Carnaval is over and our guests have gone home.

Carnaval was alot of fun this year and very special since we had two of Greg's cousins, Janet and Diane here with us. They arrived last Thursday, Jan 31 and left Monday, Feb 4. It was a short visit but we think they enjoyed their time, visiting a small Mexican village, El Quelite, Old Mazatlan, the Coronation of the Carnaval Queen, the Carnaval parade and they even had time to catch a few rays and relaxation on the beach. Oh, of course, lots of margaritas and chips and salsa.

Here are pictures of our visit with Janet and Diane and the Carnaval too. Enjoy!

The first evening of Janet and Diane's visit was the first day of Carnaval too. We took them to the Plazuela Machado (El Centro/Old Maz) that evening to enjoy the beginning of Carnaval. As I explained in a previous posting, Carnaval ran from Jan 31 - Feb 5. On Feb 6, Lent began so the party is over and fasting for 40 days begins. As you know, Mexico is a Catholic country so most would be following this tradition.

These are a couple mimes that were standing in the Plazuela that evening. We at first thought they were just gold statues but realized they weren't when we got close and they began to move, as you can see in the picture. It was quite startling. They were both very good mimes.

Janet, Diane & Greg posing at the entrance to the Carnaval in Old Town.

On Friday, we took a drive to El Quelite, a small mexican village about a 45 minute drive from Maz. Here we are having lunch together at one of the local restaurants.

In this video we are watching the parrot being fed at the restaurant.

El Quelite is famous for the ancient game of Ullama. Janet and Diane were lucky to see one actually going on while we were there.

These beautiful bougainvilla flowers outside the restaurant made for a nice photo opt of Janet and Diane. We walked the streets and enjoyed the sights and sounds of this authentic mexican village.

On our way home from El Quelite we stopped in at our timeshare, Torres Mazatlan, for happy hour and dinner. I didn't get any pictures but we had a wonderful time watching a beautiful sunset.

On Saturday, I took the girls with me to my yoga class on the beach. We walked about 1 mile down the malecon to the class. There were some pictures but not allowed to post. :) After our class, we had breakfast at the restaurant on the beach where the class was held and then walked back. Here are some pictures we took along the way.

Some of the carnaval art along the malecon.

Janet and Diane posing in the pulmonia statue on the malecon.

Stopping to pose with the seals.

On Saturday evening, we went to the Coronation of the Carnaval Queen. We didn't get any good pictures but a couple of the videos will give you an idea of the festivities surrounding the crowning of the Carnaval Queen, Olga Rodriquez. There was lots and lots of confetti, fireworks, music and dancing in her honor. Also, honored that evening was the Carnaval Queen from 50 years ago and 25 years ago. Very special. You will see pictures of them on their floats later in the blog.

These were the characters that greeted us as we entered the Salon Bacanora next to the Bull Ring where the coronation was held. Because Mazatlan's baseball team, the Venados, got into the playoffs this year, all of the carnaval coronation pageants that normally take place in the Teodoro Mariscal Stadium had to be moved to this location which was much less spacious. However, they still put on a fabulous performance.
Here are some very special guests that were in the audience.
These are the Seattle Seafair Clowns.
They have been attending the Mazatlan Carnaval for 20 years.
You'll see another group picture of them later when I post the parade pictures.


The Carnaval this year seemed to have a Chinese/Asian theme as you will notice in the following two videos. You probably noticed this in the photos of the art I posted from the plazuela and along the malecon. The crowning of the Carnaval Queen is what is happening in these two videos.



Following the pageantry, a singer by the name of Manuel Mijares took the stage. He is a very popular Latin American recording artist. We hear many of his hits on the radio here in Mexico. The coronation was very beautiful and entertaining.

The Carnaval parade was the next evening, Sunday. We didn't get alot of good pictures but here are a couple of videos that turned out pretty well. Also, you will see a couple of videos of the huge fireworks show that happened on Monday night. The festivities just kept going and going.

As we wait for the floats to arrive, we were entertained by the huge crowds and much banda music and dancing along the malecon as you can see in this video.


We have our margaritas and ready for the parade to arrive!! Oh and what a beautiful sunset we enjoyed too.

This is a video of the float that the Carnaval Queen, Olga Rodriquez was riding on. As you can hear in the video the crowd was very excited as she passed by.

On Monday night we enjoyed a spectacular fireworks show which we could see right off our terrace. We actually viewed it from our friends, Dick and Jan's, terrace on the 10th floor. Here is a video we took of some of the show. They were shot off up and down the beach right in front of our building.

The last day of Carnaval, Tuesday (Fat Tuesday), the floats lined up again along the malecon right in front of our building but this time during the daylight so we got some better pictures.

I have to correct myself on the following video. I stated it's the day after the parade. It really is two days after the parade, which was on Sunday, when the floats lined up again on the malecon. Also, I think when Lent starts they obstain from more than just food. I think it's lots of different things. Guess I need to do some research on that subject.

The parade begins.

Pacifico was one of the main sponsors of the parade.

The Pacifico girls!

Carnaval Queen Annabelle of 50 years ago. She looks a little scared up there.

We didn't quite understand why there were two Queens from 25 year ago but here they are.


And the Carnaval Queen 2008, Olga Rodriquez!!

Infantile Carnaval Queen.

Lots of floats with authentic mexican/indian costumes.

Want some candy? Lots of interesting snacks.

These were dancers from Veracruz. Their authentic dress was just beautiful.

The Veracruz dancers.

The Seattle Seafair clowns. They have been participating in the parade for 20 years. They go around giving everyone little stickers to put on your face or whereever. They are very entertaining for the crowds.

This says "Clowns of Seattle". The vehicle the clowns rode in during the parade.

There were queens from all over Latin American and even the US. If you look closely, the third queen from the left is Seattle's Seafair Queen.

Mexican dancers from the state of Sinaloa which is the state Mazatlan is in.

That's our building in the background of this float.

The parade ended with this local fire truck.

And this interesting little fireman.

It was a very busy, but really fun 6 days, with lots of carnaval festivities. Seems very quite out on the beach and malecon right now but more events are coming up this spring that will bring more fiestas to enjoy. The Mexican people have gone back to work after 6 days of enjoying the escape from the hard work they have to do here in Mexico just to get by, day to day. We are happy for them that they have this escape every year.

We really enjoyed having Janet and Diane with us during carnaval and invite all of you to come down and join us in the fun during this annual event here in Maz. We hope you have enjoyed the pictures and videos in this posting.