Mexico and Central America
Do you belong to the FMCA Club?
(Fear of Mexico and Central America)
Have you ever wondered what you are missing by not venturing at least in Mexico and possibly Central America? I can tell you in one short sentence... You are missing countless cultural experiences that will greatly enrich your life!
Perhaps I can best help you realize what you are missing by sharing a portion of the Epilogue from my Panama or Bust - A 343 Day Adventure in a Motorhome! book.
EPILOGUE
After all the years of dreaming and planning, the caravan of 343 days and over 16,000+ total miles is now history. Among my impressions are the:
People: Everywhere we went, the people were very friendly, but only after we first shouted, "Buenos Dias!" along with a big smile. In most places, the people had never seen a motorhome and in many places had never seen a "gringo." They reacted much like you might do; if a spaceship landed in your front yard and little green men stepped out and shouted, "Hello!" to you. In one remote mountain location in Nicaragua, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a ninety-five year old man, who had never seen a "gringo." He was typical of the people. They were most generous, kind, and tried hard to make us welcome to their countries.
Religions: Mexico is very Catholic and the rest of Central America is a mixture of many, various, and colorful religions. As a result, birth control is essentially non-existent. Everywhere there are lots of children. Many with mothers of only 14years of age. Babies having babies.
Politics: There are many political parties which makes it most confusing. Over the years, some of the politicians have literally robbed the people and consequently, there is much poverty just about everywhere.
Poverty: The conditions in which we saw many people living are most difficult to try to describe. Even our poorest people in the states, would appear affluent in comparison. There are still many locations without electricity or running water. Many times we saw women up to their waists in ocean or river water, beating clothes on a rock to wash them. There is much poverty, real poverty, especially in the out-lying areas. My heart goes out to them and everywhere we went, people were begging us for money. We couldn't cure all their problems, but we did help the aged and infirmed.
Roads: For the most part the roads went from bad to terrible. A peculiar thing is the supposedly "poorer" countries had the best roads and visa versa. How do you figure that?
Weather: We experienced everything from 100+ degrees with 100% humidity on almost unbearable days, to days with hours of torrential rain, a couple of days with snow and a wind-chill factor of zero degrees! But for the most part, they were mostly delightful, sunny days at 70-80 degrees.
Bugs: While we were in the hotter areas, we experienced numerous ant, mosquito, and sand flea bites, but nothing worse. While temporarily uncomfortable, none of us suffered any major illness or other negative health-related issues. I only had six cockroaches in my rig, the entire trip!
Scenery: The scenery was spectacular. We experienced everything from sea level to 12,000+ feet in elevation. Beautiful deserts, beaches, rivers, valleys, waterfalls, jungles, mountains, and cities.
Foods: Mexico has the best tasting and most variety. The food in the Central American countries is rather bland in comparison. Most meals consist of large portions of rice and beans, with a small portion of either beef, pork, chicken, or fish. Because of the constant high-carbohydrate content meals, there are many overweight people.
Music: Everywhere the music was wonderful! There was a large variety; all played VERY LOUDLY, especially in Mexico! The people love to sing and dance. There was lots of music and dancing in the central plaza, which is also known as the community living room. It really comes to life in the evenings!
Culture: In many ways, their Hispanic culture is disappearing as they become more "Americanized", which is sad, but in many ways, it does mean a better life for them. Because there is so much poverty, in comparison to our standards, most items are inexpensive. You see only a few riding a horse anymore, as most now ride bicycles. The young females strut their stuff in poured-into clothes and the younger children are found in video arcades and internet places, which are found even in remote areas. Most people speak "un poco" (a little) English. In a few areas such as the mountains of Guatemala, the Indians still wear their colorful native dress in their every-day life. Most cook and heat with wood, and the constant, cutting and carrying to their homes, is an every day event.
Attitudes: Despite their very apparent poverty, the majority of the people seem to be very happy. They are very family-oriented. The major difference from the United States is, they are not greed-driven. The difference is that they provide goods and services in a conscientious, timely manner, at fair prices. Only a few times we felt that we were overcharged, because we were "gringos." No matter what we needed done, it was done immediately, as opposed to the United States, where we would have been told, "Come back two weeks from Thursday!" Their mechanics are very skillful and innovative, because of their limited resources. Labor mostly runs from $2-5 an hour.
Country Rankings: [Days in country are shown as (XX)] Mexico (167) has to rank number one, because it is larger than all of the seven Central American countries combined, and it can offer more variety of everything. Of the seven Central American, my rankings are as follows; #1 Nicaragua (36), #2 Guatemala (30), and #3 Honduras (27), all of which I would revisit. The remaining four countries I would not care to re-visit are, #4 Panama (33), #5 Belize (29), #6 Costa Rica (18), and #7 El Salvador (6) .The #1 "friendliest" country was Nicaragua, and while still friendly, the "least friendliest" was Costa Rica.
Impressions: Central America was not as "jungle-like" as I had envisioned. I somehow had a mental picture that once we crossed into Central America that we would seldom see the sun again because of the over-head vegetation. Not so! Just like we no longer see cowboys, Indians, covered wagons, or buffalo wandering in the western United States. Not so!
The "negatives:" The negatives experienced include (not necessarily in order); the constant military and police checkpoints, very narrow and pothole-filled roads, very aggressive, reckless, and speeding drivers with absolutely no comprehension of road markings/signs, black-smoke belching diesel buses and trucks with the resulting horrible air pollution, especially in the big cities, mordidas (bribes) paid to officials/authorities to either do or not do their job, excessive heat and humidity, general unavailability of automotive parts, expensive gasoline (we paid an average of $3 a gallon, with a high of $4.56 in Belize), a poor selection of poor quality goods, and a general unavailability of our favorite brands. The final negative is in all of the Central American countries, there are no Costco's or Wal-Mart's. Now that's roughing it!
It certainly was a trip of a lifetime, full of cultural experiences! I knew we would experience a form of culture shock upon returning to the U.S. Some of those experienced on the first day back included:
- The roads are so WIDE
- The roads are so SMOOTH
- Everything is so CLEAN
- Everything is so QUIET
- The drivers are so POLITE
- All vehicles have mufflers, windows, lights, doors and license plates
- There are so many signs telling things you are not allowed to do!
I hope you enjoyed your trip with us!
Adios por ahora,
(Good-bye for now)
Marcos aka Jim
Jim Jaillet, at Douglas, Arizona, December 9th, 2004.
So now you know what you are missing!
Read more about Jim's adventures and his books at PanamaorBust.com
