Life in Chiapas

Our mode of travel allows us to see some ports that many other cruisers would by-pass.  When we left Huatulco, we had planned to stop in Salina Cruz, about 70 miles from Huatulco.  The weather prevented us from doing this, so we pressed on to Puerto Madero, in Chiapas, Mexico.  The leg from Huatulco to Madero following the shore line, was 250 miles and took us 40 hours. 

Puerto Madero

When we got to Puerto Madero we were exhausted, however, we were treated to a wonderful experience!!  The town is small, hot and dusty.  Every restaurant and home, no matter the size or material built from, had a swimming pool.  There are dogs wandering around that look like a mix of several different breeds (including goats).  But the people- from the Port Captains' staff to the restaurant owners to fellow passengers on the bus- are very friendly.

The first day we got to Puerto Madero, we had to check in with the Port Captain.  People there were very helpful and accommodating and did a very good job of speaking English, while we did our best to understand.  From there we went into the town of  Puerto Madero, which involved taking a "truck taxi" that looked more suited for ears of corn or militia than regular passers-by. 

Once in Madero, we all started getting a little hungry.  Our choices for dining seemed to be a bicycle cart with hot dogs or a sidewalk cafe serving grilled chicken.  We chose the latter.  The chicken was so good that we ate lunch there three days in a row, and Mark bought seven dinner plates to take with us as we left the port!!

After eating, we went across the street to the barber for Mark and Robert to get their hair cut.  There appeared to be two barbers right next to each other.  Mark chose the one pictured on the right, as it appeared more masculine.  Notice in the picture two rather large wide screen TV's.  On one of two TVs, the barber introduced us to the under-world of pirated DVD's.  He had an illegal copy of Rambo 4 playing (still out in the theaters we think), on the other TV, his son was playing some sort of XBOX combat game.

Road Trip

Out of necessity, we had to go inland to retrieve a package that was being sent back to us after a failed first attempt out of Acapulco.  Our trip involved a taxi to nearby Tapachula (tah-pah-CHOO-lah), where we just missed the grand opening of a Home Depot.  This would have been our third Home Depot grand opening in Mexico.  This was followed by a public transportation van ride to Huixtla (WHEEXT-lah).  Tapachula appeared to be a very nice, very big city.  We didn't stay in the city, but driving through we saw a large mall, a Coppel department store, a Fabricas de Francias department store, a Home Depot, a Sam's club, and more.  The city had an air of prosperity about it, unlike many of the Mexican towns we'd been to previously.

The van ride to Huixtla was a unique experience.  The van was about the size of a Volkswagon mini van.  There were 4 rows of passenger seats behind the driver.  Each row would comfortably seat two passengers, but three could squeeze in.  At the end of each passenger seat, in the aisle, there was a fold down chair that would accommodate one more passenger.

We got on the van at the bus station.  At that point, the bus was comfortably full.  Robert had his own seat, and I had room on the seat next to me to put my backpack.  If anyone had looked inside the van at that point, all would agree that it was full. 

The driver, however, had a different opinion.  After departing the station, we picked up a family of four, a mother and her kindergarten-aged daughter, and one by one, a handful of men at various points.  At one stop, Robert - who is used to crowded public transportation and sharing seats- asked, "where is there space for them?"  Robert went on Mark's lap, my backpack went on the floor, children were all on parents' laps.  At one point, I had the five-year-old girl on my lap because I was in the aisle fold-down seat, so my lap had more space than her own mothers' lap. And, there were two passengers in the front with the driver.

Since I was in the aisle seat, I was also in charge of opening and closing the sliding door.  We stopped to let out the mother and her daughter, and as I opened the door to let them out, Robert looked out the door and said what everyone else was thinking.  "There are some chickens!!"  "I've never seen chickens before," he continued, "they were just right there!"  And, of course, he was right.  There were three or four chickens "right there" by the side of the road where we let out the passengers.

We made it to Huixtla and emptied out of the bus.  Another passenger overheard me asking the driver if he knew where the Multi-Pack office was, where we needed to pick up our package.  Amazingly, he too was going to the Multi-Pack office, and he said we could walk with him.

After getting our package re-sent with Multi-Pack, we headed for the carnival.  Yes, carnival.  Our friend at the Port Captains' office told us there was an annual fair going on in Huixtla.  We were all exhausted (no naps), but we HAD to go to the fair!

La Feria (the fair)

First, Robert and Mark rode the Ferris wheel, but before they could ride, the owner of the ride spent about 10 minutes trying to get the motor started and then keep it started.  This added an extra bit of excitement not knowing for sure if you got to the top of the ride, would you be able to get down.

Next, we wandered around the fair grounds, saw a five-legged sheep, and rode two more rides.  They had kid-sized bumper cars set up.  Robert was big enough to ride in the car by himself, but had a hard time figuring out that if you are going backwards, you have to spin the steering wheel all the way around to go forward.  The ride attendant was nice enough to help him out from time to time, so Robert had a great time.

It was getting late, and we knew we had a long ride home, so we headed toward the exit.  We ate pizza in the loudest outdoor eating area we've ever experienced. 

There were about ten different juke boxes set up, each playing music as loud as it could.  I think somehow this was to attract people to sit in your particular area.  It's effect on us was to make us leave as soon as possible.

On the way out of the fair, wandering through the ball toss and floating ducky games, Mark got a picture of one of his favorite Mexican memories: an image of Jesus alongside a toy gun or stuffed animal.

The next day, we fueled up, stocked up on grilled chicken, and the Mexican Navy boarded our boat to bid us farewell.  We highly recommend Puerto Madero to anyone traveling through southern Mexico.