Mexico - the first week

What a week we’ve had! We arose early on Tuesday, September 23 and drove to the border at Nogales, AZ. Our plan was to cross the border using the truck crossing to avoid the hassle of downtown Nogales, Mexico. Following instructions provided to us by our auto insurance company, we crossed the border. It’s rather odd because one drives out of the US and into Mexico for 6 miles (KM 10) before actually reaching the first border station (just a checkpoint really). The road has fences perhaps 20-30 feet high on either side so it’s impossible to wander into other parts of the country before getting to these officials. One must continue traveling to KM 21 where the actual entry paperwork is completed. We arrived there at 8:00 a.m. and were on our way in 45 minutes with tourist visas and car permit in hand. The officials were very friendly and, despite the fact that they speak only Spanish and ours is highly limited, it really was a breeze. And, when we got back to the car, there was a beautiful green cricket-like bug waiting for us - a good luck sign, we figured.

Cricket visitor

After an uneventful 6 hour drive to San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez, we found a reasonable hotel overlooking the marina. A beautiful area, if a bit touristy. We dispatched several large black crickets, turned on the air conditioning (which sounded a lot like a jet engine), and settled in for the night.

San Carlos

The Sea of Cortez was an evocative experience for us because we previously spent 5 months sailing in there in 1984 and another 10 days chartering there with friends in the late 90’s. We have always loved Mexico and it was a pleasure to be back again.

On Wednesday (24th), our destination was the old colonial town of Alamos, a scant 200 km from San Carlos. The town is located 52 km up in the hills east of Navajoa and it’s a very pleasant drive through green fields and forest, a pleasant change from the desert. Alamos has been a town for more than 500 years and at one time boasted 30,000 residents. Now, however, all that remains is the central core with many old colonial buildings. Many of these have been purchased by gringos and restored to their previous glory. Several of the larger colonial houses now operate as B & B’s and others as shops, restaurants and cafes. It is normally a sleepy little place with about 300 ex-pats in residence during the winter months. But, on the occasion of our visit, everything was hustle and bustle because the President of Mexico and several state governors were meeting there the next day. We planned to stay for two days but were restricted to one because all of the rooms had been booked months in advance for the President and governors. However, we were able to spend one night and chose the lovely Casa Puerta Roja Inn, an old colonial that had been lovingly restored by an American couple. The rooms were large and beautifully decorated in the Mexican style, each different from the other. And, the bed was superb. In the morning, we were served a fabulous breakfast of grapefruit (which had been lightly broiled, unusual but very good) accompanied by two scones and a glass of blended orange juice, banana and watermelon. To our astonishment, this was followed by a fabulous omelette filled with cheese and peppers and topped with a zucchini coulis. We ate it all and didn’t eat again until supper when we had a small salad to compensate!

Puerta Roja

Mazatlan was our target for Thursday, a rather long 600+ kilometres from Alamos. We arrived weary and found we couldn’t stay in our preferred hotel in the Mexican sector of the city because there was a convention in town. Down the road two blocks, and right on the water, was our second choice, a very old and very Mexican hotel that has never been renovated. Nevertheless, it was clean and the view of the ocean right across the street was wonderful. In the morning, upon taking our luggage to the car, we discovered that it had rained during the night and a little man from the hotel had completely wiped down our car so that it was shining.

View from Mazatlan hotel

We left Mazatlan early on Friday so that we would reach Guadalajara before the weekend rush started. It was a lovely drive which wound up through green rolling hills planted with pineapple and other crops. Then, as we reached the more mountainous section, the hills were covered with beautiful pine trees with needles perhaps 25 cm long. They were striking and unlike anything we had seen before. We reached the Perifico (ring road) at Guadalajara around 3:00 p.m. and although traffic was heavy we negotiated our way through it and on to Ajijic with little trouble. We arrived at the rental home of Daphne and Lynn to find a note on the door saying that they would return shortly and so we took a few minutes to walk around the El Dorado development where their new house is being constructed. We returned to their temporary home to find they had arrived and we were boisterously welcomed. Shortly after, we discovered that we had been invited to join them and several of their friends for drinks at the home of their neighbours Rod and Terri.

Daph & Lynn's house (rental)
Ajijic town plaza

The next day we wandered around the town of Ajijic, and had our first beer, chips and salsa at a local restaurant near the town plaza. A fine start to our stay in Mexico!