The Sunnyside of Mexico (She Said)

HELLO KITTY!!!

2012-08-31T02:22:00.002-07:00

Recently, a dear friend. took us to a lovely little zoo near San Miguel fortress here in Campeche. Not sure how they keep going as its only 10 pesos to get in. The curator gave us and our friends a lively explanation of what goes on there and the improvements they are making. Quite an engaging fellow, even with the language barrier.
In the welcome building they have a number of fish tanks and a couple of white dogfish that were interesting to see. They look like small white sharks as they are of that family. Usually they are spoken of with great relish as they seem to be a local delicacy. We haven't tasted them yet but I'm sure that will soon be taken care of. Today we won't focus on eating the animals in the zoo.

Now we head along to Senor Crocodile. It was all Bruce could do not to try and touch him. What a powerful looking creature! I believe his mouth being open has something to do with him cooling himself not that he was trying to look menacing. But he certainly did. Either way he was he is pretty impressive looking.

This kitty was Bruce's favorite, Miss Ocelot. What a beautiful creature! She purred and posed as we talked softly to her.

This is her a few months later. She had certainly grown.

Her markings are gorgeous. It was hard to tear our eyes off her.

Time to say "Good bye Kitty". We'll be back.
So on your list of 'must sees' in Campeche are the zoo and San Miguel Fort. What a view and such interesting artifacts. More on that later.

Ocelot information.

AKUMAL - SNORKELING WITH BOB THE BARRACUDA

2012-08-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

This was definitely our best snorkeling dive ever! We must have been in the water for a couple of hours. Friends took us to Akumal about 45 minutes outside of Playa del Carmen. They told us they have never taken anyone there who was disappointed after. That would certainly include us.

We were there for the green turtles and saw a variety from 1 foot to about 5 feet long. Afterwards we were comparing notes that it didn't seem real watching them swim under the water. Both of us would watch their heads crest the water just to reassure ourselves we were really there with them. Such amazing creatures!

The snorkel guides are, rightfully, very protective of the turtles and other sea creatures there. Enjoy them just don't touch them. An important note is that holding the turtles' shells and having them pull you can be very hard on their hearts so a 'hands off' policy is best for them and us. If they should happen to bite your finger they could easily break it. So if their personal space is respected a wonderfully awe inspiring experience can be preserved for all.

As if the turtles weren't enough we also saw spiny sea urchins, manta rays, and a wide variety of corals and fish.

Here are a few photos of the beach.

The day before going a friend warned us about not having anything shiny on as it may attract barracudas. He also mentioned about a resident barracuda that many see. So, careful we were. As we are just getting going I happen to look to my right and there is a gal snorkeling beside me and is intent on getting pix of something so I look to my left. About 2 feet from me, between Bruce and I is
Bob the Barracuda. I just remained still and watched this 4 foot fish swim between us and away. Too cool for words!
He made me think of a little kid who goes around with a scary mask who just wants to see people's reactions. Do fish have a sense of humor? Maybe.
The link below is to some videos by talented folks who also enjoyed Akumal. Thanks to the makers of these videos. Their credits are on the YouTube links below. Do take a moment and let them know what you thought.

Bob the Barracuda is in the first one. That's what I like to call him anyway. I'm sure the locals have something more interesting.

See Bob the Barracuda or friend.
Note to self: SPF 50 really does work to keep you from burning, but you've got to put it on generously everywhere. The little red sliver moons where your bathing suit rides up slightly can make sitting a bit challenging for a day or so.
http://www.facebook.com/CEA.AKUMAL This link connects you with the efforts being made to preserve the natural balance of this area.
About.com is looking for your comments on Mexico

Is it time to head home already?

So if you do have the chance to visit Playa del Carmen do make the time to have a snorkel at Akumal Beach. It is truly worth it. You can rent gear there very reasonably from experienced dive tour operators. They will take you out if snorkeling is a new experience for you.

