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Adventure Guide: Mazatlan & Vicinity (Hunter Travel Guides) PDF

217 Pages·2007·6.92 MB·English
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Preview Adventure Guide: Mazatlan & Vicinity (Hunter Travel Guides)

dv enture Guide to dv enture Guide to Mazatlán Puerto Vallarta & Vicinity & Vicinity 1-58843-591-1 1-58843-594-6 Vivien Lougheed. Each guide is 200 pp, $15.99, color throughout, 5 x 8 paperback, Mar. Vivien Lougheed wrote our successful Adventure Guide to Belize 5th ed., as well as Mexico’s Pacific Coast Adventure Guide. Mazatlán, on the Central Pacific Coast of Mexico, offers bullfights, cliff-diving, offshore islands with surf- ing and snorkeling, caves with ancient paintings, carved stones dating from 5,000 years ago and hosts the world’s largest carnival every year, after Rio and New Orleans. 176 cruise ships visit every year, with 370,000 passengers. n Shop here for pottery, blown glass, leather goods, jewelry, masks and sculpture. n San Blas, nearby, is a tiny fishing village, with the most beautiful beach in all of Mexico – 50 miles of surf and sand. n Surrounded by rainforests on one side and the ocean on the other, it is home to more bird species than any area except Panama. The waterfalls are spectacular. n For surfers, the longest wave in the world is here. It can carry a surfer over a mile before petering out. Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Southern Pacific Coast, became a world attraction when John Huston filmed Night of the Iguana here. It was during the filming that Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor fell in love; they built adjoining houses and lived here for many years. 244 cruise ships visit each year, with 420,000 passengers. n There are 40 beaches here and innumerable little coves where you can spend the entire day alone. n Among the attractions are whale-watching, turtle-spotting, birding, snorkeling, canopy tours of the jungle, where you swing on a cable at treetop height. n Puerto Vallarta has become an international music scene as well, with many prominent performers such as Jethro Tull spending time here. n Guadalajara is nearby, as is Chapala Lake and Los Arcos Underwater National Park. In both regions, the choices of tropical, palm-lined lagoons and soft sandy beaches seem without end yet are easily accessible, thanks to Mexico’s Highway 200 on the Pacific coast. Each beach resort town is different in character and the author explores them all. Like all Adventure Guides, these books show you how to experience this coast intensely and directly – seeing it close-up through walks, watersports of all kinds, bike rides, horseback excursions, culinary adventures, lan- guage courses and interacting with the people. That discovery is the essence of adventure travel. The places to stay are all reviewed in depth, based on personal visits, from budget spots to lavish resorts, plus every restaurant and food stand worth mentioning is described. Our author has tried them all! Competition n Moon Handbook Pacific Mexico, $21.95, 600 pp. n Lonely Planet Pacific Mexico, $16.99, 360 pp We are appealing to the person who wants to get out of the car and walk, or ride a bike, and get to know each place more intimately than a normal guide would permit. Our author takes you behind the facades to meet the people and join in local activities – to make your trip unforgettable. We have the only guides on Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta specifically. And these are the only all-color guides to the region. Hunter Publishing, 130 Campus Drive, Edison NJ 08818-7816; 732-225-1900, 800-255-0343; fax 732-417-1744; dventure Guide Mazatlan & Vicinity dventure Guide Mazatlan & Vicinity Vivien Lougheed HUNTER HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC, 130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818 732-225-1900; 800-255-0343; fax 732-417-1744 www.hunterpublishing.com Ulysses Travel Publications 4176 Saint-Denis, Montréal, Québec Canada H2W 2M5 514-843-9882, ext. 2232; fax 514-843-9448 Windsor Books The Boundary, Wheatley Road, Garsington Oxford, OX44 9EJ England 01865-361122; fax 01865-361133 ISBN 10: 1-58843-591-1 ISBN 13: 978-1-58843-591-0 © 2007 Hunter Publishing, Inc. This and other Hunter travel guides are also available as e-books in a variety of digital formats through our online partners, including Netlibrary.com, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be re- produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, pho- tocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. This guide focuses on recreational activities. As all such activities contain elements of risk, the publisher, author, affiliated individuals and companies disclaim responsi- bility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to insure the accuracy of in- formation in this book, but the publisher and author do not assume, and hereby disclaim, liability for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misleading infor- mation or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if such errors or omissions result from negli- gence, accident or any other cause. Cover photo: Sign, Mazatlan © darrell lecorre/Alamy Index by: Mary Ellen McGrath Maps by Kim André, © 2007 Hunter Publishing, Inc. 1 2 3 4 www.hunterpubl ishing.com Hunter’s full range of guides to all corners of the globe is featured on our website. You’ll find guidebooks to suit every type of traveler, no matter what their budget, lifestyle, or idea of fun. Adventure Guides – There are now over 40 titles in this series, covering destinations from Costa Rica and the Yucatán to Tampa Bay & Florida’s West Coast, Canada’s Atlantic Provinces and the Alaska Highway. Complete with information on what to do, as well as where to stay and eat, Adven- ture Guides are tailor-made for the active traveler, with all the practical travel information you need, as well as details of the best places for hiking, bik- ing, canoeing, horseback riding, trekking, skiing, watersports, and all other kinds of fun. Alive Guides – This ever-popular line of books takes a unique look at the best each destination of- fers: fine dining, jazz clubs, first-class hotels and resorts. In-margin icons direct the reader at a glance. Top-sellers include St. Martin & St. Barts, The US Virgin Islands and Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao. One-of-a-kind travel books available from Hunter include Best Dives of the Caribbean, Cruising Alaska and many more. Full descriptions are given for each book at www. hunterpublishing.com, along with reviewers’ com- ments and a cover image. You can also view pages and the table of contents. Books may be pur- chased on-line via our secure transaction facility. Photo Credits We are grateful to the following people and organizations who provided use of their images. The author, Vivien Lougheed: Pages 15, 28, 33, 104, 116. Island Expeditions: 29. Mexico Tourism Board: 53, 107, 109, 115, 117, 125. All other image credits as shown. Contents INTRODUCTION History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Officials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Military Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Police Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Maquiladoras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 People & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Cultural Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Traditional Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Embroidery & Weavings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Huichol Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Leather Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Pottery, Glass & Ceramics . