Catemaco To Veracruz

We got away from the Hotel Tepetepan RV Park fairly early (before eleven is “fairly early” for us) and headed for Veracruz. It was a typical Mexican secondary highway, going through all the towns along the way. I actually prefer these roads to the cuotas which are the equivalent of Interstate Highways in the USA. You drive a lot slower but you get much closer to the people and you can watch them as they go about their daily lives and smell the food at the many roadside food stands. As a bonus, almost every kid we pass waves and smiles at us.

One smell that really hit us in the nose was the overpowering stink of a cattle feed lot we passed. We have passed these before and remarked how much better they smelled than the feed lots in the States but this one was the exception! It stunk!

Jim and Bonnie, a couple we have run into a few times down here gave us a tip on a shortcut to the Campamento El Rey RV Park just South of Veracruz. It was a great suggestion that saved us fifty or sixty kilometres of driving, much of it through congested areas.  Thanks Bonnie!

There was a caravan here when we arrived, the same one that got us kicked out of our spots in Isla Aguada, and they had taken up all but one very unlevel space. Claude and I nosed in to the beach at the end of the park and are surviving without water or sewer. We may be blocking some of their view but “tough”! A small payback for having us kicked out of our prime spots a few days ago! We ran extension cords to a couple of available outlets so we have some power although not high enough voltage to run much. I tested the voltage this morning and it was only 94 volts! It has come up a bit since then but is still hovering at around 100.

I had more trouble than usual finding the Starchoice signal. Maybe a result of the way too many beer, brandy, wine and scotches Claude forced me to drink last night! We decided to rest up today and explore Veracruz tomorrow.

We have had a couple of swims in the Gulf since we arrived yesterday and the water is extremely warm here. The outside temperature right now is 29 and the water is not much cooler than that! This is the warmest ocean water we have found yet. Just to think it was actually snowing in Veracruz in January! Well, back to the search for a place to hang my hammock. Life is good!

The car wash crew washing Claude & Danielle’s rig:

On To Veracruz

We are moving on to Veracruz today. We were there last year when we left the Motorhome in San Miguel de Alende and drove the car to Veracruz for three nights in a hotel. At that time it was very hot and humid so we will see if going there a little later in the year will make any difference.

I do not know what the Internet situation will be like at the next place so don’t get worried if I do not post for a day or two.

Rain Forest Preserve

On the Lago de Catemaco is the “New Age” Reserva Ecologica de Nanciyaga where they are preserving a small piece of the Rain Forest as a nature walk, mud bath place where you can rent a small palapa and get pampered with mud facials and sweat lodge treatments. There is a nice path through the property where we were lead by our guide, Fabiola. The path is decorated with reproductions of Olmec statues. It was fun but we have already seen the real statues.

The reserve was also the movie location for the movie, Medicine Man with Sean Connery. Here is Connery’s hut from the movie set, complete with fake trees.

Fabiola and statues

Some colourful rental canoes for overnight guests

The House On The Lake

We passed a very expensive house and property on the lake today. The grounds were meticulous and the property obviously well cared for. Hector, the boat operator, told us who it was. In Spanish. Depending on which version of my Spanish I used it was owned by either a tennis star or a tobacco grower, I could not decide which or if it was a tennis star who also grew tobacco for the local cigar factories. But I am sure it is one of the above.

Monkey Island

We took a boat ride on Lago de Catemaco today to visit Isla de los Monos (Monkey Island). The sixty monkeys were brought from Thailand as a research project by the University of Veracruz and are fed and protected by the university. Contrary to the wishes of the university, some unscrupulous tour operators are feeding the monkeys to allow for better photos. Hector, our boat operator and guide, is not one of these. I still got a couple of photos.

Haircut Day

Today was haircut day for me. Hair and nails grow much faster in the tropics and I was way overdue for a trim. As we walked back from the Malecon today we passed a hairdressers salon in the living room of a house. We asked if she could cut my hair and I was sat down immediately. She did a very good job on me while one of her daughters practiced her English on us. The cut cost $50 pesos and she tried to turn down the tip I insisted she take. I am again my handsome self.

Catemaco

We went on a little walking tour of Catemaco today. Like all Mexican pueblas it is full of wonderful sights and sounds.

Norma and Danielle shoe shopping while Claude and I pretend to be interested:

Salto de Eyipantla

On the way back from the cigar factory in San Andres Tuxtlas we took a seven kilometre side trip to the waterfalls at Salto de Eyipantla.

We paid the $6 peso admission, descended the 242 steps to the observation platform and enjoyed the falls. After getting seriously dampened by the spray we went to the restaurant for camerone cocktails and a beer. It was a great day. Perfect weather and good friends. What more could we ask for? Well, maybe a helping hand climbing the 242 steps back up to the car…

The Cigar Factory

We drove to San Andres Tuxtlas today to visit the famous cigar factories where Sir Winston Churchill bought his cigars. There are three cigar factories here and when we arrived we found the production floor closed because it is yet another Mexican holiday. They have so many! Fortunately, the sales room was open!

Our friend Claude has been waiting at least a month for cigars and this was his chance to stock up and so he did. He bought a box of forty large cigars and a couple of packs of smaller ones. He was very happy with his purchase which cost him less than $100 CAN. I tried to talk him into buying just one of the most expensive ones they sold at $100 Pesos each but he resisted.

Isla Aguada to Catemaco

We left Isla on Friday at about 11:00 after saying goodbye to Bill and Thelma. We really had a great time at Freedom Shores and we will be back. We drove about three hours to Villahermosa where we missed the turnoff for the Periferico road and ended up driving right through the centre of town on Mex 180, a route that is highly illegal for a vehicle pulling a trailer! Claude and Danielle stayed right behind me so no Trafico Police noticed us and we made it through without a ticket.

We checked into the same RV park we stayed in in November and found a pull through so we did not have to unhook the car. We had a swim in the great pool and then made friends with Jim and Bonnie from Newfoundland and Michel and Lise from Montreal. Michel and Lise have just completed two years in South America with their unique truck and camper. Michel built a frame and then attached a Chalet tent trailer to the top of it. It worked very well for them and allowed for a lot of storage in the truck bed as well.

We rose early on Saturday and got out of the RV park and pool complex before the crowd arrived and left for Catemaco. We used the Cuota (toll road) as far as we could but were very unhappy with it's condition. There were many potholes and the slow lane was badly worn from all the trucks. I do not mind paying tolls but I expect the road to be in perfect condition for my money. This one was not.

We turned off at Acayucan onto the secondary highway 180 to Catemaco. After getting lost only once, we found the correct highway and arrived in Catemaco around three. I got jackknifed making a u-turn and had to take the car and dolly off to complete the turn. This is the forth time I have had to do this and it is embarrassing! Highway 180 is a Libre (free road) and was actually in much better shape than the previous Cuota, much of it having been freshly resurfaced. When we checked in to the RV park we found Jim and Bonnie who we had visited with the previous night already here. It is truly a small world.

Claude wants to visit the cigar factory here on Monday so we will stay for a couple more days. This factory is where Winston Churchill bought his cigars. It will be interesting. There is also a boat ride on the lake that takes you to an island that has monkeys.

This is the first time we have traveled with anyone else. We were both going to the same place so we decided to travel together for the trip. We used our walkie talkies and it went quite well. You could not ask for better friends! It was an interesting experience for us and we will stay with them at least until Veracruz where we want to show them a very interesting coffee house we found there last year.

Michel and Lise’s rig: