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In the game, I saw there were three players on a field that was fifty meters
in length and four meters wide. The idea is to advance a hard rubber ball,
about the size of a softball past your opponent's goal line. Ulama games are
played using only hips, or arms or sticks to advance the ball. Sometimes the
hard ball is the size of a soccer ball. I'm told that the purest form of the game
is to use hips only. Ulama is much like a soccer game, but scoring is more like
tennis. While the scoring is not this simple, in order to win a game, one team
must score three straight times.
Los Llanitos: A town about 40 minutes north of Mazatlán hosts Ulama games
every Sunday at 4:00 p.m. This is where the purest form of the game is played.
Hispania: Is a field built for tourism and is located north of los Cerritos. You
can take a Sábalo Cerritos bus to the end of the line and walk a few blocks
north. They play on Sunday afternoon, but not every week.
Sightseeing
Cliff divers: High diving is not as uh..."high" as in Acapulco, but the water
is definitely shallower than where their southern neighbors dive. When I visit-
ed last, I was introduced to three generations of cliff divers, who all gave me a
demonstration that day. Dives usually take place at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.,
which coincides with tour group arrivals, but I have seen them dive at differ-
ent times of the day. If the crowd is big enough and collections are adequate,
the show will go on unscheduled. The cliff divers make their leap from El
Mirador
, off Paseo Claussen, near the Continuity of Life Monument. A tip of
about $1 U.S. per person is appropriate.
Pacifico Brewery: This brewery was built in 1900, but has been modernized
several times since. They have a bilingual guide who will show you where all
the malt is made, how the bottles are cleaned, and how the brew is bottled. The
brewery bottles 3,100,000 bottles of Pacifico daily. I think they need every one
of them during Carnavál and when the college students are in town. The tour
took just over an hour and ended in the brewery museum lounge where we
looked at the artifacts while sipping a free beer! While the tour is free, it must
be scheduled with a group. I'm told Friends of Mexico or Martha Armenta can
be called at 984-4307 to arrange a tour.
Aquarium: Mazatlán has arguably the finest aquarium in Mexico. It was
built in 1980 on two acres of land, and has over 50 exhibition tanks, a botani-
cal garden, an aviary, an auditorium, and live animal shows. The Sea Lion
Show is a must see--and you can feed them. A diver show and colorful bird
show are presented daily. The address is de Los Deportes #111, and is located a
block east of the Malecón, just minutes from the Golden Zone. Telephone 891-
7815 or email them at acuario@pacificpearl.com for details. Tickets are about
$5 U.S. for adults and a reduced rate is available for children.
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M a z a t l a n I S P a r a d i s e