Dec 30 Mazatlan, Sinaloa to Espinol Sinaloa see something on the road. We got off about an hour later than we had hoped, but early for us - about 10. The country between San Blas and Mazatlan looks quite interesting. It is large- ly open palmeto-thorn scrub with much rocky out croppings and much grass. It is quite hilly. The sierras in the east are much more densely over grown, thick thorn forest and perhaps even broad leaf forest. Bananas and cattle are major crops apparently. Mazatlan itself is a lovely town, with a long rolling beach and many new, modern buildings. There are many brge marshy and swampy areas below [south of] Mazatlan, and water birds abound. In this area we saw something really typical of Mexico - a beautiful pink cherry tree in blossom, with a vulture in it. North of Mazatlan the thorn forest is much thicker. We stopped in the thorn forest outside of Mazatlan and I got 2 hairstreaks, 3 lysides, a crescent, an greenmoye, and 8-9 [Microtia elva] and 3 chara checkers- spots. We passed through Espinol in a driving rain - it has been raining all morning. The thorn forest here is not as dense and there is more cactus than at Mazatlan, but it is not as open as below Mazatlan yet. Mostly the forest is is a jumble of yellow and green and many of the trees are bare. In rocky areas grow a few pink