stars such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, John Huston, and others of their generation as a sportfishing mecca. The hotels along Olas Altas flourished during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, supporting this vibrant trade. The classic old Hotel Belmar still sits on the seafront and was used by many famous Hollywood celebrities such as Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Mae West, John Barrymore, Ava Gardner, John Wayne and Walt Disney. Jack Kerouac spent significant time at the Hotel Belmar, mentioned his time in Mazatlán in his book Lonesome Traveler. Ernest Hemingway was a famous author who also frequented Mazatlan and stayed at the Hotel Belmar.
In the 1970s, tourism in Old Mazatlán declined as newer venues catering to Western tourists opened on the expanses of beach to the north of the city (“Zona Dorada”). As an example of Mazatlán’s tourism expansion, one of the largest timeshare providers in Mexico, Grupo Vidanta, was founded in 1975 with the inauguration of Paraíso Mazatlán (Mazatlán Paradise). This time also saw the expansion of the Hotel Playa Mazatlán, and the construction of many others, a trend that continues to this day.
At a small viewpoint we met an interesting group of bikers and asked them for a group photograph which they kindly agreed to. They had driven up from Puerto Vallarta further down the coast.
The town was delightful to walk around with colourful buildings, the wonderful Catedral Basílica de la Inmaculada Concepción and the interesting Pino Suarez Mazatlan Market. There were some fabulous statues of The Beatles at Callejón Liverpool.
Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 40 years focusing on Asia with a documentary/photojournalistic style.
Stuart is available for a variety of assignments in subject areas of photojournalism, commercial, architectural, real estate, industrial, interior design, corporate, urbex, adventure, wilderness, and travel.
E-Mail : staylor@highlanderimages.com