Cathy's Cornucopia: Mazatlan: Sierra Madre Country Tour

October 7, 2009

From the tour brochure: “Your exploration will carry you from historic Mazatlan to the Durango Highway, stopping at a brickyard where adobe bricks are handmade and fired much as they have been for centuries. Drive along the foothills of the Sierra Madre to Concordia for a visit, then continue to the village of Copala, once a thriving Spanish gold mining town. Enjoy a delightful lunch of Mexican food at a local restaurant followed by a visit to a furniture factory and a potter's home. Back at Mazatlan's Golden Zone you'll have approximately 40 minutes of free time to browse and shop.”

In Mazatlan, we wanted to get away from the city and see some of the countryside, so this tour sounded like a perfect trip. And we were not disappointed. We headed through the streets of Mazatlan and noticed graffiti on nearly everything. The exception was the local military/police structure (I wonder why….). But, as we got out into the countryside, the graffiti diminished.

Our first stop was a chance to see adobe bricks being made. It was really something to see the bricks still being made completely by hand. And then we stopped at a combination pottery and furniture shop. I bought another piece of lead-free pottery here – it was a bit big for my open salt collection, but I liked it and it will hold salt, so it will go into my collection.

From here, we drove on towards Concordia. What was really noticeable along the way was the plethora of furniture shops – they seemed to be every half mile or so. It would have been fun to stop but not this time….. In Concordia, we stopped for about a half hour so that we could wander around the town square. It was a pleasant town and made a nice stop along the way.

After Concordia, we again boarded the bus and headed towards Copala, an even smaller town. The countryside was beautiful, and Copala was a very quaint town. The streets were too narrow for our bus, so we all got off and walked the narrow streets. We met a retired economics professor from Manitoba who is working with the townsfolk to help them make and sell their handicrafts. He had a table set up where crafts were sold. 80% of the sales price goes back to the crafter and the other 20% is used to help better the schools for the kids in the town. We continued to wander around the town before it was time to head to the little restaurant for lunch. Here we met the owner who had come to Copala after living in LA and managing a restaurant there. He absolutely loved his new lifestyle and said he would never return to LA. Lunch was delicious (one of the best meals we had, too) and we were served Banana Coconut Cream Pie for dessert, which was made from the bananas and coconuts that grow locally.

All too soon, we reboarded the bus and headed back for Mazatlan. Here, the bus dropped us off in the Golden Zone – a shopping district with lots of jewelry shops. But, after a week without a Frappuccino, we decided to see if there was a Starbucks anywhere close by. We found that “Donde esta el Starbucks” elicited the response we were looking for and we headed down the street and around the corner, looking for the Burger King (the Starbucks was on the backside of the Burger King building). Sure enough, the directions led us to the Starbucks, and Craig was very happy to have his Green Tea (Te Verde) Frappuccino, and I enjoyed my Caramel Frappuccino. We sipped them slowly, savoring them as we walked back to the Golden Zone where we were to meet our tour guide, board the bus, and head back to the boat.

Concordia town square: