APRIL 2: MAZATLAN  8-5pm

Up next is another one of those ports I had never heard of until this cruise. As I did my research on this place, it seemed like "the thing to do" was to go to Stone Island, which really isn't an "island" at all. I researched the place, looked at videos and pictures and for some reason...it just didn't really appeal to me. I don't know why. It just didn't catch my attention at all. So more research brought me to Deer Island. There seemed to be some snorkeling around the area and places to explore and it seemed more "our type" of thing to do. 

However, I was really struggling with how to get there. I had read that you could take a taxi or pulmonia to the golden zone and catch a boat to go over. However, it seemed like this might be risky and the "unknown" cost to me wasn't appealing. Some said around $25 for 3 people one way...but we had 4 and then the cost to get over...who knows. I just really wanted to secure something with a vendor. 

There was an excursion that would take you there for an hour and then back over to the Golden Zone to stay at some hotel. Not what I wanted to do. I wanted to STAY at Deer Island. 

Then there were multiple excursions you could book and go over by kayak...not what I wanted to do. 

Then I ran across one vendor that was really close to port...5 minutes away (Aqua Sports) that had a tour. It would be $20/pp for this excursion and you could stay as long as you wanted. It sounded perfect! And that's where perfect ended. I contacted them, they replied. I ask several questions and then crickets. I emailed again saying "So I take it you don't offer this since you have not responded back". That got them to respond finally with answering my questions. They had also offered transportation for all of us, round trip, for $25. I told them I wanted to do that to make it easier on us and I would like to book. Then crickets again and again and again. No matter how many times I emailed, I got nuttin!

I was really flying by the seat of my pants on this port as well. Now there would be no Deer Island. 😞 

It was a nice balmy weather of 66 degrees outside. I don't like balmy. I like warmer if not hot! Ugh. I was hoping the day would get warmer as it went on. Fingers and toes crossed...fingers and toes. 

Since we were in no hurry to get off the ship, I sat out on the balcony and watched us pull in while the family came to life and started getting ready for the day. 

After a leisurely breakfast, the family got up and started to head to the room. "Wait, where are you guys going?" They said back to the room to get our bags. "What bags??? We aren't going to be needing any bags today." The deer in the headlights look on the hubby's face was priceless. "Wait, you mean I don't have to carry anything today?"  Nope, he was bagless today and I would be the only one carrying a purse with my equipment in it. 

We headed off the ship by 8:30am. This port is another weird one. You get off the ship in a shipping area and have to be transported over to the port on these trolley like contraptions. They are like the limo version of the palmonia's I guess. And look how fast they are...they have racing stripes!

We made our way through all the containers and it reminded me of some action packed movies I've watched. Has anyone watched the movie The Container? It was pretty good.

Pulling up to the port

Once in port, it looked like a regular port with shopping vendors and places to hang out and eat at...but of course we weren't interested in that...we were ready to get our day started. 

We headed out of the port to find a taxi driver. Yes, they will all be out there ready to take you anywhere you want to go.

So what are we doing today? Many people suggested to take a tour in the pulmonia for the day. We are not really tour people (again, unless staying there) and I ask Sakari about it she definitely did not want to spend the day driving around. So, she decided she wanted to go to the aquarium here. She loves places like this so why not try it out! At least it would be something to do. 

The taxi driver said he would take us for $15. It took us a total of 15 minutes to get there. 

We arrived at the Gran Acuario Mazatlan and headed inside to pay for our tickets. They charge $460 MX per person or around $30 US. 

About the aquarium:

There are 30 habitats including an aviary, crocodile, flamingo area, penguin and sea lions but most important...the aquariums!!! We love our aquariums. 

In we went...

We decided not to take the stairs up into the building because...well, I was saving my legs for all the walking we were about to do. They do have an elevator! Woo hoo!

Up to the top we went.

It was time to explore our favorite area...the aquarium.  You'll walk to different rooms seeing different creatures and fish and excitement grows wondering what is around the corner. 

There are some curious fish in here.

They have some VERY large display tanks...it kinda reminds me of the one we have here at our local zoo. I could spend hours just sitting and watching it. 

