bedsitter23 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bedsitter23) wrote2012-07-17 09:03 pm
bedsitter23) wrote2012-07-17 09:03 pm
Entry tags:
Mexico- People, places, things
The first thing you notice when you are in Southeastern Mexico is all of the lizards and iguanas.
I went full tourist and like everyone realized around Iguana #5, I better stop taking pictures of reptiles or I would have to buy a new memory card.
Let me reiterate, there were lizards everywhere. It was comparable to rabbits in Iowa or squirrels in central Illinois.
The commonest birds are crows or ravens (online research shows its likely both). The Crow on the thatched roofs really make me feel I am in the Caribbean, and remind me of the logo they used in those Puerto Rican rum ads I grew up with.
There were butterflies on occasion that were huge and bright blue jaybirds that looked different from anything I had ever seen.
There were occasions that I ran into coatis, which resembled raccoons. i had a family of five that crossed in a line inf ront of me that looked like the sort of thing you would only see in a Disney movie. It of course, caught me totally unawares, and so no pictures, so you will have to use this found internet picture to see what a coati looks like.
We didn't venture too far from the main drag, but I will tell you that the Yucatan looks like Florida. It is an unending row of resorts and tourist destinations. It isn't the brand new attractions that garner your attention (well, they do, too), it's the places that look like they were brand new 20 to 30 years ago, and look the absolute same, a relic of someone who planned on making it rich, but were passed by better competition. Like Florida, these are often the live animal experiences that look just a bit too shady.
The stretch of Mexico I was in, the only domesticated animals I saw were horses. No cattle, pigs, or sheep like i am used to.
I was told by another American that there was a fear of tourist buses being hijacked, but I don't know how common that is. We were always on main roads, so it never felt like a real possibility. There were occasional highway guards (and Ms. Bedsitter said they were packing rifles. A fact I can't confirm, but seems plausible) and enough policia that it always felt safe.
I don't think I have any more observations expect that it really felt like Florida (climate and tourist traps everywhere). To a certain extent, there has become a truism that every town in america looks the same, and it's probably become an international thing. There are all the big name logos you are already familiar with - Burger King, Auto Zone and Sam's Club.
I do feel that I should make a mention of what appeared to be then indigenous people of the Yucatan and their living conditions. There are a lot of Indians in the area (more than half of the population if my google skills stand up). We did drive by some places that looked like literally dirt floor tent housing that looked like it was where people resided. It is hard to imagine that life (but my eyes didn't deceive me, these windowless huts with no plumbing are someone's houses.) it is hard to imagine that such poverty exists next door to hotels that cost millions of dollars and golf courses designed by the likes of Nick Price.
I went full tourist and like everyone realized around Iguana #5, I better stop taking pictures of reptiles or I would have to buy a new memory card.
Let me reiterate, there were lizards everywhere. It was comparable to rabbits in Iowa or squirrels in central Illinois.
The commonest birds are crows or ravens (online research shows its likely both). The Crow on the thatched roofs really make me feel I am in the Caribbean, and remind me of the logo they used in those Puerto Rican rum ads I grew up with.
There were butterflies on occasion that were huge and bright blue jaybirds that looked different from anything I had ever seen.
There were occasions that I ran into coatis, which resembled raccoons. i had a family of five that crossed in a line inf ront of me that looked like the sort of thing you would only see in a Disney movie. It of course, caught me totally unawares, and so no pictures, so you will have to use this found internet picture to see what a coati looks like.
We didn't venture too far from the main drag, but I will tell you that the Yucatan looks like Florida. It is an unending row of resorts and tourist destinations. It isn't the brand new attractions that garner your attention (well, they do, too), it's the places that look like they were brand new 20 to 30 years ago, and look the absolute same, a relic of someone who planned on making it rich, but were passed by better competition. Like Florida, these are often the live animal experiences that look just a bit too shady.
The stretch of Mexico I was in, the only domesticated animals I saw were horses. No cattle, pigs, or sheep like i am used to.
I was told by another American that there was a fear of tourist buses being hijacked, but I don't know how common that is. We were always on main roads, so it never felt like a real possibility. There were occasional highway guards (and Ms. Bedsitter said they were packing rifles. A fact I can't confirm, but seems plausible) and enough policia that it always felt safe.
I don't think I have any more observations expect that it really felt like Florida (climate and tourist traps everywhere). To a certain extent, there has become a truism that every town in america looks the same, and it's probably become an international thing. There are all the big name logos you are already familiar with - Burger King, Auto Zone and Sam's Club.
I do feel that I should make a mention of what appeared to be then indigenous people of the Yucatan and their living conditions. There are a lot of Indians in the area (more than half of the population if my google skills stand up). We did drive by some places that looked like literally dirt floor tent housing that looked like it was where people resided. It is hard to imagine that life (but my eyes didn't deceive me, these windowless huts with no plumbing are someone's houses.) it is hard to imagine that such poverty exists next door to hotels that cost millions of dollars and golf courses designed by the likes of Nick Price.