Las Canoas, the most beautiful RV park in Mexico, a landmark for almost half a century, will soon become merely a comma in Mazatlán’s history. A victim of the current construction boom, this idyllic ocean oasis, lined with majestic coconut palms, will be incorporated into the expanding wall of high-rise luxury condominiums. Las Canoas Beginnings Leon V. Sánchez Kelly was the Park’s visionary founder. Offspring of a Spanish father and a German mother, Leon was born and raised in California. His family moved to Mazatlán in the mid-1950s. Of medium height, with dark hair and eyes, he exuded enthusiasm and energy. Entrepreneurial, Leon started building houses, but quickly saw the potential in developing trailer parks for the increasing North American “Snowbirds.” El Camaron, his first trailer park located near the corner of Camaron Sábalos and Rafael Buelna, opened for business in 1958, charging 15 pesos a day. Catering mainly to caravans, it remained in operation until a few years ago. Watching developments like the Playa Escondido bungalows north of the city, Leon traded a couple of his houses plus $80US for a two-mile stretch of pristine beach front. He was going to build the largest trailer park in town. It was a gamble. Except for highway 15, there were no paved roads, and the property was accessible only via a cow path through the heavy underbrush. It was miles from El Centro, where everything was located. The Golden Zone didn’t exist except for the Hotel Playa Mazatlán, opened in 1955. Felipe Perez went to work for Leon at the age of 19 in 1957, building El Camaron. He and Leon started clearing the beachfront land with machetes in the fall of 1959. During the winter, after working at El Camaron, Felipe rode his bicycle over three miles of rough roads to work at the beach until dark. “Leon worked very hard too. We worked together for many hot summers,” Felipe recalls with quiet respect. “Whenever he got money saved, he would use it to build Las Canoas.” With some other help, they eventually dug septic tank holes, buried miles of drainage pipes, laid electrical wiring, poured cement pads, planted over 300 coconut trees (some from as far away as Stone Island), built roads, and hauled fertile soil to plant grass at each of the 120 sites. The property had an artesian well, which first had to be cleaned and its walls built up. Water was first hauled up by hand, but later a pump and cistern were added. A dilapidated canoe at a nearby cantina inspired the Park’s name. Felipe worked for Leon until 1974, but was hired back at Las Canoas in 1985 as facilities manager. Today, he is still the man everyone in the Park counts on for help. When the Park was opened in 1964, the incoming visitor would have seen an unobstructed view to the ocean through the property from the dirt road. Except for the small regularly planted palms, the area bounded by barbed wire fencing would have been reminiscent of a corral. The fence kept the neighbour’s free

ranging cattle out. For a daily fee of 20 pesos or $1.80US, the traveller could choose any of the identical sites. Each had a small wooden table with four wooden chairs on an 8’x14’ patio, a patch of grass and a palm tree. At an open space at the south end of the park by the well were a covered activities shelter, a communal laundry facility (hand washing only) and clotheslines. Later, a washing machine was added. The Park allowed only self-contained trailers; no communal toilets were available. And, no pets were allowed. Leon’s gamble paid off, but changes in Leon’s personal life in 1971 necessitated his handing ownership of the Park to his eighteen-year old son José Antonio Sánchez Almada. The south half of the Park was sold to pay debts. Hotel El Rancho was built in 1987 on one part and the 360° Tower is being constructed on the other. When Leon died in 2004, his dream park belonged to strangers. José, called “el Canelo” by his friends, lived with his family in a house he built on the property. When the road was built, he connected the Park to the city’s expanding water system in 1975, built stone walls around the Park, added a wrought-iron front gate and a sea wall, which has survived the latest storms. The seawall created a private upper beach and was the location for meetings and communal activities in the 1980s. The Private Club 1985 saw the creation of the Las Canoas Private Club. A group of long-time renters, spearheaded by Chan Robbins, developed a plan that ensured José a steady income but allowed him to concentrate on his other broader interests. For the residents, it provided an opportunity to manage the Park. Chuck and Sonja Bell recalled, “We were the only outsiders – they needed twenty-seven investors as Charter Members – for $1,700, we got a five-year lease.” The results of the personal touches over the years are visible at each site. Most have at least one bodega and all have been decorated with tiles, paint and lighting systems. Occasionally, an original painting by Hector Vari is seen. Communal upgrades included the addition of individual junction boxes, transformers, a more powerful pump and a water filter system. The centre pad, built in 1992, covered by a palapa in 1994, became the heart of the Park’s activities. The Park’s residents watch familiar television shows via a forest of satellite receivers and communicate with the world on a wireless Internet access system. José´s death in 1994, under mysterious circumstances, soon triggered another change in ownership. His wife Lynn sold the property to local businessman Luis Medina in 1999, who in turn sold it to American Dwight Crook not long afterward. Members came close to purchasing the land in 2005/06, but the deal was turned down by the owner. The land was sold to the Costa Bonito group in 2006 and is the future site of Paraíso II. (In the April edition, look for Part II of the chronicle of Las Canoas featuring the memories of the park´s guests)