A bicycle ride along the Malecon

A couple of days ago on the bus I noticed that enormous papier maché figures were being installed at key intersections along the Malecon. This is the first sign of the upcoming Carneval, which takes places February 12 through 15.

It's Mazatlan's version of Mardi Gras and they go all out for the celebration. The monegotes (monny-goat-ehs) are part of this year's festival and there are about ten of them placed along the parade route.


The Malecon is the wide walkway along the ocean that runs from the Golden Zone where a lot of the tourist hotels are down to Centro, where we're staying.  I wanted to get some photos of these amazing colourful, inventive figures but couldn't figure out just how to do it as it's about a six-mile walk.  Harry came up with the great idea of renting bikes.





So this morning we hoofed it down to Olas Altas, the end of the Malecon where the big waves come in, and rented a couple of cruiser bikes. What an excellent morning we had riding alongside the ocean and stopping to take photos of the sculptures.  Here's Harry just setting out.

And here is a gallery of some of the figures. I hope you can get a sense of the size of them. They are at least 25 feet high.

I think my favourite is the boy who's looking through his legs with the frog prince sitting on his back... or maybe the sad elf. They're all astounding.

After our two hour bike ride in the sun we adjourned to an oceanside restaurant for a light lunch of tortilla soup and well-deserved drinks.  Harry is sporting his new Mexican haircut.

 Then we walked home and had a long nap.

I'll be posting more about Carneval in future. And stay tuned for a post about tortilla soup. It's just the best--and always different.