Two Adventurers

23 November 2009 Mexico

In the morning Miguel and his boss, Antonio, (who spoke no English), took us by taxi to look at a few homes which he had for sale. The first, a 3 bedroom one, we could not look at as it was under rental and some babies were sleeping! The next, just up the road from the first, was a pretty little two bedroom home with wrought iron fence and gates, as is the norm everywhere with a small front grassed area. It had a decent sized lounge directly inside the front door, a small but adequate kitchen with two stoves, two good sized bedrooms with built-in wardrobes (each room had just a hammock strung up for a bed) and two nicely tiled bathrooms. There was a huge sour orange tree in the small paved back yard area and a storage room there as well. All in all, it was a nice little home which he told us was the equivalent of $Aus.60,000 and being in a good area with smart homes.

Just around another corner from this house we were introduced to Antonio’s son and his wife, who were happy to show us their 5 bedroom home, which they were also happy to sell if we liked it! Although having 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms it was fairly dark inside with good quality dark furniture and didn’t really appeal, but at about $A73,000 it was a very good deal. Too big for us in any case. Another three bedroom house also nearby looked a likely proposition but Antonio couldn’t locate his other son for the key! At this point, we dropped Antonio back at his restaurant and continued by taxi to a gated estate over half an hour out of Merida. The house we were shown here was brand new, with a double carport, 3 very

big bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, great kitchen, huge lounge and had its own swimming pool at the rear. The exterior of the house was a plaster finish but in the shape of weather boards and they looked the real thing from a distance. At  2.25 million pesos ($Aus.180,000) this was great value. Another son, who lived next door to this home, showed us through his own home. An animal lover, he had three dogs, (2 boxer pups and their mum), several big aviaries with very talkative parrots as well as other smaller birds and also a large fenced, grassed area with three deer, a very small, young deer and two bigger ones. The tiny deer’s mother had been shot and the baby brought in to this young man to look after. After seeing these three homes we were able to begin to make some comparisons.

Back in town, we caught a local bus out to the port town of Progreso, on the coast. This direct ride of 50 minutes costs just 25 pesos for the return trip per person ($2)! How good is that? It was very comfortable too with slightly laid back seats. Lunch in a cafe right on the edge of the beach proved just the ticket, Jim enjoying his chimichungas and me with my fish quesadillas. A beer or two (Coronas for $1) finished it off. They sure know how to produce great food in Mexico!  Had a great time watching the large numbers of brown pelicans just offshore, swooping into the sea to return with a prize fish. The local industry here is fishing and Progreso has some 900 fishing boats. Most fish caught in this area is exported to the US, Japan and Europe. Took a nice long walk up the shelly beach, which is safe and tranquil with no currents

or tides, due to the fact that Progreso sits on a limestone shelf that very gradually goes out to sea. Cruise ships visit Progreso at least three times a week and because of the limestone shelf the pier is about 6 kms long!

Even then, the water at the end of the pier is just 30 metres deep! Comfortable, cooling breezes blow in off the Gulf of Mexico and an occasional shower creates spectacular sunsets, we were told. One last cup of coffee in a small bar and we made our way back to the bus station. On our return to Merida,  a monsoon rain shower was upon us and we were quite wet by the time we reached our hotel.

Sat in the dining room using our computer to book our flights to Veracruz via the Orbitz website, one of the many we have used successfully. Done! Bedtime!