You might just meet Bob.

ANTOJITOS IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN

2012-08-11T12:02:00.004-07:00

So you are on a budget and wondering where to eat in beautiful but touristy Playa del Carmen. We were wondering also after we made the 7 hour road trip. Well do as we did and ask the locals. They suggested what they called a taco stand. This brought to mind a cart but in actuality it was a clean little building with enough chairs and tables for about 15 people to sit comfortably al fresco. The food was hot and delicious.

Something new for us is the refreshing licuados. This drink can be made with a variety of fruits or chocolate and liquified ice with a dash of cinnamon. You also have the option of having it made with milk or water. We tried papaya, strawberry and cantaloupe. My favorite was cantaloupe and water. Its so thirst quenching and a must have on a hot day.

Bruce is enjoying his papaya licuado.

Now to the food. quesadillos, salbutes and huaraches were what we tried on different days. Bruce's winner was chicken salbutes. They are made with deep fried tortillas. How could they not be good. They are similar to panuchos we've had but the waitress said that bean make the differnence between the two.

My choice was the chicken huarache with lots of veggies. Don't forget to add one or more of the zippy salsas they'll bring to your table.

So for 67 pesos we got 2 licuados, 2 salbutes and a huarache. Cdn. that comes to $5.15 plus tip.
It's located by the Chedraui grocery store on Benito Juarez St. and is on 45 Sur.
While you eat you can have your car detailed at the shop on the same lot. That will only set you back about 70 pesos or $5.38 to have you car cleaned inside and out. These guys are worth watching. They are quite amazing. Dinner and a show.

So if you are in Playa del C just go back up Benito Juarez from the waterfront and you'll find some good, yet inexpensive eats and refreshing licuados.

JAVIER MARIN - FABULOUS, LARGER THAN LIFE, SCULPTURES

2012-08-08T10:32:00.003-07:00

How facinating to see the rest of the displays of head sculptures in downtown Campeche. These amazing resin and bronze sculptures are by the talented Javier Marin. They are located in five locations in the downtown area.

Marin has displays around the world. The Campeche State Government through the Ministry of Culture have kindly arranged for these displays.

Do make sure to visit these displays. They are

truly amazing.

Connect with the artist on Facebook.
Javier Marín, escultor | Facebook

www.facebook.com/pages/Javier-Mar%C3%ADn-escultor/20241...

http://www.comunicacampeche.com.mx/P .. php ..? id = 113506

PLAYA BONITA - AND IT IS A BEAUTIFUL BEACH

2012-08-01T16:41:00.001-07:00

The other day we had the pleasure of snorkeling at lovely Playa Bonita. My husband and I are not high adventure people but do like the see some fish while snorkeling in a protected spot. We got to follow around some puffer fish, yellow and blue jacks and a variety of other fish I want to ID. It was surprising how many fish we saw while we were snorkeling.
The water was wonderfully warm and we went early in the week so there weren't many bodies around. Certainly was not difficult to stay in the water for the hour or so as we did.
Its a nice family type beach with, maybe 30, well maintained beach huts or casetas for hammocks. Everything was pristine for that matter. Now doesn't laying in a shaded hammock after a relaxing swim while drinking your cold drink of choice sound positively delicious. Gotta get his and hers hammocks. They are much more portable than lawn chairs.

Only 5pesos per car to get in, about $.40Cdn. That gets you lots of nice parking in a lot with a security guard, basketball and football (soccer) areas, restaurants, plenty of changing and washroom facilities. You may have to pay a peso or $.08 to gain access to the washrooms. Likely this person is not paid and this is their wages. They keep the washrooms clean and are very helpful and so are more than worthy of this wee contribution.

They have some nice features like a number of sets of stairs to get into the water. Also the sea wall that you can just see cresting the water is a bit of a protection too if you have kids. The water is about a meter deep by it so they wont get out too far.

Another nice feature are the open shower units located just as you are heading for the washroom or parking lot. A nice touch to keep the sand at the beach and not in your car.

Playa Bonita is located in Lerma about 15 minutes from downtown Campeche. We hope you get to visit.

GET AHEAD IN CAMPECHE

2012-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Campeche has a wonderful cultural program of displaying amazing metal sculptures in various streets in the downtown. They are there for a limited time and then the display disappears and another pops up elsewhere.

We made the mistake when we saw an earlier display of thinking we could get photos another day. "And there they were - gone" the next time we came.

This time the moment was seized. There is another sculpture, off to the side, in its protective cocoon waiting to be unveiled.

If you are visiting Campeche they are located by Principal Park downtown by the tourism office.

I'll endeavour to find out more details but do put them on your tour. They are quite interesting and very impressive.

While you are visiting us also check out the permanent metal statues around town. Mexico has fabulous metal artwork.

Have you seen some in another city? Would love to see your pix. Email to sunnnymex @gmail.com.

YOUR CAMPECHANO "HOME AWAY FROM HOME"

2012-07-16T18:55:00.002-07:00

So you have decided to venture to beautiful Campeche City. Excellent choice! Ah but where will you stay? Our experience has been that Terracota Corner Hotel is such a place to feel at home. They have flower boxes full of the traditional Mananita.

Why Terracota Corner? Rodolfo and Elba Garcia are just such fabulous hosts in true hospitable Campechano style. They own and operate this newly constructed and recently opened 15 unit hotel.
Their guest rooms feature:

In room A/C.
Comfy pillow top matress for a great night's sleep.

Stay connected with wireless high speed internet.
Have your morning coffee el fresco on the outdoor terrace.

All within walking distance of supermarkets, farmer's markets, artisan shops, and the wide variety of interesting historic sites in downtown Campeche.

At the end of the day relax in front of a HD flat screen TV with a wide selection of SKY channels. Maybe after you have walked home from enjoying our beautiful sunsets on the waterfront.

We live in one of their house keeping units with a full fridge and gas stove. But with all the great, reasonable places to eat nearby, why would you cook? Either way, for us, it feels like home.
So where will your next vacation getaway be? Maybe you'll come and visit us here.

Here is a map to show you where its located.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215271193908197746089.0004c5603ef5b7fbdcd44&msa=0&ll=19.837859,-90.532631&spn=0.009184,0.019956

The Garcias' will graciously make your short or long term stay in Campeche a pleasant one.
Terracota Corner is located on Calle Costa Rica No. 116,
San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico.
Contact Rodolfo or Elba Garcia at garciar35@hotmail.com
Tel.: 81-11467
81-10373
Cell: 044-981-7500-516
044-981-1332-266
NEXTEL ID. 92*918631*1

DID I SAY THAT???

2012-07-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe we have been here three months already. It does seem like a life time of interesting things have happened in that time.

Being with the friends as they learn English and we slaughter Spanish has been a real education in many ways. The other night I am struggling to remember when you use “say or says”, “who or whom”. Does that pop to the front of your brain right away? It didn’t mine either. Good thing I liked English in school so that has helped. Its meant breaking the rust off some far recesses of my brain where those rules are loosely stored .

Its still rather challenging paying for anything or looking for things in the grocery store. Usually we have a general idea of the total but often I just hold my hand out with some change in it and the cashier takes what is needed. We need to play some fast games of fish to help us learn our numbers better. That reminds me that we did see a regular deck of cards that is used here. There are no 8’s or 9’s and the suits are clubs, cups, swords and money. Will be interesting to play a game or so. Good exercise for us.

One curious adjustment is using as descriptive words, words that we use as names. For example:

Linda – lovely or nice

Bonita- pretty

We are trying to focus on learning the polite and formal forms of words.

Most us already know please and thank you.

