Our friend Claude is a hockey fan who has not been able to see a game since he left Quebec. The other night we set up our little TV outside and cheered the Vancouver Canucks on to a victory. We are having a great time down here!
Freedom Shores is a beautiful park on Isla Aguada, right on the shores of Laguna de Terminos. It is a beautiful site, probably the nicest we have yet seen. Bill, the owner, is in a wheelchair and has everything set up for handicapped travelers.
Thelma and Bill.
According to Steve, one of his guests from Ottawa, this is one of the very few places in the world that is this handicap friendly. Steve’s very reasonably priced all inclusive package includes a nurse! Steve does not want to leave and it is obvious why!
Here is a happy Steve with his nurse, Matilde.
Last night we had the grand opening of "Bill’s Bar" in the restaurant. The big screen was set up and hockey news was on so we all took our plates over from the restaurant and officially opened the new facility! It was a great time!
Here are Thelma, Bill, Claude,Norma, Croft, Steve, Danielle and Chi Chu, our all-important bartender.
Like Steve, we are also having a hard time leaving Freedom Shores. Last night, Claude, Danielle, Norma and I decided to stay one extra day so we could take a fishing charter on Thursday. Steve will be coming with us so it will be a lot of fun. Steve has been out before and the boat pulls up to the shore and a couple of the staff members pick him up and put him in the boat! He has an electric reel so he is all set. We will be feasting on fresh Red Snapper tomorrow night!
Thanks Danielle for the use of your photos.
Paul, Dodi and Nikoli are moving on to Merida today. They were abandoned by their caravan when Paul developed a medical problem. Paul and I went over his maps last night so now he knows where all the RV parks are for the rest of his trip. I can only emphasise over again – don’t come to Mexico without the Church’s book, Travelers Guide To Mexican Camping!
Nikoli is a Russian who was backpacking and sleeping on the beach here when Paul and Dodi pulled in. Paul was recovering from surgery and could not lift anything so they asked Nikoli to help them and the friendship was cemented. He will be traveling with them for the rest of the trip and they are trying to arrange a visa for him to accompany them to Florida.
Dodi has an appointment to see a back specialist in Merida tomorrow to try to get a chronic back problem repaired. We wish her good luck in this as back pain is no fun! They are all good people and we will meet again!
Our final dinner. Croft, Nikoli, Paul, Dodi, Norma, Danielle and Claude.
When we checked into Freedom Shores we picked out a beautiful spot right on the beachfront. Paul and Dodi were already there and when our friends Claude and Danielle showed up they took another of the prime spots. They cost a little more than the spots away from the water but the view was worth it!
Yesterday a caravan from Quebec showed up and insisted that their reservations included all waterfront spaces. Bill, the owner, told them there was plenty of room for all of them but he could not make paying guests move to accommodate them. The woman running the caravan was very pushy, as we have found most caravan leaders to be. She was not backing down and threatened to take her deposit back and move on for the sake of three spaces. Bill was caught in the middle of her insisting that he kick us out to keep her business of twenty some RV’s for five nights and us insisting that we were paid up and not moving. He resolved the problem by offering the three of us a very good deal on the rest of our stay that we could hardly turn down. He had his workers help us move over to a side row and this particular battle was over. We were still mad but I had to feel very sorry for Bill. He is a really nice guy trying to go out of his way to make everyone happy and his frustration and embarrassment was evident. This has been our overall experience with caravans and I feel fully justified in my campaign to convince people that they do not need them.
Poor Paul and Dodi have received a double punch from them, first having been abandoned at the side of the road by one when Paul got sick and now getting kicked out of his spot by another.
The individual members of the caravan were not to blame as they had no idea of the saga being carried out by their pushy leaders. Their complaint is that, after paying $8000 each for the caravan, they are treated as children and told where to park, when to get up and when to eat. Paul said he was actually glad he got sick because he did not think he would have been able to put up with this treatment for the rest of his trip.
Do it on your own. Enjoy Mexico and it’s wonderful culture and people without being treated as children. You don’t need caravans and you will have much more fun without them. So will we!
When we made the decision to travel for six months out of the year we went into it with our eyes open. We knew that much of the time we would be away from communication and in places where it would not be easy to leave the motorhome to run home if anything happened. We had also heard all the doom and gloom stories and warnings against traveling SOB (south of the border).
We considered everything and after talking with our son decided that the benefits of the adventure outweighed the somewhat remote chances of being caught out of touch if something happens. Also, there is some level of danger anywhere in the world these days, even at home. We were not going to let any fear of the unknown prevent us from seeing the world. As I say, we went into it with our eyes open.
A couple of days ago this decision was put to the test for me. The Internet was not working at the RV Park and we had not talked to anyone for a few days. When the Internet was repaired my Skype phone rang and it was my niece, Robin, telling me that my brother had just died in Edmonton. It was quite sudden but there were a couple of days warning. If I had known, would we have recognized the warning and made the decision to fly to Edmonton? If we had, would we have made it there in time? I don’t know. I do know that my brother had a great life which he lived to the full. I also know that he would not have wanted any huge muss and fuss. He would have wanted us to remember our good times with him and to carry on. That is what we will do.
In June, the family will get together in Alberta to celebrate his life. And, like it or not, hear my Mexico stories.
Gord and me. I’m the cute one on his knee.
His first bike. Yes it’s a girls – he had to share with our sister.
Gord, Willow and me with two of their granddaughters.
I went for a walk around Isla Aguada today with our friends Claude and Danielle from Quebec. Here is Claude and I on the Malecon.
Along the Malecon we passed the local conch meat factory. It is all open air beside the river and the piles of shells are huge. You are allowed to pick up all the shells you want and the rest are sold to pharmaceutical companies to be powdered and made into calcium pills.
We watched as a small hand made canoe paddled under the footbridge. If you look closely, it appears to be made from a single log with some repair work having been done in the bow. This is the Mexican equivalent of taking the kids for a ride through town in your ‘65 Mustang.
Of course wherever you go in Mexico there are always curious, happy kids watching and I can never resist them.
The “Beachfront Gang” went for dinner at the park’s little restaurant again last night. Norma had a hamburger and I had the Camerones de Ajo (again). They were delicious (again). Here we are with Paul and Dodi, our friends from Florida.
Paul and Dodi were part of an RV Caravan who got left behind when Paul developed a medical problem along the way which is now all fixed up. They have never RV’d in Mexico before so Claude and Danielle and Norma and I have been giving them some tips to increase their confidence to carry on by themselves. We have all been having a lot of fun in the meantime.
Here at Freedom Shores, there are three of us parked along the beach. Last night we decided to have a pot luck dinner that turned into a late (for a bunch of old f**ts) evening of conversation, oldies tunes and a little booze. Good people and good food are the secret ingredients!
Claude & Danielle (Quebec), Croft & Norma, Paul & Dodi (Florida)
Nickoli (Moscow), Claude, Norma, Danielle, Croft, Paul. Hat trend setters!
Yesterday a Mexican family came to the beach in front of Freedom Shores for a picnic. I was laying in my hammock watching the only cloud pass by when a tiny voice beside me said “Hi”. I turned to find this charming little girl on the other side of the fence smiling at me. I asked her if she spoke English and she replied that she did. She is a very captivating little girl! I asked her name and she told me something like Mahala. I told her to wait while I dug out a small Canadian flag and pin for her. She then spent the next couple of hours marching up and down the beach proudly holding her flag just like an Olympic Flag Bearer.
She kept coming back to the fence to smile and watch us and then suddenly, they were gone. I never got a chance to say goodbye.
