Topolobampo south to San Pancho

The night in the town of Topolobampo proved to be just fine. After a few moments of panic thinking it would be a night on the streets I was directed to the Marina Hotel which was an oasis.

Hotel Marina- Topolobampo

Recently remodeled, spotless and a mere $35/night it was a steal.

Riding south from Topolobampo for about 400km was a farmland, not unlike the Central Valley of California but due to the heat and haze it was not that interesting. There were however trees in full spring bloom - maybe some astute botanist can identify them

 I was pleased to get into the town of Mazatlan which has a beautiful Malecòn along the bay but other than that the town did not have a lot to recommend it. 

From the Malecòn Mazatlan

My next stop was San Blas which is known for it’s beach, surfing and the mangrove swamps surrounding the town. I did not take the mangrove boat ride as I had done so a couple of years ago. I can attest to the huge number of species of birds that can be viewed and the size of the salt water crocodiles that can be seen sunning themselves on the banks.

The central square, like so many towns in Mexico is dominated by a church as well as on old bell tower, immortalized by Henry Longfellow in 1882

The church and bell tower in San Blas

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50628

The Los Cocos campsite was fantastic with just one drawback - the mosquitoes, no-see-ims, and dogs all made successful attempts at biting me.

Los Cocos

The camp dog was a very pleasant Yellow Lab which seemed calm and friendly and we had exchanged greetings earlier in the day. When I came back to the campsite later that evening, el perro ( the dog) barked once and then came up to me wagging it's tail. When I but my hand out, the f***** bit me! It then walked off wagging it's tail, quite satisfied with having fulfilled it's very important role as protector of Los Cocos.

Anyway as you can see Winnie the Pooh came to the rescue so all is well

Now spending the next three weeks in San Pancho ( San Francisco) living in a really cool Airstream caravan and attending Spanish school in the next town of Sayulita