Lo siento or lamento – I’m sorry

Disculpe- Pardon me (to get someone’s attention)

Con permiso- Excuse me (to move physically)

Muy amable! – That’s very kind of you or much appreciated

Que tenges un buen dia! – Have a good day! This is currently Bruce’s favourite as people’s faces light up when he says it.

This is another of Bruce’s current favourites’: !no tengo la mas remota idea!

“I haven’t the foggiest idea! It, generally, gets a laugh and breaks the communication tension. The folks here have been very indulgent with us.

Treating folks with a bit of dignity and respect can go along way when you are, unintentionally, slicing and dicing the language of their heart. If we can get a few of these out then, maybe, some of our other faux pas’ might be more likely to be overlooked.

So for now. !adios and hasta luego!

Do you have any “language lulus” you’d like to share?

HEY SOUL SISTER - HALIFAX AND CAMPECHE

2012-07-09T20:27:00.003-07:00

What a surprise when I first started doing research on my new home, Campeche, Mexico. I found it was a sister city of my other home, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
What is the criteria for a sister city of Halifax? The criteria used by the Halifax Mexican Committee to determine which places in Mexico to visit was as follows: a capital of a state in Mexico, a city of similar size to Halifax on or near the coast having rich historical tradition.
http://www.halifax.ca/council/Minutes/1998/c980113.pdf

Ever since Campeche became a sister city to Halifax in 1999, education and culture have distinguished themselves as the port city’s biggest export to, and import from, Nova Scotia. A number of students have travelled to Campeche to live with local families, who invite the students into their homes for one semester so they can experience life as Campechanos.

http://www.novascotiabusiness.com/site-nsbi/media/NovaScotiaBusinessInc/otw-winter2004.pdf
Has it accomplished its purpose? I really can't comment but getting to know your neighbors, well that can't be a bad thing. As the popular expression is here, "Mi casa es su casa." And we certainly have been made to feel welcome.
Here is a site that seemed to have a pretty good overview of Campeche and a listing of all of Campeche's sister cities.
http://en.db-city.com/Mexico/Campeche/Campeche
From my vantage point, I enjoy the water front of both cities and their different views of the Atlantic Ocean. Both cities certainly do have some friendly folks. It's great to have two homes where you can feel comfy.

Here is a photo of the waterfront or Malecon in Campeche. In the evening this is a breezy place for the fitness minded and the family oriented, to gather.

Below is a view of some of Halifax Waterfront.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macnutt_net/90522985/ This link deserves the credit for this photo.
The live webcams of Halifax provide real time viewing of the waterfront.
http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/waterfront.html
From my experience both are great places to live and visit. What are your thoughts?

PITAHAYA UPDATE

2012-07-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

In Lerma, near or part of the city of Campeche, there is a Queen of the Night or pitahaya cactus that always catches my eye. One part of the street narrows a bit and the pitahaya cascades over the wall of one of the houses right on the street. So quaint looking.
The dragon fruit plant was the subject of an earlier blog. I have been hoping that one day a bloom would hold on thru the morning and I could see it. I am a bit of a plant nerd.
While driving through Lerma, on the way to Playa Bonita, a bloom on this plant was a little slow closing and awww... I got my wish. My enthusiasm was curbed enough so Bruce could avoid an accident whilst pulling over.

Its interesting that the pitahaya is blooming while producing fruit. Most of the fruiting plants I am familiar with, like apple trees, bloom then have the fruit in a couple of months, long after the blooms are long gone. Our growing season is a bit different in Canada too. Fascinating the various cycles of plants and how they vary.

We tried one from a street vendor. The flavor doesn't match the color. When I saw it I thought it would be a strong perfumy flavor but instead it has a very delicate, fresh flavor. Oh those cacti are amazing water conservationist so this is one place they store it, in their fruit. Pitahaya would make a nice addition to a fruit salad or to add some flash and an exotic feel to your table decor.

I THINK WE ARE IN LOVE.

