Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Yesterday was pretty quiet and we spent most of the day obsessing over the next leg of the journey. We will get a handle on that but right now we are waiting to see how Adrian & Sandi made out getting to Rincon. They went through Tepic so hopefully they made it without mishap. We have not wanted to go anywhere or drive anywhere since we got here. We went to the beach in the afternoon yesterday for a swim and it would seem not many people in the park do that. We are pretty used to the waves from so many years swimming in Kihei, Maui. That doesn't mean you don't get knocked down getting in as every beach is different but at least it doesn't terrorize us! The waves were smaller yesterday so it was more pleasant to get in and swim. We watched some Mexican para sail guys take people out in the bay and it sure wasn't very safe by our standards. The first one went okay and he dropped her right on the beach. Second time out the lady was quite large and he had a hard time getting her very high in the air. We could see it wasn't going to end well and he dropped her into the surf trying to put her down. Mass panic as everyone hurried into the water to get her out. She had a life jacket on but with all the lines, the chute and big waves it was a bit scary. No one else went out after that one! When they were packing up later we could see that the guys were having a bit of a laugh over it all. When we came back to the rig the Mexican barber was passing by and Eric decided to get a haircut. He sat Eric out on the patio and buzzed his hair off, massaged him and now he is as cute as a bug! I took a couple of pictures of this. We are in shorts and the old Mexican man said he was cold wearing shirt, pants and a wool vest. They are a cold people we have been told and I guess that confirms it. These people work so hard just to get by and many of them are very old. The cut was 60 pesos and we gave him 70. He said business was bad as there are not many people here in Mazatlan. This park is only 1/2 full and the manager (owner?) may have something to with that. Croft mentioned in his blog the raise in rates last year and that though they came down this year that the damage may have been done. He tried to charge an overnighter $50 last night and the man left in a rage. That is not good for business. The owner is probably feeling the pinch but he could use some PR lessons from Joe at Totonaka or Edgar in Santa Ana. They are both the nicest men you would want to meet. Maria on the front desk here is a gem! So today Eric hooked up with Sam from Manitoba who has a Harley and they have gone off in Sam's vehicle for a tour around town. We need to know where shopping, laundry, water, etc. is so we can go out in the truck. For all else we will take the bus downtown to sight see. We have been a bit paralyzed since we got here and have not ventured out yet. Luckily there is a beer store next to us as that is the most important thing!
Sam is happy to have found someone to ride with so now Eric will unload the Harley and they can venture out together. Maybe they can ride down to Los de Marcos and check it out! When Eric returned from his tour Sam had told him the story of how the owner of this park had been kidnapped! Apparently he fired some workers and didn't pay them for their last two months and so they kidnapped him. They wanted $20,000.00 for his return from the owners wife. She checked with her lawyer and he said "Well they are going to kill him whether you pay or not so if I were you I wouldn't pay!" Yikes! She decided she would be happy just to be left with the park for herself so she didn't pay and in the end they let him go anyway. However he didn't learn much because he turned the men in and then fired another young worker who he had decided had masterminded the whole kidnapping scheme. I'd say he is lucky to be alive. True? Who knows. So the bike and Eric are out now checking things out and all we need to for the rest of the day is go for a swim. Not too shabby! Oh, I just about forgot that Eric got called a gringo yesterday. He was riding his bicycle through a construction site and one guy yelled to another "Hey, what's that gringo doing in here? Eric pretended he didn't hear and just cycled out. I said we should get him a great big stick-on Mexican mustache so he would fit in. Then he could say with a heavy Mexican accent "What gringo, I don't see no stinking gringo!" Ah Mexico.
