Jan 31, 2009 Day 8 Veracruz guided bus tour
Today we have a guided bus tour of Veracruz with stops at the San Juan de Ulua Fortress, a trip to La Antigua where we will have an authentic Mexican lunch and a tour of the small town. The fortress, built in 1519, was a protection from the Spaniards who were trying to gain control of the city. The history of the fortress found in many of the larger cities in Mexico were not of much interest to us. Our tour guide gave us some history and facts about the city which were interesting. The minimum wage at this time in Mexico is 49 Pecos per day which is about $5 in American money. School is free to all children. Despite historical advancements and heroic efforts by educators, Mexico continues to struggle with "rezago," or educational failure. Millions of students drop out after primary school and secondary school. Rural communities--especially those of Indigenous people where millions of citizens speak Spanish as a second language--have high rates of poverty. In these settings, many children drop out of school to work and support their families, which contributes to a higher rate of illiteracy. . Many do not attend as they have to start working at an early age to help feed the family and they cannot afford the school supplies and school uniforms that are required. Lack of education is said to be a main factor in the poverty level of Mexico. Most all of the schools require school uniforms. Some are quite elaborate while some are just tee shirts. College costs $50 Pecos per semester but only the few who have been able to finish their general education will attend. We went to the Zocalo, the town square, in Veracruz. Nearly every city and town, even the very small towns, have a Zocalo. The square, usually in the center of the town, is a gathering place and around it are the Cathedral or church, the government building and other places to eat or shop. We enjoy visiting and taking pictures, and seeing the differences in the Zocalos and the churches/Cathedrals. In La Antigua we had a nice lunch and then drove to their Zocalo and saw their very simple design church.
Today we have a guided bus tour of Veracruz with stops at the San Juan de Ulua Fortress, a trip to La Antigua where we will have an authentic Mexican lunch and a tour of the small town. The fortress, built in 1519, was a protection from the Spaniards who were trying to gain control of the city. The history of the fortress found in many of the larger cities in Mexico were not of much interest to us. Our tour guide gave us some history and facts about the city which were interesting. The minimum wage at this time in Mexico is 49 Pecos per day which is about $5 in American money. School is free to all children. Despite historical advancements and heroic efforts by educators, Mexico continues to struggle with "rezago," or educational failure. Millions of students drop out after primary school and secondary school. Rural communities--especially those of Indigenous people where millions of citizens speak Spanish as a second language--have high rates of poverty. In these settings, many children drop out of school to work and support their families, which contributes to a higher rate of illiteracy. . Many do not attend as they have to start working at an early age to help feed the family and they cannot afford the school supplies and school uniforms that are required. Lack of education is said to be a main factor in the poverty level of Mexico. Most all of the schools require school uniforms. Some are quite elaborate while some are just tee shirts. College costs $50 Pecos per semester but only the few who have been able to finish their general education will attend. We went to the Zocalo, the town square, in Veracruz. Nearly every city and town, even the very small towns, have a Zocalo. The square, usually in the center of the town, is a gathering place and around it are the Cathedral or church, the government building and other places to eat or shop. We enjoy visiting and taking pictures, and seeing the differences in the Zocalos and the churches/Cathedrals. In La Antigua we had a nice lunch and then drove to their Zocalo and saw their very simple design church.
We arrived back to the RV Park at 5 PM to rest a bit and then went back to Veracruz for a Mariachi/dance performance and the Boca del Rio Light and Sound Show. We knew we were supposed to have a “snack” at the Mariachi performance but instead we had a full meal…at least for us. In fact Gene and I shared one. It was a plate of 3 Tostados which are a small hard flat tortilla with topping of meat and salad ingredients and usually topped with sour cream. They are delicious but 3 each would be way too much for us. The show was good but not as much talent as we have seen in Texas. However it was quite fun as the dancer came into the audience and picked some guys to dance the Mariachi with her. Gene was the first one she picked and it was quite fun for everyone…but Gene. The other guys seemed to enjoy the limelight. The Light and Sound show was waterfalls with colored lights changing colors all set to music. It was quite fun to watch. This was a very long day and we were glad to be home to rest for our travel day tomorrow.
Feb 1, 2009 Day 9 Travel day to Villahermosa
The highways in this part of Mexico are not so good. There are lots of pot holes and some of the roads are quite narrow with not much if any shoulder. Usually there is quite a drop-off too. But today so far the roads seem to be pretty good. Even parts of them seem to be quite new and some are actually a divided 4 lane. We do pay dearly for these good roads though. Most all of them are toll roads and our leader told us last year this trip cost him over $500 American money for toll road fees. A couple of interesting things we see along this road are some very new and modern bridges. Some of the land owners have put up what they call “Living Fences” sometimes they are there just for “looks” As we understand it, they take a special kind of tree, cut the top out of it and plant it upside down. The the old roots begin to grow branches and leaves and theye have a new tree. The rural areas here, again, have crops. The area we are now passing through has lots of pineapple, pina in Spanish and pronounced peen yah.
