Jan. 25, 2009 Day 2 CD Victoria, MX
We crossed the border at 8:30 AM and right away see the poverty in the border town of Reynosa. One house seemed to be constructed of pallets. Much of the area we are traveling through today is agricultural. In the rural area it looks much like Kansas…in the small townsnot so much! as they seem to be very poor people. It is pretty much flat land the first 100 miles and then become rolling hills. The small towns have road side stands selling everything imaginable. Today we see one small town that has about 15 or so stands all selling Cameron which is Spanish for Shrimp. Another was selling the white flowering heads of Yucca plants and another was selling hand crafted furniture. Of course all the towns have several stands selling Mexican foods. The highways we traveled on today were sort of like a 4 lane. Actually they are 2 lanes with 2 wide shoulders. The Mexicans drive straddle of that line on the shoulder leaving a full lane in the middle for passing. And believe me some of them pass any time anywhere. Our Wagonmaster told us If a car turns on their left blinker, that means it is ok to pass and warned us not to use our left blinker to turn. We should check our mirrors and if there is a vehicle coming to get over as far to the right as possible and turn when it is safe. One common mode of transportation in the villages is a little home made wagon pulled by a donkey and used to haul most anything. Our campground here in Victoria is right in town, only about 5 blocks from a small mall and several eating places and a grocery store. Several of us walked there to have dinner. When we got there we realized it was the same place we had been on our bus tour to Mexico City last year. We do not have enough power here to use the electricity. That is not a problem as we can use the generator if we need. We did do that so that I could print the pictures I had taken of the participants. We went to bed early and read a while. We have no TV here so we are finding lots of time to read.
Jan 26, 2009 Day 3 Tampico, MX
Today is another travel day but a short one so we will leave at 10:30 am. This gave us some time to walk this am. We walked on the trail to the downtown area and then back as far as we could go the other way on the trail. It made for a nice 30 min. walk. The Wagonmaster wants us to begin to divide into smaller groups to travel as 21 rigs is way too many going through the towns and cities. So we broke off from the main group. When we stopped for a break we found the group with the Wagonmaster had also stopped there so now we are again one big group until we back off and let them get ahead. Today’s short trip took us through much of the same terrain and small towns. Our campground here is the parking lot of a very attractive 2 story 21 room hotel. We dry camped, meaning we had no services, in the back of the hotel. There we found a very beautiful park like setting with lush green grass several palapas and beautiful flowers. Plus there is a nice swimming pool. It is extremely rare to see a beautiful setting like this in Mexico unless it is government owned. We again had a social with margaritas and snacks.
Jan. 27, 2009 Day 4 Costa Esmeralda, travel day
This, again, is an agricultural area with crops growing up and over the hilly terrain. Crops are mostly fruit trees, oranges, mandarin oranges, and limes. But we also see corn and banana trees. Most are big fields but also some very small areas tended by individuals. Everything is handpicked and we see big farm trucks coming in to towns full of fruit with the pickers sitting on top of the fruit; the end of a very long day for them. Most of them look very young. We have heard the young boys have to quit school in order to help provide for the family and that is one of the main reasons for the very poor conditions in the country. The roads in this area are in very poor condition and not very wide. There is some construction and repair being done in this area and that make it even more hazardous.
Jan. 28, 2009 Day 5 Costa Esmeralda
Today we travel to El Tajin, one of the pyramid ruins of Mayan’s. These structures are believed to have been built starting in 300 AD. Approximately 30,000 people lived here at one time. They grew crops of corn and squash and traded with other tribes to sustain themselves. The archeologist’s theory as to why the area was abandoned is due to no food, poor health and thus they either they died out or moved on to other areas where they could find food and water. Over the years the pyramids became mounds covered with dirt and then a tall forest grew. When the ruins were discovered it was by a plain flying over that could see the very top of the tallest pyramid. Excavation of the area started in earnest by archeologists in 1988. They still are working today at excavating the area. Some pyramids have been just partially excavated to show what it looks like after they remove the trees and begin the process of unearthing the area. Some pyramids have been completely preserved. We had a guide who told us some of the history of this people. They did worship a God and believed in human sacrifices. A game they played in a ball court ended with the winner being sacrificed. He being willing to do this as it was their belief that they would go to a better place.
Jan 29, 2009 Day 6 Travel day to Veracruz
Along the way we came to a traffic stop in the country and it was obvious there must be a wreck or some problem ahead. There were several RV’s ahead of us and some behind. This was a very narrow 2 land road with no shoulder. The Mexican drivers just kept passing the caravan so that the road became blocked with both lanes heading south. An ambulance needed to get through but could not. Finally, after some time, some Policia got that jam taken care of and the caravan begin to move slowly. When we were just a ways down the road we could see a load of pipe on an overturned truck had blocked the lane and they were clearing so the traffic could get through. Just a little further down the road we saw a tandom fuel truck had overturned and was off in the ditch. This highway goes through many small towns and it is so interesting to see the different lifestyles of these sometimes very poor people In the small villages taxis seem to be the main mode of transportation and of course walking. Sometimes we see people walking and carrying their heavy load on their head. On our way we pass through fields of sugar cane and bananas. Our campground, El Rey RV Park, is about 15 miles south of Veracruz and right on the beach. We walked on the beach. The sand is quite solid so it was a nice walk. There are quite a few shells but not many that are different from our stash.
Jan 30, 2009 Day 7 Free Day in Veracruz
Veracruz has a population of over 500,000. It is a port city on the Gulf of Mexico. We went to some shops and Wal-Mart to stock up on a few things, and to get some water. Here in Mexico, we drink only bottled water and we sanitize the water in our holding tank so that we can use it for washing dishes and bathing. All fresh fruits and veggies have to be washed. This is just one of the precautions we take when in Mexico. Even many of the Mexicans drink bottled water. We spent some time walking on the beach in the late afternoon but it was very brisk and the wind was blowing sand and sea mist so we cut it short. An Adventure Caravan “Welcome to Mexico Dinner” at the Perlita Restaurant was a nice way to end the day. It was very good food. The weather continued to get worse and with the brisk breeze we were glad it was not at an outside beach setting. We were not able to do anything more outside at the campground. It was blowing sand and salt water over everything. We are ready to leave this place…in the morning.
