…….overlooking the ocean with palms trees swaying in the breeze and in the company of our friendly Canadian neighbors.

…….here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, driving down RV lane

This pineapple studded with cheese and cherry tomatoes was our unique and attractive Christmas tree.  A potluck dinner meant lots of good food including the traditional turkey and stuffing.

Entertainment by The Fern, Debra, and Hélène Trio

Ring side seating for viewing the departure of a cruise ship from the Mazatlan harbor

I hope everyone had as nice a Christmas as we here on the Isla de la Piedra did.

Across the road directly behind our motor homes is a botanical garden as of yet not open to the public.  However, we on the island are allowed to go behind the barrier and stroll the wonderful gardens.  A company from Durango called Amaitlan started the gardens three years ago and the project is not complete nor the plants matured and filled in.  Nonetheless, is is a beautiful garden just as it is.

Amaitlan has been buying up land in this area and according to a real estate website “This agricultural commune area will be converted to a sustainable tourist resort.  The Brazilian urban planner and architect Jaime Lerner, who is the head of urban planning in Curitiba and other European cities, is in charge of the master plan of Isla Amaitlán..The concept involves creating a “green” or garden city with “green” buildings that take into account the ecological surroundings.
The 125-hectare area will have seven hotel lots on 325 thousand square meters, 18 lots for mixed use, 518 residential lots and 29 commercial lots.”

The paths and stonework throughout are beautifully designed and some are quite artistic.

This type of fencing surrounds most of the gardens

A long archway of different colors of bougainvillea

Yellow bougainvillea

Curious what this work in progress will be when completed.

Cactus garden

You can just barely make out the top of Lynne’s RV beyond the entrance

We each held up the poles so that the other and our dogs could enter and exit underneath.  Temptation almost overtook me for a moment.

The park’s internet has been iffy the past few days. Someone worked on it this morning and now I can’t get it at all.  I don’t have much data left on the Telcel internet that I bought and am not sure how to go about buying more.  I will ration pictures for now.

What have we been doing?

A few days ago Colin and Contessa had us over to see the sunset and enjoy a meal together.  They have been so helpful to Lynne and I.  The next day Contessa acted as tour guide, while Lynne drove, to see some of the island and show us where the grocery store and boat dock is and a few other places.

With this information Lynne and I took the panga into Mazatlan yesterday, first going to a Telcel store to get her SIM card working again.  It seems that in Guaymas it was set for 4G networks and this is 3G so that had to be changed.  After that we took a golf cart taxi to the center of town and had lunch at the Panama Café.  They have a wonderful bakery but I resisted…..this time. Then to the Mercado (market) where we bought some produce and Lynne bought a couple of sundresses.  Sundresses are so much more comfortable than pants in the heat.

And today we both got our RV’s washed by Ishmael, the park maintenance person.  He did an excellent job and our RV’s are no longer an embarrassment to the rest of the residents here.  Colin came over several times bearing food samples while we sat outside watching our rigs being washed using Colin’s long brush.

Various vendors come throughout the day.  While writing this the plant and flower man came and I bought a poinsettia for the patio.