Raymondo and Marseea's 2009 Mexico Trip

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Wednesday, February 18th, we left Merida abruptly because of Rainbow RV Park’s lack of water pressure. Ray went to the banos (bathroom) to shower, stripped, and all of a sudden the water stopped flowing. Fortunately, he had not had the chance to lather up. It appears the water pressure was so low that when the gardener turned on his hose to water the plants, there was none left for the showers. Of course, we have a shower in our camper and with the pump on we have all the pressure needed regardless of whether we are hooked up to park water but the situation just irked Ray to the point that he refused to pay for another day. We had not actually paid as there were no managers on site. We were told that a woman came around to collect periodically and that the fee was 250 pesos per day. We left 200 with our neighbors to give to the owners as we had used the other utilities. We have been told that electricity is very expensive in Mexico and we had used the banos too. I had liked Merida more than Ray did because I enjoy cities and crowds. He had planned to humor me and spend one more day there. The city has many beautiful old colonial buildings and Carnival was beginning that day with a Children’s parade. Vendors had set booths all along Paseo de Montejo. It was likely to be a madhouse.

After we left Merida, we drove north because there is region known to have a flock of flamingos but we took the wrong road and where we wound up didn’t look like a place anyone with good sense should have an RV. Even though our rig is smaller than others, because we are using a four wheel drive pick-up we are higher than many large rigs. Sometimes we have serious clearance issues with power lines and trees. We did find the funky beach town of Progresso. There were many gringos there and they seemed to be having a great time partying on the malecon (boardwalk).

From there we opted to take the autopista (freeway) to Cancun verses the libra (free) road. It was pure joy cruising along at 70 verses dealing with ruts, pot holes and topes (speed bumps) for a day. The luxury of the autopista set us back $532 pesos ($38 dollars) in tolls, however.

We broke the cardinal rule of not driving after dark but thank God for our GPS. We had shelled out $137.50 (dollars) for Mexican Bici Garmin compatible GPS software awhile ago and it has been amazingly accurate most of the time. As there were two caravans in here and the RV park was nearly full we got the last space. It is a very short and shady site. Again, we are thankful for our small rig as a larger one could not have been accommodated.

The drive here was through what is called jungle, however, to me it looked more like a thicket. The foliage is dense but scrubby, not the palms and vines I had imagined. We could sometimes see that there was some clearing in the background but it did not appear that any crops were being raised. Cruising along we got to talking about how when we made our previous trip to Cancun in about 1992, we could have never imagined actually driving here. However, after buying our first rig and beginning to attend RV shows and rallies, we heard of caravans making the trip. Further research revealed that many North Americans were traveling to Mexico solo.

Somewhere along the way, it dawned on Ray that we had turned in a northerly direction and were pretty close to Florida so he suggested I get the XM radio out and try it. We had put it away several days ago when we lost satellite reception somewhere in the state of Tabasco. I can’t tell you how good it was to hear Wolf Blitzer’s voice. The luxury of XM reception will no doubt cease when we head south to Playa del Carmen, etc.

Cancun has only one RV Park, Mecoloco, located on the north side of the city near the ferry dock to Isla Mujeres. Our manager lives on site with his family. His oldest daughter rescues abandoned cats. It seems that Mexican people drop off unwanted pets too. The cats are all tame. The family has constructed a large cage to house those cats which they say are “too stupid” to stay off of the highway that runs past the park. Our manager speaks very good English but I believe it would confuse him if asked how they determine which cats are stupid before it is too late and they get creamed. The ”smarter cats” are allowed to run free. I had a nice conversation with a lovely Siamese who seems to enjoy the peace and quiet of the banos ceiling palapa area. She has a sweet voice and is very talkative. She came down to visit with me and after telling me what she wanted me to know and getting a tummy rub, she returned to her high perch.

Friday, February 20th. Yesterday, we caught the bus, actually a small van with very hard seats and no seat belts, for the bumpy ride into town. Enroute, we visited with a Canadian couple who were renting a condo here for the winter. They had spent past winters all over Central America. Again, we wonder how it is that most Americans firmly believe that we have the best of all worlds. How many ordinary Americans in their 60s can afford to winter in warm climates every year! We walked along streets in the central area and stopped at a sidewalk cafe, Gory Tacos, for their killer 2 for 1 margaritas. We visited for a long time with Carol from Boston who was sitting at nearby table. Carol told us that she will soon be sixty-five and is staying in Mexican hostels this winter. She too, is escaping the winter cold but she is working. Carol teaches graduate school. This semester she is teaching an online course in blogging. She has been living in Merida but caught the bus over to Cancun to meet her daughter who is flying in on a $69.00 flight from Boston. Carol is a fascinating lady. In the summers she flies from Boston to Oregon to volunteer for the forest service. Volunteers are only required to work 24 hours a week in exchange for free room and board. Our lunch of six margaritas and orders of nachos and cheese fondue only cost $235.00 pesos (about $21.00 dollars with tip). Couldn’t get a feast like that in the Hotel Zone for that price! The fondue was served with flour tortillas - seemed strange at first but was pretty good actually. By the way, Mexican bakeries do make wonderful bread. Ray got a loaf in a supermarket panderia (bakery) the other day that was as good as any sold at Panera or Le Boulanger. Because we spent so much time talking with Carol, we did not get much sightseeing done. We did try to walk off our lunch by walking several kilometers along a path leading out to the hotel zone.

