THINK YOU MAY WANT TO BE A SNOWBIRD?

By Jacqueline Partridge

Well, you’ve been in Mazatlán for a week or 10 days now. You’ve enjoyed the sun and fun and now it’s time to return to the snowy North. Do you really want to spend the winter in that cold? Have you reached the stage where spending the winter in a warmer relaxed environment really looks enticing? Think about becoming a snowbird. A snowbird is someone who comes from up North and spends the winter here in Mazatlán, then they spend the summer back up North with family and friends. In the last two years Mazatlán has been discovered by those wanting to become snowbirds. The local property owners have responded to this with many new condominium complexes along the beach and in other areas. Although prices have gone up the last few years, they are still remarkably reasonable for beachfront property. Just think of how wonderful it would be to be able to go out on your balcony first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee to sit and watch the fishing boats or, if you are lucky, there might be a pod of dolphins playing. In the evening you could watch the absolutely fantastic sunset with a myriad of colors that you just don’t seem to find up North. These are just some of the things that draw many of the people who have become snowbirds. However, Mazatlán has much more to offer than just the beach. If you like gardening look at some of the neighborhoods several blocks off the beach. There are many advantages to this. Most often you’ll be able to get much more space for your money in the size of your house. Your neighborhood is much more likely to be a mixture of Mexican and expatriate owners, thus you will really participate in local life here in Mazatlán. In many instances, you’ll be able to have a lovely garden and, if you don’t want to care for it yourself, your neighbors will be able to recommend a gardener to take care of it for you. If you, like me, are reaching the age where health is becoming a maintenance chore, it is not a problem here in Mazatlán. There are many good medical facilities and medical practitioners. It is easy to find a doctor who speaks English and you’ll find the care is much more personal than that found in the medical facilities up North. Did you know that doctors here still make house calls and the charge is usually less than US$50? That is really a wonderful feeling when you feel so sick that you don’t think you can possibly get out of bed to make it to the doctor’s office! Spanish is an easy language for English

speakers to learn and being able to speak the local language will, of course, make living here a much richer experience. However, if language isn’t your thing, many of the local people speak English. Also, there is a large expatriate community with many English speaking activities such as happy hours, a volunteer-run English lending library, and many clubs: to name just a few, the American Legion, Amigos de los Animales, Friends of Mexico, and Conrehabit. Another advantage of spending winters here is the cost of living. The days of living on $500 a month are long gone unless you want to live very, very basically. However, most of your daily expenses will be less than they are up North. Of course, one major cost that you will not have is heating. Electricity for a condominium of about 1100 square feet averages US$50 a month in the winter. Food, for the most part, is less expensive than up North; but, if you must have your special cereals and specific items that are imported, you will find those expensive. A large box of Cheerios (390 gms) costs approximately US$2.85. Imported Danish butter costs US$3, local butter US$2.60 a pound, a pound of coffee US$3.30, milk is 95¢ a quart. Fruit and vegetables are inexpensive. For instance a large head of lettuce costs 85¢, tomatoes $1.05 a pound, avocadoes 95¢ a pound, mango (in season) 50¢ a pound and watermelon $1.20 for a small one. Look around the supermarkets and you’ll find local substitutes for almost everything that you would buy up North in the way of food. If you’re from a major city, you’ll find the cost of eating out is about half of what you’re used to paying and the food is wonderful! An illustration of this is a shrimp dinner for two with two drinks in a medium priced restaurant averages US$30. In the same type restaurant, a fish dinner for two with salad, desert and two drinks averages US$25. If you like local atmosphere and good food, try one of the local restaurant’s comida corrida which is a full meal for between US$2 and US$3. Delicious food usually. What to do when you have withdrawal symptoms from shopping at the mega stores like Walmart and Sam’s Club? Well, we have both plus a new Home Depot, so you can indulge yourself. What more can I say? I’m a big proponent of Mazatlán. As a matter of fact I have retired and live here year-round. I highly recommend it whether it is as a snowbird or full-time resident. Think about it the next time you are sitting and looking out the window at all that snow and the temperature is -2ºC.

 

 

 

 

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