The highways in this part of Mexico are not so good. There are lots of pot holes and some of the roads are quite narrow with not much if any shoulder. Usually there is quite a drop-off too. But today so far the roads seem to be pretty good. Even parts of them seem to be quite new and some are actually a divided 4 lane. We do pay dearly for these good roads though. Most all of them are toll roads and our leader told us last year this trip cost him over $500 American money for toll road fees. A couple of interesting things we see along this road are some very new and modern bridges. Some of the land owners have put up what they call “Living Fences” sometimes they are there just for “looks” As we understand it, they take a special kind of tree, cut the top out of it and plant it upside down. The the old roots begin to grow branches and leaves and theye have a new tree. The rural areas here, again, have crops. The area we are now passing through has lots of pineapple, pina in Spanish and pronounced peen yah.
This area has little stands set up under the overpasses selling pineapple juice and or pineapples.
The fruits here in Mexico are very tasty but we do not buy cut up fruit from the street venders as we have no way of knowing how they have cleaned and prepared the fruits or veggies. When we arrived at our destination for tonight we found the campground had been sold and the new owners had put a wrecker lot in where the old campground was. This area in the past also had a very nice swimming pool and was a fun campground . The pool is still here and the young people come here for fun and noisy times. Since there was nowhere else to go, we did stay here but very close to the pool and in very cramped conditions. Kids in the pool were having a noisy, fun time while we were upset and angry about our conditions. We made a decision to travel on to our next destination in the morning and not go to the La Venta Parque which was our scheduled stop in this area. It is a remarkable outdoor archeological museum. It features huge stone heads sculpted nearly 3000 years ago by the Olmecs. They are exhibited in a lush tropical botanical garden. The picture and more information is at: http://www.delange.org/LaVenta/LaVenta.htm. Since we are not going there we will have two days at Isla Iguada and the Freedom Shores RV Park. We are hoping it is as nice as the Wagon Master says it is. When arriving here one of the RV’s in the caravan, Rig # 7, was having some engine problems so they and their friends in Rig # 9, along with the Tail Gunner stayed behind to get the problem fixed.
Feb. 2 Day 10 Travel day to Isla Iguada, Freedom Shores RV Park.
The traffic is heavy in the cities. Bumper to bumper, lots of passing and narrow streets that the locals try to make into 3 lanes instead of 2. So we go slow, remain cautious and are ready for anything. There are beautiful flowering trees along this stretch of the highway, a light pink, orange, red, yellow and a few darker pink. They seem to be all the same kind of tree. They are quite beautiful and really decorate the heavily treed areas. In the small towns there are not many cars. Most of the people do not have cars. Taxis are their main mode of transportation. A taxi is a little hand made cart pulled by either a bicycle or a small motorcycle. There are many of them AND they “own the road”. Today we cross the state border into Campeche. In our travel log it says there will be an inspection by the Policia to take any pork, chicken and eggs that we have which is not uncommon when passing from one state to another in Mexico. The reason they do this is not clear and the food items taken can differ from one state to the next. So just prior to the inspection point we all stopped and found a place to hide some of the foods we have. Today they did not want pork chicken but they did want eggs, oranges and mandarins. With most of the RV’s the Policia went right in the RV’s and looked through the refrigerator and freezer. For us a man who spoke very little English just stood by Gene’s window and ask for the items. We gave him 2 oranges and 2 eggs. He was satisfied. This RV Park is the nicest we have been in. Our motorhome is parked just a few yards from the water. It is beautifully landscaped and the temperature is very comfortable.
Feb 3 Day 11 Free day in Isla Aguada
This was an added free day due to arriving here at Freedom Shores a day early. At this point I can’t think of a more beautiful day or place for a free day than this. The RV park here offered us a couple of things to do for an extra price: a Moto taxi tour of the village of Isla Aguada and/or a boat ride in the bay of Laguna. This is a very small village so Gene and I decided to walk around the little town rather than riding. On the boat ride we were told we would see dolphin, go to Shell Island for shelling, see the Banyan Trees, and observe birds on Bird Island. We saw a few dolphins from a long way away, it was too rough to get to Shell Island, we did see the Banyan Trees and we did see the birds on bird island. But the fun was in watching the Mexican staff, who just happened to be the cooks, get the boat in and out of the water. The boat was not big enough for all who wanted to go so some of us went this am and the rest were scheduled to go in the afternoon. As the time approached for us to go we noticed there was no boat around. There was a boat near the dining room but it did not look big enough nor very sea worthy. But low and behold soon they, actually the Cooks for the restaurant, were hooking it up to a caravan which pulled it down near the water. There was no boat ramp and the water was very shallow so they had made an extension to the boat trailer. The fiasco began The boats pilot spoke no English but the owner’s wife spoke very good English so she did the talking. She was our guide and did a good job explaining where we were going and what we were seeing. At one point we came near to a man fishing in a small flat bottom boat but he was standing up and using a long pole to propel himself in the water. The pilot slowed down and motioned him over to explain this unusual way of fishing. He told us through the guide that the waters here are very shallow and he just pushed the pole into the water to move from place to place. He is fishing for Blue Claw Crab and has a basket of them. The pilot picks one up by placing his hat in the basket and the crabs just clamp on to the foreign object with its claw. We all found this and the crabs quite interesting. The birds do not swarm much until just about dusk and we were able to see them with a great sunset too.
