Review-Mazatlan with Frank-09/2004

[carol459]

We just got back from the Paradise to Panama cruise and one of our stops was in Mazatlan. We, and several other couples, toured with FRANK. You'll find his email in this review. We really got our money's worth.

 

Mazatlan-We set up a Countryside tour online with Frank, fkole2000@hotmail.com , and boy was it a tour. He met us at 9am at the dock and we left about 10am, because a couple of the people who reserved were running late. Otherwise, we would have left earlier. We were touring in a couple of AC vans and first went to a brick factory, where brick is made by hand. It appeared as if the one guy who was working was putting in a lot of effort, hand-mixing clay-soil mix and using a mold to form the bricks. Then we were shown a stack of bricks about 10' high, 20' long and 6' wide, which were drying for use in construction. I didn't quite get the significance of all this until we got back on the highway and I saw several dozen of these drying stacks along the highway in this one area. The worker had to make a thousand bricks to earn $22 American per day. Good Grief.

Our next stop was a furniture factory which also housed a pottery factory. Basically, hand-made, all of it. The furniture was old-style Spanish made the same way for several hundred years except for the power tools. There were several small furniture and pottery factories in this one area.

The town of Malpica was our next stop. We were led into a small bakery with a wood-fired stove. The aromas were heavenly but the heat was a bit much for me. I had to go outside and Carol came out a few minutes later with some still-warm baked goodies. Yummm! They were great. Next we walked to a tile factory. I use the term factory a bit loosely, because there is only one tile press and one guy making the tiles. But they are great looking tiles and some of the people bought a single tile for a souvenir. Back to the van.

The town of Concordia was our next stop. We went to a home that had been around for a long time. It was an adobe ranchero type home with gardens, open areas, and beautiful furniture. They had many antiques and had some real meso-American antiquities in a couple of small glass cabinets as you walked in the door. It was a trip. We walked down to the Church, which dates back 250+ years. Great photo ops.

Next stop-Copala- This is a small down-home Mexican village which has cobblestone streets and is built on a hillside. Our vans were able to drive on the streets, but the big tour buses were not. Those people had to walk. There was another fine church there with a statue of a soldier above the front door. Legend has it he will spit on the unpure as they walk into the church. A lot of people decided to use the side door after they heard that. We had lunch (included in the tour) at a restaurant called Daniel's. I thought we would get a snack, but it was a real meal. We each got a sampler platter with a relleno, taco, enchilada, and tamale. A slice of banana coconut pie topped it off. A choice of cold drink, including beer and margaritas, was also included. Yummm!

That finished off Copala on a high note for us. We headed back to Mazatlan, because it was getting late. Frank took us on a driving tour of old Mazatlan and dropped us off at 5pm, totally exhausted and happy. What a great day. Dinner, then bed time

 

Carol and Rick Howell

[mazatlan frank]

I thank you very much for joining me on that trip. I am also very pleased to see that you really enjoyed it also. That is my best pleasure, to make people happy. If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know, you know where to contact me. Have a great time and I hope we meet again.

 

Mazatlan Frank

[Cruiser63]

Just a little comment on the review. We went on the Sierra Madre tour a couple of years ago with Frank and Had a great time. He did exactly the same itinerary as mentioned on this review. I am in Mazatlan right now and going next week with him again. More banana cocounut cream pie, mmmmmm!

 

Louis

[p0mpey]

OK. Now for the inevitable question. How much did this tour cost? We booked our cruise yesterday for end of October and this is my first foray into finding out what to do in the ports of call. The only thing I know is that it is always cheaper to go private. This does sound promising. Thanks for any info'.

[carol459]

OK. Now for the inevitable question. How much did this tour cost? We booked our cruise yesterday for end of October and this is my first foray into finding out what to do in the ports of call. The only thing I know is that it is always cheaper to go private. This does sound promising. Thanks for any info'.

He charged us $45 per person (plus tip) and it was worth every cent.

Note-We first inquired for info from Frank and he responded with a tour description and then we posted that on our rollcall and had anyone interested in the tour correspond with Frank directly. There was enough interest to fill two vans. He can only take groups. You need to email him, he is very forthcoming with info.