Leg 129 MMGM Guaymas (Mexico) to MMPE - Punta Penasco(Mexico)
MMGM - Airport Info
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ICAO code: MMGM
Airport name: Guaymas Airport
Location: Guaymas
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Guaymas Info
Guaymas is the main port of the state of Sonora, situated on the coast of the Sea of Cortez. San Carlos is about 12 miles to the North West.
San Carlos is a more popular destination for tourists, with many Americans coming in the winter months, and Mexicans coming in July and August. The beaches aren't particularly sandy, more rocky actually, but San Carlos is excellent for outdoor sports of all kinds. Diving, sailing, fishing, horse riding, kayaking and golf all have their place here. There are fishing tournaments in May, July and September, and golf tournaments throughout the year.
Guaymas was founded in 1769 by the Spaniards. In the 1800s it was hotly contested harbor with invasions attempted by many groups and nationalities, including the Americans. In 1852 the notorious French pirate Gaston Raousset de Bourbon managed to capture the port for several months. The pirates left for two years, however on their return the Mexican army was waiting for them. Most of the pirates were captured and executed. Today Guaymas has a thriving fishing industry. Some of the day's catch is served in the local restaurants, the local delicacy being the Camarones Gigantes - giant shrimp. A ferry can be caught here to Santa Rosalia in Baja California.
The most notable sights in Guaymas are the Plaza de los Tres Presidentes commemorating the three Mexican presidents who have come from Guaymas. The Iglesia de San Fernando was built in the 19th century, as was the Palacio Muncipal. The Plaza del Pescador has beautiful views, with the bay on one side and the city spread out on the other. There is a statue of a fisherman here, dedicated to those who have died in their dangerous profession.
The week before Ash Wednesday Guaymas celebrates a carnaval, and the week after the carnaval, San Carlos also holds a small canival.
MMPE - Airport Info
ICAO code: MMPE
Airport name: Punta Penasco Airport
Location: Punta Penasco
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Punta Penasco Info
Punta Penasco is located in Sonora, state in northwestern Mexico. Sonora is one of the largest and most economically diversified states in Mexico. It shares its northern boundary with the United States—bordering Arizona and a tiny section of New Mexico—and is bordered by the Mexican state of Chihuahua on the east, by the state of Sinaloa on the south, by the state of Baja California on the northwest, and by the Gulf of California on the west.
Sonora is the second largest of the 31 Mexican states, after Chihuahua. Much of the state is covered by a coastal plain extending eastward to the Sierra Madre Occidental range. Rainfall and temperatures vary considerably between the mountainous regions and the plains, but the state is generally hot and dry. Its northern territory has major desert regions, including a portion of the Sonoran Desert known as the Gran Desierto (Great Desert) along the upper Gulf of California. Many major rivers cross the state, beginning deep in the Sierra Madre and running southwest to the coast. Some of the most important rivers have been dammed for irrigation and hydroelectric power, including the Sonora, which is dammed near the state capital of Hermosillo; the Yaqui, which forms a reservoir behind the Alvaro Obregón dam; and the Mayo, which has been dammed to form the Mocuzari reservoir. The state has an area of 180,833 sq km (69,820 sq mi).
Sonora has long been home to a number of indigenous peoples, many of whom are also native to the southwestern United States. These include the Tohono O’Odham (or Papago), the Akimel O’Odham (or Pima), and the Seri. Two of the state’s largest communities—Nogales and Agua Prieta—border cities in the U.S. state of Arizona and are important points of entry into Mexico. Other major communities include Ciudad Obregón, a commercial center at the southern end of the state; Guaymas, a port on the Gulf of California; Navojoa, a farming and ranching hub just south of Ciudad Obregón; and San Luis Río Colorado, a fishing center in the northwest corner of the state. The state’s population in 2000 was 2,213,370.
Economically, Sonora is a leading producer of cotton and grains, as well as winter vegetables for export to the United States. A number of food processing and assembly plants are located along the border with Arizona. The state’s fishing industry is one of the most developed in the country, with a fleet of more than 3000 vessels that harvests large volumes of shrimp, sardine, sea bass, sole, and tuna. Sonora is also Mexico’s most important copper-mining center and produces a significant amount of other minerals, including silver, graphite, zinc, gold, and tungsten. Major highways and railroads cross the entire state running north to south, connecting Mexicali, in the neighboring state of Baja California, with Mexico City, far to the south. In the mid-1990s Sonora’s literacy rate and standard of living ranked among the highest in the country.
During the colonial era, Sonora was part of the northern frontier of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and played an important role in Spanish military conquests. The region was also a center for Spanish missionary activities, the most famous being those of the Jesuit priest Francisco Eusebio Kino. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Native Americans known as the Yaqui rebelled against exploitation by mestizos (Mexicans of mixed European and Native American descent) and were suppressed violently. The Cananea mining strike in 1906, at a copper mine near the U.S. border, was a precursor to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Sonora played a leading role in the revolution, producing many of the prominent figures collectively known as the Sonoran Dynasty, who dominated national politics in the 1920s. Among the state’s most important native sons are Alvaro Obregón, a notable revolutionary general and Mexico’s first postrevolutionary president (1920-1924), and Plutarco Elías Calles, a president (1924-1928) and major architect of Mexico’s political and public financial institutions.