Feb 3 Day 11 Free day in Isla Aguada
This was an added free day due to arriving here at Freedom Shores a day early. At this point I can’t think of a more beautiful day or place for a free day than this. The RV park here offered us a couple of things to do for an extra price: a Moto taxi tour of the village of Isla Aguada and/or a boat ride in the bay of Laguna. This is a very small village so Gene and I decided to walk around the little town rather than riding. On the boat ride we were told we would see dolphin, go to Shell Island for shelling, see the Banyan Trees, and observe birds on Bird Island. We saw a few dolphins from a long way away, it was too rough to get to Shell Island, we did see the Banyan Trees and we did see the birds on bird island. But the fun was in watching the Mexican staff, who just happened to be the cooks, get the boat in and out of the water. The boat was not big enough for all who wanted to go so some of us went this am and the rest were scheduled to go in the afternoon. As the time approached for us to go we noticed there was no boat around. There was a boat near the dining room but it did not look big enough nor very sea worthy. But low and behold soon they, actually the Cooks for the restaurant, were hooking it up to a caravan which pulled it down near the water. There was no boat ramp and the water was very shallow so they had made an extension to the boat trailer. The fiasco began The boats pilot spoke no English but the owner’s wife spoke very good English so she did the talking. She was our guide and did a good job explaining where we were going and what we were seeing. At one point we came near to a man fishing in a small flat bottom boat but he was standing up and using a long pole to propel himself in the water. The pilot slowed down and motioned him over to explain this unusual way of fishing. He told us through the guide that the waters here are very shallow and he just pushed the pole into the water to move from place to place. He is fishing for Blue Claw Crab and has a basket of them. The pilot picks one up by placing his hat in the basket and the crabs just clamp on to the foreign object with its claw. We all found this and the crabs quite interesting. The birds do not swarm much until just about dusk and we were able to see them with a great sunset too.
We arrived back at the RV Park just in time to join the others for a delicious Hamburger Dinner. These were huge hamburgers…so huge that we shared one. Along with it were some delicious French fries. It was a very good dinner. We got our laundry done here and it was ready for pickup after we ate. We were very disappointed with the quality of work done here. From experience we expected a much better job. Oh well…next time.
Feb 4. Second free day at Isla Aguada Day 12
This morning bright and early I looked out the window to see many, hundreds, of pelicans lazing in the water just off the shore of the RV Park. It was an awesome site, but not as awesome as the Sunrise on the beach. This is starting to be a beautiful day. God is good…all the time. After our walk around town we drove back to Playa del Carmen, just on the other side of the bay, to stock up on some groceries. In the evening we had a nice social with the group and had a travel briefing for our trip tomorrow. We have had a great time here and this definitely is an RV Park we will fondly remember
Feb 5 Travel day to Campeche Day 13
We were very excited thinking we would be driving along the beautiful waters of the Gulf. However they are not beautiful here. The water is very murky and it is just not a pretty site for several miles. We are seeing lots of crops being grown in this area. Looks to be prosperous for these farmers as they have some very nice homes. A little further down the road we see some huge and tall structures being built…or at least started. They look like they might be apartment towers or perhaps a resort area. They have only been started and not much sign of activity around them now. This is so typical in Mexico. They have big plans but often don’t seem to follow through. These may never be completed. Our travel log says we will be going through a village that sells Shrimp cocktails and so we stopped there to have a taste. They are not like shrimp cocktail in the states. It was served in stemmed glass dish similar to an ice cream soda glass, chock full of shrimp and a tasty thin cocktail sauce poured over it. It was sooo good and we do plan to have that again sometime down the road.
Our RV Park, Club Nautico, is a huge private club and hotel for the well to do Mexicans and has several tennis courts, a beautiful pool, a huge clubhouse with game rooms, a bar, ballroom and restaurant facilities. On the beach side are several palapas, a boat ramp and dock area. It includes the very upscale RV park that we are staying in. It is an awesome facility. It is off season here so everything is closed but the building was unlocked as they have a night watchman. In the evening we took advantage of the open bar area to play Mexican Train with some of our group.
Feb 6 Day 14 Campeche City Tour, San Miguel Fortress, Zocalo and Walled city
We are in a very mountainous area with hills running right up to the Gulf waters. Our bus tour today will take us just a few miles from the RV Park to the city of Campeche, population 1 million. We first stopped at the Fortress which sets high on a rock ledge over the Gulf of Mexico. Campeche became an important port during the mid 16th century and then began to have problems with pirates. So it was decided they needed a fortress to defend themselves. This website gives a good description of it along with some good photos too: http://www.mexicowoods.com/page2/files/e95881a661bc6def02f86d25193e1a54-190.html . We also went to the Burrough of La Vida which is the very oldest part of Campeche to see the Catholic church there and then on to the Zocalo to visit the Cathedral. Compared to some Cathedrals we have been to this one has a very simple design. We walked just a few blocks to the Bazaar and had lunch with our friends, Wayne and Bonnie. On the way back to meet the bus we found a bakery and bought some pastries and then went home
