Week Six on Mainland Mexico

Week 6

Mexico (Mainland)

April 27^th -May 3, 2009

Day 36^th, Mon: Los Cascabeles Lake

On Monday we had a long day of driving and went all the way from Guaymas to Culiacan. Culiacan was a pretty big city and we were surprised to see Wal-Marts and Home Depots… AHHH global capitalism! This was a long drive day for us on little sleep so we were hoping to find a nice place to camp for the night. Thanks to the trusty GPS my dad got me… I was able to see that there was a lake nearby and we took a chance that there would be a place to camp. We stayed there just outside of the city on the beach of the small fresh water lake where local farmers brought their cows and goats to drink. It was nice and quiet and we both got some good rest… and it was free!

Day 37, Tues: Mazatlan

We headed out early the next morning on our way to Mazatlan. We’ve made it almost all the way up to this point on WVO (waste vegetable oil). When we got into Mazatlan we noticed a lot of chain restaurants like McyD’s and Murder King. Well I couldn’t help myself… I had to see what the oil situation was like at places like this in Mexico. I had refrained from asking places like this in the states due to the corporate world catching on to the use of WVO for biodiesel and most places selling there oil to big biodiesel making companies. McDonalds was my first stop, no luck though apparently a guy was already on top of the used oil scene in town and came around once a week collecting it. Burger King next, hooraaay they had around 10 gallons of good oil for me that they gladly poured into our jugs. I proceeded to walk around town and ask just about every establishment if they had any waste oil. Kindra meanwhile got us set up on “Couch Surfing.com” where a nice fellow by the name of Bryan got a hold of us and let us crash at his place for the 3 days we were in town, thanks a million Bryan! We had a shower, a kitchen and place to fill our drinking water… not to mention his air-conditioned apartment where we watched movies in the evening.

Day 38, Wed: Mazatlan

On Wednesday we drove around town stopping at a about every chicken fry and taco joint we saw and managed to gather another 10 or 15 gallons of oil, so all together about 25 gallons in 2 days!! (Mazatlan is a pretty typical tourist town with lots of resorts and big stores.) So I have to tell a little story to all of you following our follies. I made a bit of a mess on Wednesday during my pre-filtering session. On my search for oil I came on a restaurant that had close to what looked to be like 10 gallons of oil. Upon my return to the truck and before filtering it, I realized it was mostly dirty water with a little bit of oil mixed in. So I had to figure out what to do with this dirty oily water right? Some of you may or may not know most of Mexico does not have sewer systems (I did not know this). I did find what I thought to be a storm drain on the wall next to our friend Bryan’s house. I thought this probably leads into the sewer and water treatment facility for the city right…wrong! Turns out that the drain was some sort of overflow catch for rain water for the house next door’s bathroom. A man was waiting outside for us when we got home from town that day holding a bucket, asking why we had poured oily water into the overflow. I was totally crushed, embarrassed and stupefied. I had no idea that was where the drain led and feared I had ruined this nice man’s bathroom water. After a stressful 30 minutes to an hour I figured out a few phrased to help explain myself, offer my help and apologize. The man did not want my help and seemed rather indifferent about the whole thing so I gave him some caramels and told him if there was anything I could do to right my wrong to let me know. Of course all the while I was under the impression that this man I had been so apologetic to was the home owner. Well in an effort to inform all the involved parties I told our host Bryan of my mistake and he basically laughed out loud when I told him. I asked, “Why are you laughing?” and he said, “That guy doesn’t own that house… he’s just a security guard and that’s a repossessed drug house!!!” It made me feel a little better, especially considering I was ready to give this security guard my bike as an apology for making a mess of his bathroom water. No more pouring stuff down drains that I don’t know where they lead. I’m just gonna do like the Mexicans do and throw it out in the street! J/K.

Day 39- 42, Thur.- Sun:

We left Mazatlan on Thursday afternoon after I finished filtering the oil and Kindra mapped out our journey south to a little town called San Blas. We arrived in San Blas with just enough light to find a sweet spot right on the beach. We’ve been here for 3 days and really like the town. Kindra and I both agreed when we arrived here the “vibe” was really good and we felt comfortable to stay. On Friday we rode our bikes into town and did some exploring and Internet. San Blas is a cute little surf town with a nice town center and a strip of restaurants along the beach that cater to Mexican tourism. The Beach has a fresh water river leading into the sea on either side where fishing boats and harpoon fishermen bring in the catch of the day. The “no-see-ums here are brutal and we’ve both started a nice collection of bug bites. Saturday we drove around town looking for oil. Not nearly as much luck as in Mazatlan, but most places had 1 to 2 liters at most to get rid of. It seems that they do cook with oil but in much smaller quantities and just throw it in the sand on the beach or in the trash can when it’s black and used up. Hey, I’m not complaining though… we collected around 2 ½ gallons so its all good! This morning John had to help someone again who got stuck in sand right near where we were camped. She said she worked in the restaurant just near here and we could go there for dinner as a way to pay us back for the help. We may go by just to get some oil and fill up on water!

We’ll be on our way tomorrow heading for Guadalajara to see and stay with the family of Luis, Kindra’s dad’s long time employee and family friend.

Ciao, k&j