2012-07-04T14:36:00.001-07:00

Well we are with each other but this love is bounding in with a close second. Mexican food, ahhhhh. Warms the mouth and the soul.

Yes before we came to Campeche we said they only food we didn't like was Mexican. That would be because we had never tasted real Mexican food. Maybe because this has extra Campechano flavor that makes it that much more delicious.
A dear friend got us a roast chicken dinner. Not like oven roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots we are used to in Canada. That's still a favorite but this is a whole new dimension.
Roasted over an open fire and slightly charred, this blackened succulent chicken comes with lots of fixings in little baggies. All this on a soft warm tortilla and you have total infatuation. Add a cold beer and you have just sat down to some kinda wonderful. A large roasted hot pepper and onion heart are snuggled in with the chicken. In the baggies are spicy tomato salsa, tomato rice, tangy lemon cabbage, and marinated zippy red onion.

To buffer the heat there is also a humungo cheese stuffed potato. Comfort food indeed. Oh yes.
What really caps it is that a couple of days a week you can buy one and get another portion free.
The name on the take out bag was Asadero El Pollo 811-32-73. Definitely worth a try and beach or picnic ready.

SMOOTH LIKE BUTTER

2012-06-27T19:54:00.001-07:00

Back to the avocado. The one from a few days ago was wonderful and a dear friend gave me another one. What a whopper! It is called a Mantequilla avocado and is locally also called Yucatan avocado. Either way it is delicious.

Mantequilla means butter. The flesh is a beautiful bright yellow color. That's what it spreads like. Its just so creamy and smooth on a fresh tortilla with warm roasted chicken and hot sauce. Just so yummy.

CAN YOU ID THIS FRUIT?

2012-06-26T10:55:00.002-07:00

The wide variety of flora and fauna, here in Campeche, greatly intregs me. There are so many types I have never seen before. It is claimed that many have medicinal purposes, and I'm sure they do.
This one I haven't really found a satisying name for. It is dark red and has four sections, as you can likely tell from the shape.

It is purported to be able to help with prostate ills. If you have even a little clue do post a comment.
An inquiring mind needs to know.

MARVELLOUS MARANON OR BETTER KNOWN AS…

2012-06-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

This interesting fruit looks rather like a cross between and apple and a pepper…with a bean stuck on the end. When I saw a vendor selling this fruit they had it all attractively arranged. I thought it was an interesting presentation of this fruit and how unusual that they stuck a bean on it. Turns out the bean was on it long before the vendor got a hold of it. It comes in red, pink, yellow and variations in between.

Amongst other things they call it “Devil Fruit”. Supposedly the devil tried to create a fruit but messed up and put the seed on the outside. This is far too interesting a fruit not to be designed. I’ll stick with calling it Maranon.

The stem is on the opposite end of the beanlike part and so grows with the bean on the bottom. It does make you wonder which end is up.

The fruit has rather a strong flavour but not unpleasant. As with many fruits and veggies, the ingenious Mexican women make a refreshing drink out of it. I’m told the flavour is best if you squish it with your hands rather than use a blender. Both ways tasted great to me but I’m only a novice taster. Then it needs to be strained and sugar added along with water and lemon juice to taste. Refreshing indeed!

The pulp tastes rather like apple with a hint of bacon. Pork chops and apple sauce is a combo we love but not a flavor I'd expect in a fruit.

The bean part they take off and roast and call it Indian bean. This has to be done very carefully as it contains a toxin that proper roasting takes care of. I won’t be trying this at home as it can be a severe irritant for the skin and lungs.

Have you guessed the other name for the bean? It’s that delicious nut, the cashew.

Whodathunk?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew

VERY DELICIOUS ...WITH CHILE AND LEMON

2012-06-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

Campeche is certainly rich with a variety of fruits. There are always fresh bananas, at least a couple of kinds of pineapples and various imported fruits at the market.

The interesting thing is seeing the local fruit ‘still on the vine’. Being a gal from Canuckville I had no idea how some of these grew.

