Jan 17, 2014
Happenings on the Isla
Carmeh likes to use me to get to Colin. He caught her balancing act on the arms of our chairs.
...and then she made the leap!
I am still struggling with my cold, today is day 13 but I really do think it is on its way out. I am on my way out also, I need some action so we are heading into Mazatlan for dinner tonight.
The boats are still huddling, not my problem, just saying.
Colin in the blue helping park our newest arrivals, Alberta and Steve from Colorado. Welcome to the Isla. We actually have had 4 or 5 new arrivals in the past week. Some are just here for a week or so and others for longer.
I neglected to welcome Sandy and Rex from West Virginia who are camped in RV2. They came to check out the Isla thanks to my blog but because of my cold I have not spent any time with them, yet!! I have only managed a very short walk in the past several days.
Remember the seeds I planted mid November? They are blooming and make a welcome to all at the front of our site.
I also planted some seeds in pots on our beach steps.
Colin has taken to raking the sand in front of our site just to make it look nice. Caeli wanted to be the first to make an impression 🙄
...and not far behind....
Yesterday we had 8 boats in the bay, I believe that is the record to date. Even the vendors checked it out.
This is our only horse cart taxi on the Isla and the driver sings lovely Mexican arias as he meanders along.
I wonder if Colin is going to give up the raking. Today's string of horses was rather long and fortunately they only left hoof prints!
Many happenings and once again just from my garden.
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The flowers at the front of your site look so lovely! I have a few friends that have had some sort of cold for weeks too…miserable.
Teri…..I love my flowers, most especially because I grew them from seeds.
Chris….the girls get depressed when we go back to Canada as they are quite free here and we are with them almost all the time.
George…Colin chose to do the raking, didn’t get to it yet today, Saturday. Maybe it was a passing phase.
Margie….Gracias amiga, you would love it here.
Colleen/Longdog……yes we do have more privacy as our site is larger. Both the girls have lost some weight but Caeli has bigger bones so looks chunky.
Croft…..I’m sure that you do. It misses you also.
I bet the girls just love being at the beach! The flowers look fantastic!
You keeeping Colin busy there and getting yourself feeling better too.
Beautiful! Especially love the horse taxi! Glad you are feeling better. Margie
Your place on the beach looks beautiful and you have a lot more privacy on your lot than the others do. Carmeh looks like she has slimmed down this winter.
It looks great there. I miss Mexico!
Thank you, Contessa, for the welcome. Sad to say we left the Isla Friday about noon. The no-see-ems or something was eating Rex badly, big red spots all over his legs; the deep woods Off was not effective. Someone said the little bugger are always worse at full moon. I loved the RV park and so did Rex and felt most welcomed by the other RVers and the view is beyond awesome. I did capture one very beautiful sunset picture that I shared with family. Again, thank you for the welcome.
Sandy…..yes the noseeums can be bad and for some reason they are worse in RV2 than in RV1. Still bad here but not so crazy. I wish I had know as I have spray that would have helped. Once again I apologize for not getting over there but then I was trying not to infect anyone. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Contessa, I have to ask about the “elephant in the room!” By that I mean the drug wars that we hear so much about here in the USA. When I look at your blog, I see what I remember from when we lived in Mexico on our boat: lovely people, beautiful beaches, great restaurants and most of all, feeling safe. I always felt safe. That was ten years ago. When I look at the pictures of you and Colin, you look so happy and unconcerned about any danger. And when I read other blogs about traveling throughout Mexico they seem also to be very unconcerned. Do you have any concerns about the violence? Ok…that’s what I consider the “elephant in the room.” Can you put my mind to rest? Thanks again for your lovely blog. Margie http://www.babyboomersonthego.com
Well Margie that is a huge question to answer. I would not call it the elephant in the room as safety and drug cartels and driving through Mexico has been discussed in the RV community for years. We have been travelling in Mexico for over 13 years. Five winters ago we decided to stop here in Mazatlan as things were more unsafe further south in the Acapulco area where we had been wintering. Other RVers continued to travel there and still do with no issues. Four winters ago RVing dropped off considerably in Mexico but ever since it has been on the rise and this winter is the best it has been in the past four years.
