West Bastion Fort

Had a great pancake breakfast put on by the staff down in one of the 9 palapas on the beach and then off to tour the West Bastion, now a Maya Museum. You go up a winding, serpentine path, then enter across a drawbridge over an unused moat. the museum has many Maya artifacts, masks, jewelry, dishes and weapons , made from shell, bone, rock and pottery. Very interesting.
the upper floor looks over the city and way out to sea. The parquets have old iron cannons lined up and the corners have 3' little structures with gun slits in them. The fort was designed and built in 1779.

Campeche city Tour

Went on a 5 hour city tour today. Fascinating!. The Spanish built a 2 Km square outer wall to repel pirates etc and many bastions and wall remain as part of the city today. Went by the Seagate by the ocean and the City Gate around the other side by the market. On the central plaza there is the cathedral I sent yesterday, city Library, shops and a restoration of 1500-1600 buildings, one a Spanish Hacienda. We spent an hour in this and just amazing. the ceilings are 24' high and it's cool and every room around this square house opens to the courtyard I've shown. There is an inside and outside kitchen with the cistern out back. The furniture is beautiful, imported from Spain, France and Cuba. One custom was 2 gilt mirrors in the living room with pictures of the owners as well. Looks like Nana and Pa. Went through the Cathedral and Museum with old vestments and artifacts. There was a Mass and the music soared to the very high ceilings and was magnificant.

to Campeche

Silly start today. We added coolant, Bob couldn't get his 2 slides in (new fuse helped), Loyola changed a flat tire after 2 others did yesterday and off we went. Passed a larger fishing village with mobile carts with COCKTELES for sale. Got some pictures of the purple and white,with purple center morning glories. Imagine! We used to do anything to kill this weed and there are even yellow and blue ones - very pretty. Got into Hotel Nuatica which used to be a Club Med, much different than I'd imagined for a CM. Another caravan was in so dry camping again. It seems the Mexicans say yes and then it's different. This is right on the beach again with 9 large palapas. We had a great Margarita Party overlooking the ocean and watched the dolphins play. Doesn't get much better. 93 degrees now and 85% humidity, so stick to everything.
Picture is the local cathedral with trollies in front. The Colonial influence is everywhere.

Fun Day

Up at 6 a.m. to watch the sunrise and walk the beach. We're in a huge lagoon area behind the Gulf so nice and sheltered. During the big storm they had a few days ago, the fishermen couldn't go out and the town's water supply was cut off. I love being on the beach and the salt water smells so good. Saw a father and son casting their nets for minnows which they'll use for bait later. This is a small fishing village and 7 of us hired moped taxis (a step up, previous villages had bicycle taxis) and toured the town, a clothing store, the fishing docks for 2 hours. There are new cement row houses being put up by the government to get the poorer people out of the tin and mud shacks. Many Pelicans here. These big birds have a history of 30 million years and nearly went extinct before DDT was banned in the 70's.
Ended our day with a hamburger BBQ put on by the Fantasy staff and bonfire on the beach. We are so lucky - everyone in the group is great and a lot of fun.

Isla Aguada

It took 7 hours to drive 143 miles today. Won't talk about the roads.
There has been a terrific storm go through here before we got here. Beautiful sunshine now. Vendors beside the roads were selling fruits and even 3 - 7" turtles. Passed a military Inspection today and had to produce our papers for the Holograms put on our vehicles at the Border. These soldiers look about 14 and carry big rifles. There is one in the shack but I didn't want him to see me taking a picture. Next was the Agriculture Inspection as we passed out of Veracruz state into Tabasco. We put our frozen steaks, lunchmeat, eggs etc in an insulated bag and the washer until they come in and inspect and then we rearrange our fridges down the road. Cattle country here and brilliant flowers. We're parked right on the beach in a great RV Park - Freedom Shores. A brother (quadriplegic) and his sister and their spouses are redeveloping this into a Handicapped Hotel and RV Park with 12 rooms and restaurant. It is also a shelter with 3' thick roof and foundation. Walked on the beach, found many shells, all so different and the water is beautifully warm.

Veracruz to Villahermosa

We also toured the Old Fort at the harbour, yesterday, which defended the city from everybody from Sir Francis Drake to the pirates of the Caribbean. Amazing structure of huge stone blocks. I saw a wagon delivering large blocks of solid ice like we used to get for our ice chest (fridge) in Crescent Beach as kids.
280 miles today took 8 hours, as there was nowhere for us to stop - 20 rigs take a lot of room.
Through flat agriculture land this morning and hilly later. It's getting more jungle like as we go along. The vegetation grows right to the pavement. Very humid now. Our chewing gum is like cooked spaghetti. I put the dehumidifier on last night for 2 hours and took 4 cups of water out. There is lots of water on the fields, must have had an incredible storm through here. Actually saw water buffaloes doing the dog paddle to get to higher ground in water up to their bellies. Saw lots of construction - the Mexican jackhammer is a man with a sledgehammer. Incredibly hardworking people with minimum tools. Note the sticks supporting the floors. The government is building condo type buildings for the workers with concrete to raise the standard of living. The average wage here is 149 pesos per day - roughly $1.50.
Arrived at our RV Park to find another caravan just left it this morning and the grass is churned to mud so we parked in the driveway of a family Swim Pool Park on 3 acres, a lovely complex. More dry camping. Certainly know how well the generator works now and are entirely comfortable.

What you hope wont happen

As our wheels hit the pavement coming out of the park, the low coolant sign came on. Stopped 8 miles down the road at the first Pemex and added 4 gallons of water. Paul, the tailgunner pulled in behind us and we needed to stop 8 miles later where we found a Quaker Oil stand and bought
Stop Leak and anti-freeze and poured that in as the leak had become a stream. Finally stopped.
Costa de Esmeralda to Veracruz. Nice trip - 115 mile took us 4 1/2 hours. The time it takes to get 20 units over the topes and through the small villages is lots. When you go off the road for a break, you sometimes drop 6 -8 " and think you're fall right over so you do this very slowly. We've seen chauca chauca trees which are also called the upside down tree because they grow as a straight stick, then the branches go out looking like the root system. Passed a Nuclear Power Plant. We're now into sugar cane country and are passing trucks loaded 12 feet high on the way to the processing plants.
We went by bus for a city tour of Veracruz. It was discovered by Cortez in the 1519 and been fought over by Spanish, French , English and pirates so there is many kinds of arcitechture, mostly colonial looking. Everything is made of marble and heavy stone construction. The early settlers brought in slaves from Africa to do all the building. We stopped first at a famous cafe house and enjoyed delicious strong coffee, served with cream and sugar.