Take mangoes, they grow on a huge tree. For some reason I just thought a 15 foot bush instead of a forty foot tree.

And avocadoes (aguacote in Spanish), it’s a big tree also. I was like a little child when I saw my first tree, totally fascinated. Maybe when cultivated they keep them smaller like apple trees, that I am familiar with. It was nice to see them in more of a natural state. This one takes up most of the left side of the photo.

Here are two types of avacadoes but there are many. Just waiting for the light green one to ripen to try for the first time. Notice the bottle of Tajin (for us gringos, Taheen). More on that later.

Then there is the unique pomegranate known as granada here. But whatever you call it don’t eat it with your ‘Sunday go to meeting’ white shirt on. Those lovely tart, little jewels are wonderful but they’ll stain where they land.

Zapote and mamey are supposed to be cousins. Zapote looks rather like a peach with the pit exposed in the following photo but doesn’t taste like it. Mamey is a larger oval fruit and rather fuzzy. Its orange purplishish flesh around a single pit makes me think of velvet some how. As in the expression, "velvetty smooth".

In the same photo are plums called ciruelas. This guy is big on pit and only a thin flesh. How can you describe a flavour? Just taste a perfectly ripe one, if you should have the chance. They are very pleasant. This photo was in an earlier post but wasn't labled.

Guayas are a grape sized fruit that has a gold rough skin like a Cox’s orange apple. Is that a new kind of apple for you? They were one of my father’s favorites and mine also. They are hard to come by even in apple country.

Grosella is a small golden yellow fruit that when boiled turns bright red. Its cooked with sugar and they make a candy out of it. It looks rather like a tiny pumpkin but grows on a tree. Our young friend was telling us how good they are. She tastes one and her face nearly turns inside out as it is so sour. Maybe I’ll wait a wee bit more for it to ripen before I try this one.

This is my husband’s favourite, guanabana. After hearing the name he promptly broke out singing the name to the Muppets “Mana mana” song. I won’t post a recording of that. The white flesh of this fruit is amazingly delicious in drinks and shakes. You may know it as soursop. It is a definite winner in our books.

This is where Tajin comes in. It’s a zippy powder combo of chile, salt and lemon. Once our friends have encouraged us to try the wonderful varieties of fruits and veggies then the refrain will be, “They are very delicious, ...especially with chile and lemon”. Well don’t knock it 'til you tried it. We are rather hooked on mango that way.

THIS IS THE DREADED RAINY SEASON???

2012-06-13T14:42:00.001-07:00

http://www.explorandomexico.com/state/4/Campeche/geography/

“No elevations are found and the terrain is mostly flat as in the rest of the peninsula; the climate is warm and sub-humid, with an average temperature of 26.3ºC and a rainy season from June to October. The tropical storms that are common during this season in the peninsula eventually reach the Campeche coasts.” This quote is from the link above.

To me the sound of rainy season is one dreary day of rain after another with lots of wet and cold. I’m from the east coast of Canada and that often sums up much of our spring and maybe a good chunk of our summer. The east does have its beauty even in the rain though.

Here in Campeche its one fabulous sunny day after another with the odd few hours of a spectacular rain storm show thrown in to refresh the greenery and you, if you let it.

So far the rain only seems to come about every week and a half for a few hours. Now when it does rain here but it’s quite an event. The sky is really dark with ominous and unusual cloud formations. When it starts be assured, all will be soaked. You get a clue of this when you see a door and the door step covers about a foot of the bottom of the door. This is so the water will not run in when the street floods.

If you are coming or going the first step is a doozy. Notice where the curly door handle is.

Our street becomes a river as you see shoes, bottles and whatever else you might be missing flowing along.

And the lightening and thunder show. Fabulous! Caught a bit of it the other week.

Maybe it will get worse as we get into hurricane season. For now we will enjoy the brief shows and how they refresh all.

