TODAY’S YOUN‘: people travel like never before. They seem to fine. tne time and the money ':. scatter themselves all .-er the worid. The major.» of my generation figured « week at Canip Wobegon in : steamy cabin was high livius. Ym always curious — maybe even a bit jealous —- icout their traveis and quiz them unmerciful- ly. Two young men, Darren Pr- ingle and Warren Castley, even took the time to come over and spend two hours fillin me in on their recent trip to istexico. The third traveller, Dave Keir was unavailable, but after heard all about the trip I’m not surprised if he still isn’t fully recovered. Mexico is a furnace in mid- summer and | doub: if anyone over 35 could handle .:. But the big draw is off-season yices. The boys shopped around, “Some agents didn’t even want to talk to us,’ and settled on a package provided by Mexi-Can Holidays (685-3375). Their two- week package included all airfares and a week’s accommodation in each of Puerto Vuliarta and Mazatlan — $700 per scrson. All their additional expenses totalled between $600-3700 eaci:. Their first stop was the Playa los Arcos, right on the beach in P.V. They liked the hotel even though the rooms were small, “You should have seen the mess in that room after «= couple of days. The maids wer: so honest that they wouldn’t wrt off the empties. The empties are worth almost as much as a fult bottle.” To save money, they did a lot of yvrocery store meals but raved about a spaghetti restaurant — name forgotten — directly across the :treet from their fotel. “The All that is greaw in Africa isin Keny TRAVEL Kicking up in Mazatlan Young men find Mexico a really fun place to party Barbara McCreadie TRAVELWISE salads were huge and so good.”’ They also found the people ex- traordinarily friendly. ‘‘We rarely took cabs — just hopped on the back of any truck going in the tight direction.’ They weren’t so impressed with their hotel in Mazatlan, the Hotel Don Palayo. If they were to return they’d look for a place right along the main beach, ‘‘be- tween Valentino’s Disco and the Hotel Cid.’? They checked one hotel right across the street from the beach — the Hotel Tropicana — and it would be their pick for next time. Reasonable rates. Now for a few warnings and a few recommendations. Their first problem cropped up in the airport departing P.V. for Mazatlan. First, they were charged an international departure tax of $12 instead of the domestic tax of $4. They managed to get that problem worked out but were also given the wrong change. In Mazatlan, they rented scooters (ATCs) and weren't on the road for more than a few minutes before they were stopped former Kenyan resident Barbara Sutherland who speaks local language-Kiswahili © Casing this week ~ Kenya Oct. 10 depart. jiumued seats available). © Be:k now for Jan. & Feb. ‘91 * Also NEW & EXCITING Egypt Safari - depart Call your Nes. 21, 90 travel agent or j HAGEN’S TRAVEL is very pleased to welcome Toni to their sales staff. Mrs. Toni Johnston Toni brings with her 9 years of experience in the travel industry on the North Shore and she invites you te calt her for all your travel needs. ~-#221-1433-Lonsdale. Ave. '. North Vancouver - 980-8004. by a traffic cop and hit with a 60,000 peso fine for speeding. “The traffic is just hooting in and out. If you kept to the 40 km/h speed limit you'd be killed.” The cop insisted that he knew no English and hailed another scooter driver who was ‘too con- venient to be unplanned.** This guy spoke excellent English and advised the boys to ‘slip him a little’* and they got off with a $15 bribe each. Recommendation: “Don't rent scooters, but if vou do, stay off the main drag. Use the side streets, although that could be risky too.’ The flies were bad. Don’t go barefoot on the beach — lots of broken glass. And now for some of the rec- ommendations: *® Don’t shop until you’ve been there a few days. Bargain for everything and don’t pay more than half the asking price. Shopp- ing on the beach is fun but you'll get berter deals in town. Don’t shop when the cruise ships are in — prices jump — and use the fact that the ships aren’t in as a bargaining ploy. The boys bought several of the colorful Mexican blankets for $7 (the cheapest I’ve seen them in border towns is $25). When they tan out of clean shirts they bought Tees for $3. ¢ They went deep-sea fishing and by a stroke of luck got a boat of their own, with crew and lines and 15 bottles of beer for $70, eight hours. The usual price is about $125, but they were at the dock at 6:30 a.m. and a group didn't show up. e Just outside P.V. is a park Sunday, August 26, 1990 - North Shore News - 35 area called Ef Eden. It's a $9 cab ride (they hitched back), bat it’s on their “Don't Miiss’’ list. e Two restaurant recommenda- tions in Mazatlan (both young Oriented): The Shrimp Factory {iwo kilos of huge prawns plus drinks), ‘‘lots."" total bill for three, $30. Joe’s Oyster Bar, ‘ta major youth hang-out."" They went to the well-known ‘‘Senor Frog's’ but weren't impressed, “prices too high.” etn P.V., they enjoyed Carlos O’Brians which closes at 2 a.m. When that happens the crowd moves on to Cactus which swings until four or five. e And, if you want to risk your backbone, visit Ei Tero Bravo in Mazatlan and go for a free ride on the mechanical bull. © Parasailing got raves Darren. And, much to the surprise of certain parents, they got home safely. At first they boasted that they ‘“‘didn’t get sick’? but later Warren admitted to one good case of sunstroke and Darren confessed that he spent most of his days in Mazatlan in bed, recuperating from the nights before. I'd love to have been at Canada Customs when this group arrived back. Darren had taken too many clothes with him so he had no room in his bag for purchases. These he carried slung over his back in a green garbage bag. All their wet and dirty clothes they carried in a taped-up styrofoam cooler — ‘‘My God did that thing stink!" Customs didn’t bother opening it but some unlucky mother prubably got the pleasure. from y ou may have seen EcoHeroes featured in the bi-weekly EcoUpdate column by Peggy Trendell-Whittaker. You can nominate your favorite Eco-Hero, the person who has taken that first small, but important, step to making a difierence in the world around us. The North Shore News thinks it’s important to recognize the EcoHeroes in our communi- ty. If you know an EcoHero, please submit his (or her) name to this newspaper and and your nominee will have a chance to win an EcoHero button and a Going Green on the North Shore coffee mug. Submissions should be sent to EcoHero, North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Nominations can also be telpehoned to Peggy Trendell Whittaker, 985-2131 from Tuesday to Thursday. 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