Forty years ago, Cancun was just a little fishing village. In the early 1970’s, in order to maximize tourism, the Mexican government offered the gorgeous spit of land up to developers. (The book Choose Mexico for Retirement has an interesting twist on this.) Ciudad Cancun (called el Centro) was built to house the workers and bridges were constructed to connect the hotel zone with the city. Cancun, as a resort, opened for business in 1974. Hurricane Wilma came ashore as a category four and practically devastated the place in 2005. Workers, whose livelihoods depend on tourism pitched in to help the hotels and restaurants cleanup, remodel and renovate. We had stayed in the hotel zone in the early 1990s. It was October, and so unbearably hot that we could not leave the pool during the day. Our old hotel is still there though it has gone “all inclusive”. We stopped in to have a drink - if there was any tequila in the margarita, we couldn’t detect it - and they didn’t know how to handle cash paying customers. After consulting with his managers, we finally settled on 50 pesos per drink. Except for the weather, we had loved the place. Now in February, the weather is very pleasant and we can certainly see the improvements. Especially gone are the time share hawkers. When we were here before, you couldn’t walk a couple hundred feet without encountering one. Now, all gone, nada.

We walked thru several of the luxury hotels, listed by AAA as having exceptional ambience. Particularly outstanding is ME by Melia with its ultra modern décor and infinity pool. We’ve never had the opportunity to swim in one of those. They don’t come with rooms at Motel 6! Actually, a quick check of the rates reveals rooms in the fall start at $159 U.S. Pricey, but maybe we won’t have to win the lottery to stay there after all. We used the hotel’s restrooms where they did not provide waste baskets for used toilet paper (more about that later) and had actual rolled hand towels.

Certainly, ME’s menu is pricier than we found at local eateries in town. One of the blogs I’m following sent us to Los de Pescado for their killer fish tacos and low prices. They offered four toppings from plain mayonnaise to muy picante (very hot). Patrons help themselves to all the condiments (limes, cabbage, ect) they want. Four tacos each and cerveza set us back 108 pesos - less than ten bucks - plus tip. We love Rubio’s but these were at least twice the size at much less than half the price.

Mexican plumbing systems customarily do not have the capability to break down toilet paper so it is customary to place used toilet paper in a basket beside the toilet. That is so much of a common practice that Mexican banos seldom even have signs requesting one do so. On a personal level, this is the number one thing that I dislike about Mexico. The topes (speed bumps) come in a close second.

As the primary purpose of our blog is to be informative, this is as good a time as ever to talk about the water. Everybody is told to only drink bottled water. RVers are told to add chlorine to their tanks. We are told to wash all unpealed fruit and vegetables in water with drops of microdyn because crops are irrigated with the contaminated water supply due to poor sewage systems. Mexicans also take the same precautions. Gallon water bottles and microdyn drops are sold everywhere. It is against the law to make ice with impure water.

On Saturday, we bummed around town and the hotel zone. The highlights of the day were the above mentioned fish tacos and stumbling onto Perico’s. Perico’s is an immense colorful place and is decorated with murals on all of the walls and carved wooden skeletal statues in various humorous poses are everywhere. Barstools are saddles. We had found the place on our first visit here but had long since forgotten it.

Yesterday, February 22nd, we took the ferry over to Isla Mujeres. The island is known as a fantastic snorkeling spot. We didn’t take our gear with us because we’ll have many more opportunities to snorkel down the coast where we don’t have to hire a boat to go out to where the fish are. As it turned out, we made a good decision. The waves were way too rough for folks with our limited aquatic skills. This is about where the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico merge. That may account for the turbulence. We enjoyed lunch of Isla Mujeres’s local dish called poc-chuc which is thinly sliced and seasoned grilled pork served with wedges of whole grilled onions and shredded cabbage. All of this is piled on tortillas along with salsa. Utensils are never offered at places like this. You eat with the tools God gave you. It seems like it would be cheaper in the long run for restaurants to offer cheap plastic forks than have patrons empty the napkin holders. As it was Sunday and Carnival, while we were eating we were entertained by a group of teenagers who had apparently been in the parade earlier. After a while we were joined by a couple from Arkansas who were staying at a hotel on the island. This was their second trip here. They were fascinated by our journey and said they’d like to do it too when they retire.

We later bought a couple of tasty salty cheese filled crepes from a sidewalk vender. Walking along the beach, we observed tourists in various stages of undress including one most likely European lady displaying her well tanned and obviously surgically enhanced a$$ets.