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Mariachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Environmental Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Hurricanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Tsunamis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Earthquakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Plant Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ecological Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Tropical Deciduous Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Pacific Thorn Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Savannah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Mesquite Grassland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Pine-Oak Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Cloud Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Tropical Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Animal Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 On Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Rodents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Bats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 viii n Contents Cats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Monkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Amphibians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Reptiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Insects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Other Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Airborne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 In the Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 National Emblems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 National Flag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 National Anthem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Coat of Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 National Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 National Bird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 TRAVEL INFORMATION Facts at Your Fingertips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 When to Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 National & Religious Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Seasonal Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 What to Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Required Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Traveling with Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Packing List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Health Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Medical Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Common Ailments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Fevers & Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Jellyfish Stings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Treatment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 IAMAT Clinics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Money Matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Banking/Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Credit Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Planning Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Hotel Price Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Taxes & Tipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Dangers & Annoyances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Airport Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Common-Sense Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Toilets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Tourist Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Contents n ix Police & Other Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Mexican Newspapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Culture Shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Public Affection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Gay & Lesbian Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Special Needs Travelers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Favorite Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Booking a Room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Getting Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 By Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Arriving at the Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Overland by Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Overland by Car or RV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Insurance Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 By Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Private Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Boat Charters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Getting Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 By Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 By Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 By Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Toll Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Police/Tickets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Hitchhiking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Author’s Top Picks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 CENTRAL PACIFIC MEXICO Mazatlan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Getting Here & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 By Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 By Bus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 By Ferry/Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 By Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Publications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Sightseeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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