It reminds me of when our dear mother would indulge us and let us go out into the rain in our bathing suits. That was such a treat! We could be wet with the rain and run and splash in every mud hole that a child is usually drawn to. It was a delight! Not sure how she ended up cleaning two little muddy piggies but it was a great time of youthful fun. Clean doesn’t seem the right word but really it was good, clean fun.

Do you have a happy rainy day memory or two? Love to hear them.

PITAHAYA AND A MEMORY FROM MY YOUTH

2012-06-07T13:48:00.001-07:00

We have been seeing this familiar looking cacti hanging over fences and growing up trees and walls.

It reminded me of one a dear friend had in her living room. It certainly wasn't much to look at but we all have different tastes. (Look at the wide variety of couples in the world and we see attractive things in our mate that others may not.) She would wait up until the wee early hours of the morning to get a glimpse of its flowers. Well this week we were a few hours short of seeing an amazing view of this "Queen of the Night".

Then I found out that this interesting family of cacti has very unusual fruits. It is called Pitahaya or "dragon fruit" and Hylocereus undatus .
The previous photo of the single flower and the next photo of the fruit are from wikipedia. This is the "dragon fruit". Its taste is quite refreshing but does not match its name. I would have never realized this plant from my youth and this exotic looking fruit were connected. So many fascinating things to discover in sunny Mexico.

BREEZING THROUGH CUSTOMS – THAT HARDLY HURT AT ALL

2012-05-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Going by plane into Mexico is amazingly painless, at least when you are flying into Cancun anyway. The price of your FM3 or immigration paper is included in your plane ticket. You just fill out this one page form along with one for your family group. The staff gives you plenty of time on the plane andthen you’ll be guided to Immigration officers once you land. Choose 1 day to 180 days.

This is a look out the window of the plane as the sunsets.

These people actually seem like they don’t mind letting you into their country, as long as you’ve done your part. Just have your proper ID, be nice and no problems. These men and women are all in their sharp uniforms, very much businesslike but pleasant to deal with. They even wish you a good time. Well, I think I may.

Back to the luggage issue. In my last post you saw the amount we had. Is there a van out there big enough and how many people is it going to take to haul this stuff along?

Our very helpful luggage carousel guy assists us to get a cab. Is it lost on him how much we have? Noper, as he gets us what we need, but not what we expect.

The gentleman coming with the cart is not what I would describe in anyway as being athletic looking. Poor guy is going to break his back hauling our stuff and where is his helper?

Well if there were luggage carrying Olympics this guy would be getting all the metals. Wished we’d taken a photo but our mouths are hanging open too far to find our cameras. He was amazing at jockeying our luggage! Off we head to the taxi, hauling only our carryon’s and trying not to step on our bottom lip as our able steward guides us.

Then we are walking towards what? A van? SUV? Station wagon? Nope it’s a Camry. Oh man these guys don’t get it! No way is that going to fit!

Again our mouths are gapping. The taxi driver starts loading our luggage into his trunk. This is like watching him work with large, heavy puzzle pieces. Like Jenga in his trunk. There is no squishing, cramming or jamming, just fitting in. He does this in a flash. Guess he’s probably done this a time or two. Man, its all in there with only one piece in the front seat and our laptops in the back seat with us. Whew what a humongous relief!

Now off to the lovely Bonampak Hotel in sunny downtown Cancun. http://hotelbonampak.com/index_en.html What a great night's sleep we had.
I think we should ask for a van to take us to the bus line for Campeche just in case we don't find as talented a trunk puzzle assembler as last night. Alas our cab arrives, and it is even smaller than the one last night. This is a Nissan Tsuru, a very popular vehicle for taxis. He too had excellent packing skills. We just ended up with our suit bag between us. Pretty good.
Now off to our comfy ADO bus for the 6 hour trip to Campeche. No chickens on this bus or any other we have seen. So what did he say...?