In particular to Mazatlan, there have been a few shoot outs over the past few years but it has not been an issue. A few times Rvers and others were in the wrong place at the wrong time but if you stayed away from certain areas at night you had no problems. There was one shooting at an RV park in Mazatlan a few years back but rumour has it that those folks were involved in drugs. Most of the RVers in that park still return to this day. Over the past few years the police presence here had increased. At no time have Colin and I ever felt unsafe anywhere in Mexico. Truth be told twice while in the USA we were very frightened.
Overall the Mexicans welcome us with open arms and are so kind and willing to do whatever they can to help us.
What you remember from your past boating times here is what the reality is now and what we have experienced in our last five winters here. Much of what you see on TV and read in the US news is media hype. That is why the majority of RVers here are Canadian, we tend to judge things for ourselves.
Here on the Isla if there is even a small incident like a minor robbery the locals deal with the person involved most severely. Nowhere is safer than the Isla. Colin travels to Culiacan ( one of the drug capitals of Mexico ) for several days per year to attend the International Guitar Festival and feels very safe. I am left here alone in the RV and feel very safe.
I am glad you took me up on my offer to answer any questions you might have. Keep them coming. I hope this answered what you were asking.
When we get back to Canada in May I will be most happy to call you on the phone for a deeper conversation on this and other issues.
Please know that I could not promote Mexico to all my readers if I felt it unsafe.
Hi Margie, we travel Mexico in our RV as well but we are on the move. In the past six years we have visited every state in Mexico with the exception of the Baja, and have never experienced a problem. In fact, in the history of Mexican RVing, there has never been an RVer murdered. Neither the USA nor Canada can make this claim.
We practice the same common sense we practice anywhere else. We avoid the border areas where 95% of the violence occurs and we are always back at our rig by nine or ten at night so we are safe and sound at home during the hours that 95% of the violence occurs. Yes, we, like Contessa, feel pretty safe in Mexico.
We have an American friend who travels in Mexico. He used to work worldwide for the “State Department” (I suspect the CIA). He explained what he calls “situational awareness” to us and we follow his advice wherever we are. Always be aware of where you are and what is going on around you. The instant you feel uncomfortable, get out of the area or situation. If a busy street becomes suddenly deserted, don’t hang around to see what is going to happen. If a deserted stretch of highway suddenly becomes crowded with black SUV’s with tinted windows, pull off the road and take a break. Always be aware of what is going on around you. This advice is valid wherever you are.
There was a sensationalized case a couple of days ago where a couple of tourists on motorcycles were stopped by bandits on a back road in the State of Chihuahua. They were stopped at gunpoint, robbed and allowed to continue unharmed on their motorcycles. This was jumped on by the press because it happened in Mexico. How many carjackings happened in the USA in the last couple of days? Were they reported? Was the suggestion made that the USA is unsafe because of them? No. Problems can happen everywhere in the world, including at home.
Even in the cases of tourists killed in Mexico, if you read carefully and read follow-up reports you will find that many or most of these cases have drug ties. Someone was buying, selling or using drugs. Many were in places they did not belong or at times when they should have been in bed.
The cartels are not interested in retired tourists. Altercations with them bring the unwanted attention of the press, the federalis and the marines, making it harder to conduct their business which is drugs. Attention is the last thing they want.
Mexico is a beautiful country with friendly, helpful people. We have had so many people go out of their way to help us. Once we cot onto the wrong street outside a crowded Colonial city and had a bus driver go about six blocks off his route to lead us back to the highway. He refused any money and his bus was full of laughing and waving university students yelling to us in English and snapping photos.
We have many stories like this and if you are interested you can search back in our Blog croftsmexico.blogstot.com and have a look.
Croft, thanks for your in depth reply. I had never heard the term situational awareness before and it is great advice.
I thank both of you for such in depth replies. I am so glad to hear that Mexico is very much the same Mexico it was when we were there in 2000 on our boat. We had ruled out Mexico for RV’ing just because of all the bad press, so your blogs (and I am heading to yours, Croft, when I get done with this post) are wonderful in re-introducing me and obviously others to Mexico. We are definitely planning on heading there probably in September if we can get “all our ducks in a row!” Margie http://www.babyboomersonthego.com
Margie, I am sure that you will be happy but September? It might be a tad warm.