The eel tank...I have to say there was a lot of them in this tank. They were hiding in every crevice. 

 They had an entire room dedicated to just jellyfish. Each tank was in a different color to make them light up as they bobbed around. 

I will spare you from having to look at each color. Same jellyfish, different color.

And one for the adults as well

SHARK!  Several sharks would swim in a big tank that went up and over you. 

The filtration is massive on these tanks. I can only imagine what it takes to keep them clean and running. My few salt water tanks I used to have had quite the set up including a filtration system in our basement as well. Oh how I miss them.

We have definitely seen our share of these lobsters every time we snorkel and dive. 

A nice view from above of the grounds. 

They also had a "petting" area. It was time to test Karl's guts ability. 

THIS GUY!!!! OH MY GOSH HOW I LOVE PUFFER FISH!!! THEY ARE ONE OF MY FAVORITES AND HAVE SUCH A CURIOUS PERSONAILITY!!! They had several of them in the tank.

He kinda looked at them and moved on. Oh no you don't, get back here and touch something mister!

We got to the stingray tank and it took quite a bit of courage to get Karl to stick his hand in there. He would put his hand in and wait for them to come and quickly pull it out. We finally convinced him to leave it there or we would make fun on him the rest of the day and go home and tell all his friends. Eventually he caved in. 

We decided to head outside. But first we had to stop and get pop...which will cost you $3.00 for one.

We stood on the walkway and watched some type of ?duck? and it would dive under and STAY UNDER forever! Then you'd never know just where it was going to pop up. It was super quick swimming and would make it half way across the water then duck under and come back. It was pretty amazing to watch. 

Gatorland...I don't really care for gators. They look creepy. 

 We really wanted to see the penguins and headed over to that building

Now our espanol is muy pequeno... meaning very little known to us but sometimes enough to understand. 😉 We followed some signs and went into a building. It went up, there was nothing. We kept going up, still nothing. It was a rather large building. Um, ok. Maybe they don't have the penguins anymore?

We continued and started to head back down. Hey at least they had some cute displays right? It made me want to head to Alaska now. I mean at least there it's SUPPOSED to be cold.

Then finally...we found them.

Once we got out of the building, we would notice that we had went in the wrong way and that's why we weren't seeing anything. Oopsy

A lot of birds up in the trees today

We decided to head to the bird aviary because Sakari is a bird person of course. 

She absolutely loved this little owl. 

We actually loved they had a huge cage that you could go into with the birds. They were flying around everywhere and a lot of them.

They had a big stadium where they had a bird show and we headed over to watch...only they came outside into an open area.

This guy had 2 birds and another guy had 1. Before long, they were talking in Spanish and building excitement and we had absolutely no idea what they were saying or about to do. Then....they released them!! Wait what??? These birds took off into the sky and out of sight. Before long, they returned and just kept flying around for a VERY long time. They would circle the buildings, go out over the street area, around the building, it was just crazy to watch. My heart pitter pattered a lot during this flight display. 

They all stayed together during the entire flight.

Sometimes they got really close to the audience as they zoomed by.

Then their trainers walked to an entirely different area and called them back and in they came. It was just so amazing to watch. I don't know how they do it! I wish Sakari could train hers like this but I would never trust that. 

Here comes a baby dinosaur...have you ever seen a dinosaur in real life Karl?

Heading over to the flamingo area:

We heard a commotion in a building and went to check it out. They were getting ready for a sea lion show. I guess if I can't swim with them, I'll watch them do tricks. Of course the entire show was in Spanish so no idea what they were saying but none the less, it was funny to watch them perform.

This is Toby:

This lady talked and talked and talked and honestly it got quite annoying. Maybe because we couldn't understand but it was really drug out a little too long. Just have him do the tricks already. 

We weren't the only one watching the show...

Next was Tito:

I felt like Tito did more interesting tricks but Sakari liked Toby better. Eh, they were both outstanding.

We went to another bird show and they had several birds do a few tricks. 

They also brought out the owl and Sakari cheered!

Well, we had pretty much seen and done it all. It was time to head out and explore a little bit. It was now probably around a little after noon.

The rest of our day was spent exploring the area