Yesterday was pretty quiet and we spent most of the day obsessing over the next leg of the journey. We will get a handle on that but right now we are waiting to see how Adrian & Sandi made out getting to Rincon. They went through Tepic so hopefully they made it without mishap. We have not wanted to go anywhere or drive anywhere since we got here. We went to the beach in the afternoon yesterday for a swim and it would seem not many people in the park do that. We are pretty used to the waves from so many years swimming in Kihei, Maui. That doesn't mean you don't get knocked down getting in as every beach is different but at least it doesn't terrorize us! The waves were smaller yesterday so it was more pleasant to get in and swim. We watched some Mexican para sail guys take people out in the bay and it sure wasn't very safe by our standards. The first one went okay and he dropped her right on the beach. Second time out the lady was quite large and he had a hard time getting her very high in the air. We could see it wasn't going to end well and he dropped her into the surf trying to put her down. Mass panic as everyone hurried into the water to get her out. She had a life jacket on but with all the lines, the chute and big waves it was a bit scary. No one else went out after that one! When they were packing up later we could see that the guys were having a bit of a laugh over it all. When we came back to the rig the Mexican barber was passing by and Eric decided to get a haircut. He sat Eric out on the patio and buzzed his hair off, massaged him and now he is as cute as a bug! I took a couple of pictures of this. We are in shorts and the old Mexican man said he was cold wearing shirt, pants and a wool vest. They are a cold people we have been told and I guess that confirms it. These people work so hard just to get by and many of them are very old. The cut was 60 pesos and we gave him 70. He said business was bad as there are not many people here in Mazatlan. This park is only 1/2 full and the manager (owner?) may have something to with that. Croft mentioned in his blog the raise in rates last year and that though they came down this year that the damage may have been done. He tried to charge an overnighter $50 last night and the man left in a rage. That is not good for business. The owner is probably feeling the pinch but he could use some PR lessons from Joe at Totonaka or Edgar in Santa Ana. They are both the nicest men you would want to meet. Maria on the front desk here is a gem! So today Eric hooked up with Sam from Manitoba who has a Harley and they have gone off in Sam's vehicle for a tour around town. We need to know where shopping, laundry, water, etc. is so we can go out in the truck. For all else we will take the bus downtown to sight see. We have been a bit paralyzed since we got here and have not ventured out yet. Luckily there is a beer store next to us as that is the most important thing!
Sam is happy to have found someone to ride with so now Eric will unload the Harley and they can venture out together. Maybe they can ride down to Los de Marcos and check it out! When Eric returned from his tour Sam had told him the story of how the owner of this park had been kidnapped! Apparently he fired some workers and didn't pay them for their last two months and so they kidnapped him. They wanted $20,000.00 for his return from the owners wife. She checked with her lawyer and he said "Well they are going to kill him whether you pay or not so if I were you I wouldn't pay!" Yikes! She decided she would be happy just to be left with the park for herself so she didn't pay and in the end they let him go anyway. However he didn't learn much because he turned the men in and then fired another young worker who he had decided had masterminded the whole kidnapping scheme. I'd say he is lucky to be alive. True? Who knows. So the bike and Eric are out now checking things out and all we need to for the rest of the day is go for a swim. Not too shabby! Oh, I just about forgot that Eric got called a gringo yesterday. He was riding his bicycle through a construction site and one guy yelled to another "Hey, what's that gringo doing in here? Eric pretended he didn't hear and just cycled out. I said we should get him a great big stick-on Mexican mustache so he would fit in. Then he could say with a heavy Mexican accent "What gringo, I don't see no stinking gringo!" Ah Mexico.
You will have fun spending Christmas at Las Jaibas. We did that two years ago and Filipe (the owner) donated the turkeys and everyone else did potluck for the trimmings. They also arranged for a children's choir to come in. They were rescued street kids and put on a great show. The park residents collected money for their home.
ReplyDeleteWhat a story about Filipe! I don't think I have ever seen his wife. I doubt she has much to do with the day to day operations.
I like that Mexican barber. His daughter does women's hair and nails. She did Norma's a couple of times and is good.
Keep having fun you two, and expand your horizons. Take a drive to the far end of the Malacon. There are a few nice places where you can sit on the street and have a cold beer and people watch. Also, don't miss the market. If you need a dentist, I can recommend a good one.
PS: Say "Hi" to Sam for us. They are good people!
ReplyDelete