2012-05-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

TO THE AIRPORT AND CHECKING HOW MUCH??? HEAVY LUGGAGE

So you are going on vacation. Basically if you are going one or two weeks you pack the same stuff. But what if you are going for a year? And you are trying to limit yourself to your suitcases, not shipping anything? And you are a woman of substance, like me so can I buy clothes and shoes here that will fit? And you are trying to avoid paying the price of an extra passenger like we did? That is a very tall order.

Mon. morning a dear friend kindly picked us up at 3:45am to take us to the airport. We did a practice run the night before to make sure it would all fit. Once we arrived in

Mexico

we were astounded as to how much luggage can really fit into a small car.

So we had 4 carry ons (Two vultures get on a plane each carrying a 3 dead raccoons. The stewardess, opps, flight attendant says “Don’t you know its limited to 2 carrions each”.) and 5 checked pieces. Bruce had carefully stepped on and off the bathroom scales a million times with the various pieces at different times. The four were under 50 lbs each and the large one 60 lbs, or so we thought.

So at the air port Mr. Baggage check in man, with many swings of his head, pointed out they were all over and we couldn’t take the big one. PANIC!!! He says if we take out 5 lbs from the 65lber he’ll let us take it. SCRAMBLE!!! We take some stuff and quickly cram it into our carry on. “Ok you can take them but this is gonna cost you”. What can we do? As Bruce says, “Pay the man and say,” Thank you very much””. So we kept calm and kept smiling and did just so. Now we go to the gal we have to pay. She is horrified and so apologetic that he would charge us so much and be so inflexible. She asks if we want her to get our luggage so we can repack it. Well it took us days to pack it and the stress-o-meter would be going off the chart if we had to whip them open then and redistribute. There would have been a big storm of unmentionables and what not that day. So “Just pay the woman and say…” What a lovely gal she was! We told her what we were doing and she was very jealous (she said so) and commending about our endeavours.

Now as we are walking towards security Bruce remembers his knife is in his pocket, as he always has it there. “Good bye our little friend the knife” and Ker plunk into Mr. garbage can. Then I remember that some of the stuff I had grabbed and crammed into my carry on, so that our other luggage could go through, has all our toiletries in it. Well what can you do, just smile and carry on. They stop me and I have to go back through security. No not because of any hazardous hair spray, it’s my six year old comfy Neutralizers’ sole that are a threat to national security. Emergency averted and off we go.

A few valuable lessons can be learned here:

- do your best to try and understand your airlines baggage policy, and pack less.

- buy quality and buy less. If you are in any major center there are lots of name brand stores and lovely seamstresses. We could have bought a fair bit of clothing for the extra we had to pay due to our luggage being over.

- make sure, if need be, that only one bag is over and the rest a bit under.

- it might be good to invest in a little luggage scale. Having your dear husband balancing 50 or so lbs of luggage while you are craning your neck under the luggage and around his legs might not be really conducive to accurate measurement.

- sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things may not go smoothly but maintaining your calm will help your head stay clear. And not make the folks on the check in desk not hate their job.

So what did he say http://thesunnysideofmexicohesaid.blogspot.mx/

2012-05-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

How will we buy food? Where will we get water? How will we do any of that as we don’t speak the language? Have I scrubbed these fruits and veggies enough? What if I get water in my eyes while I am showering? What was I thinking of coming here? I’m sure you get the idea. For the first three days we thought the tops of our heads were going to blow off from stress.

Alas, our wonderful hosts had been coming to our rescue. The tops of our heads stayed firmly planted as the stress dissipated. They helped us to buy bottled water, only two doors down. They took us to the grocery store and helped us to start to learn that everything we needed was right around us. Yes things looked very different from our home in Halifax but really everyone has the same basic needs so its got to be here.

As time is going by we are really coming to see the charm of the people and the lovely scenery of Campeche. Oh those beautiful sunsets on the Malecon!