Nudity and near nudity does not bother me but our hosts, the Mexican people, are very modest and I believe tourists should adhere to the “when in Rome…” policy. Although younger Mexican women and girls do wear shorts and sexy clothes, mature women - maybe 35 plus - dress very modestly. Until Cancun, I only wore shorts on the beach.

Before we caught the ferry home we enjoyed a couple cold cervezas at a restaurant whose tables are all placed right on the beach. How cool is that!!!

The Colorado couple, John and Lee, whom we’ve been travelling with off and on for a couple weeks pulled in Saturday. Was good catching up with them. John worked in Mexico when he was young and speaks fluent Spanish. Several years ago they drove down here and John stayed in their rig while Lee attended a Spanish immersion school for a couple weeks while staying in a private home with a lady who spoke no English. Lee’s hostess’s husband had left her for a young hottie. They had not divorced but she was augmenting her support with taking in students. Lee and the Mexican lady were about the same age so they ate and watched TV together in the evenings and shopped and did ordinary things on weekends. Lee says that she is not as fluent as John but she learned a lot in those two (?) weeks. I have read “immersion” is the only way to go and that if you happen to be older than 10 or so, you will not “just pick it up”.

We met Jimmy and Lilly and Lilly’s mom from Miami. Jimmy is a retired realtor and a part-time musician. Lilly was born and raised in Guatemala. They invited us over for margaritas and snacks. Yum-O as Rachel Ray would say! Jimmy played his guitar and sang a bunch of great songs from the 70s and 80s, including (in my humble opinion) the greatest group of all time - the Eagles. We told them that it was one of our all time best evenings camping. A couple years ago at campground in a place called Trout Creek, Montana we were entertained by our landlord who had played with the Beach Boys before they hit the big time.

But I digress. Jimmy and Lilly had planned to drive to Panama but became exasperated by the red tape and bull shit of Central American borders. The straw that broke the camels back was Costa Rica. According to Jimmy, Floridians are only issued one license plate. Costa Rican officials insisted he must have two and wanted to fine him an outrageous amount. Jimmy does not take advantage of Lilly’s excellent Spanish language skills. In fact, he sends her to the back of their RV to stay out of sight because it is generally easier for him as a gringo. Officials usually get exasperated with not being able to communicate with him and just send him on his way. When the coast is clear, Lilly returns to her co-pilot seat to watch for topes. She described one incident when they hit an unexpected speed bump and items on the top of their tow vehicle went flying. They held up traffic while gathering up their possessions. They have a beautiful 34 foot Monaco and are towing a four door Toyota Tundra with a good size inflated boat on top. What a way to go!

Incidentally, that Panama trip is on our “bucket list” so it was comforting to hear Jimmy and Lilly say that they had no troubles with the residents of the countries they went through and never had grounds to feel threatened. And, as Californians, we do have the required two license plates!!

Today, Monday, we returned to our favorite restaurant with the understated name of Gory Tacos for their $10 dollar (14 oz) T-bone and $20 dollar (12 oz) lobster dinners. Thankfully, our amigo Bart was working. While at the restaurant, we had a nice visit with Henry and Rose from Brooklyn. Henry performs Off-Broadway while Rose works backstage. Henry, who played the umpire in Damn Yankees, and other roles has a wonderful voice and sang a few lines of show tunes for me.

Today, we sent out our laundry for the first time. With one exception so far, Mexican RV parks do not have laundry facilities. Having ones laundry done is very cheap and common in Mexico but I’m squeamish about having somebody wash our undies. In any case, we dropped a bunch of dirty clothes off at the RV park office this morning. Tonite, all of our clothes were returned washed and folded for $200 pesos (less than 20 bucks) plus tip.

Our laundress must be related to our park owners because the afore mentioned cat rescuer came with her to deliver laundry. They spotted Furgie. Need I say more! We promised that The Furg will endure some amount of cuddling and pose for pictures tomorrow before we leave. Alas, we must say adios to bello (beautiful) Cancun.

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Photos

Jimmy and Lilly from Miami
Very talented Jimmy and his lovely bride Lilly entertained and treated us to killer margaritas and yummy snacks at Mecoloco Camp Ground

Our Amigo Bart
Bartolome Garcia Carrillo, Head Waiter at Gory Tacos - The best margaritas and food values we found in Cancun!

Lobster dinner at Gory Tacos
twenty bucks for lobster

Steak dinner at Gory Tacos
ten bucks for 14 oz. T-bone

Perico's
Great place for a night on the town in Cancun's el Centro.

Perico's muy bonita hostess Gabriela Aguilar
Gabriela is very sweet and speaks excellent English although she says she has not lived in the U.S.

Our waiter at Perico's
Notice how he delivered the cerveza.

Raymondo and Marseea at Perico's
Notice the bar stools!

More of Perico's murals
Notice the colorful chairs

Infinity pool at Fiesta Americana Hotel
We did not get photos of the pool at ME because it was too dark by the time we made our way there.

Our server with Raymondo at Los De Pescado
In Cancun's el Centro where we had the killer fish tacos.

Raymondo enjoying a cold cervez at a beach restaurant
Notice the sand floor