Mexico online

[briansue]

A few recent pieces on the internet about Mexico. Please try not to respond to comments posted by the ignorant.

10 safest places to visit in Mexico now

News of violence in Mexico has frightened many visitors away in recent years. But smart travelers know that there are hundreds of places in Mexico, a country roughly the size of Western Europe, that have been untouched by recent events. The following 10 places are just a tiny sampling of the many of beaches, cities and towns in Mexico for which no safety advisory is in effect.


http://local.msn.com/travel/10-safest-places-to-visit-in-mexico-now


http://local.msn.com/travel/how-to-stay-safe-in-mexico


http://local.msn.com/travel/mexico-butterfly-country-monarchs-by-the-million-2

[MEXICOWANDERER]

When the ejercito and carteleros duke it out 50 miles from the nearest paved road, the US State Department screams DRUG VIOLENCE AVOID MICHOACAN.

A tourist gets hi wallet lifted in Mazatlan, and three hours later the entire world including Antarctica and the orbiting space station know about it.

"Where's The Beef?"

Accounts of tourists, travelers being HARASSED never mind hurt in Michoacan

"Where's The Beef?"

I see plenty of cattle residue but no beef.

[butchfuzion]

All of that excellent advise would be very appropriate for travel any where in the US or any other country.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

All wonderfully superglued tight to the GRINGOLANIA scene with the exception of Merida, Queretero and SCdLC. I try to avoid places that have downtown area business signs like SHUT UP FRANK'S, JOE'S RIBS, and SURF AND TURF, regardless of their apparent safety rating.

"Staying Safe" could be defined best as starting off on the right food and spending the least amount of time as necessary in problem areas, and diverting if not truly inconvenient around areas that simply have too many problems for comfort.

Parking in a dark area of an RV park in the middle of a city that has a hole in the RV park fence is not smart. Overnight stays in a pitch black area of a gasolinera isn't safe as well. Nor is walking home at 0200, getting roaring drunk in a pool hall, or any of ten thousand other acts that have been tried and decried on the net having been met up with nefarious predators.

But making a "list" of SAFE AREAS to me is an act of desperation or ignorance. HOW TO STAY SAFE, is far more important. If you ask me where to find such a piece of advice, try THE PEOPLE'S GUIDE to MEXICO.


A sample of a private conversation I had a few years ago. it is VERBATIM...

"What! I cannot wear my Rolex in Mazatlan? You have got to be kidding me!"

"And my 20 dollar gold piece belt buckle. I am NOT going to part with that! It is my lucky piece! I never go without it"

"And now you're telling me I shouldn't go around with my wallet full of credit cards! A phony wallet" Are you from the far side of the moon?"



A regular potential set piece for Headline News in the states. Fodder for a few hundred millions of internet chat forum bytes. Bungee jumping with cord a few sizes smaller than it should be.

[briansue]

In other recent stories we have read that the number of acres the butterflies occupy has been dramatically reduced in recent years. They are down to only a few acres. We recently read a book by Barbara Kingsolver called Flight Behavior which takes a different look at the butterfly situation.

Also, please note that when the violence is mentioned they do point out that it has nothing to do with tourists.

There were only a couple of pictures.

http://local.msn.com/travel/mexico-butterfly-country-monarchs-by-the-million-2

Mexico butterfly country: Monarchs by the million

ZITACUARO, Mexico (AP) -- He found the love of his life 2,000 miles from home in a chance encounter that gave him butterflies, and she moved west to be with him. So of course, Jason Skipton told me, there could be no better place to propose marriage than in a swirl of orange and black butterflies that had migrated thousands of miles to mate.

Never mind that that the stunning monarch butterfly sanctuary was in an area of central Mexico contested by drug cartels. When Samantha Goldberger set up her camera and darted to Skipton's side for a Valentine's Day picture, he dropped to one knee and asked for her hand.

"This place is like a miracle. And it is a miraculous thing that took place with us," Skipton said. "No one knows why the monarchs travel so far, or come here to find each other. It is inexplicable."

Indeed, every year, millions of monarchs migrate from the eastern United States and Canada to central Mexico, a journey of 2,000 miles and more into a wooded land under attack by loggers in a region bloodied by drug traffickers. The tiger-striped butterflies arrive in late October and early November to hibernate in fir trees, clinging together like great clusters of fall leaves. Come February, they start to awaken in the warm sun, turn glittering somersaults in search of their mates, and begin to couple.

I had long wanted to see this magical sight, and to hear the delicate music the butterflies make with the fluttering of their wings. As I boarded the bus from Mexico City to Michoacan with my husband and a friend, I wondered what tourists we might encounter in a place both beautiful and beastly. Who had the appetite for travel to central Mexico after the U.S. government warned against non-essential travel to most of the state of Michoacan, where we were headed?

There didn't appear to be other foreigners making the bus trip, a two-hour ride out the Toluca highway and along winding country roads as a subtitled version of the movie "Abduction" aired on TV screens overhead. Our hosts and hoteliers, Pablo and Lisette Span, had told us to buy a ticket at the taxi stand in the Zitacuaro bus station for the 10-minute ride to their Rancho San Cayetano. We did, arriving safe and sound.

Friends told us San Cayetano was one of the nicest and most charming places to stay in butterfly country. It's also one of the priciest, but the manicured grounds are lush and the rooms are cozy, each with a fireplace and woodpile ready to light at night. Although there are individual dining tables, guests naturally mingle and chat so that dinners and breakfasts become rather communal affairs. Pablo Span ate with us the first night and, in his gentlemanly way, tried to set us straight on the violence in Michoacan.

"Around the world, Mexico is synonymous with violence. But the violence is between the cartels fighting each other over territory, or between the cartels and the police and military. It's not against us. Not a single national or foreign tourist has died in the violence," he said.

The U.S. travel advisory makes a similar point that "attacks on Mexican government officials, law enforcement and military personnel ... have occurred throughout Michoacan."

But like Skipton and Goldberger, the guests we met were not only unfazed by the warnings, they were utterly captivated by the landscape. Another visiting couple, Michael Marez and Grace Buckley of Denver, Colorado, own a vacation house in Mazatlan, have been travelling throughout Mexico for years, and see no reason to stop now. They appeared to subscribe to the idea that violence is relative, noting that more than 1,700 people had been shot to death in the United States since the Newtown school massacre.

"People in the United States are desensitized to what happens in the United States and think what happens in Mexico is so much worse," said Marez. "We hope to avoid being collateral damage anywhere."

"You pay attention," added Buckley. "Sure Mexico has problems. They're sad and awful. But it's a wonderful country."

Rounding out the foreign crowd was a group of Intel employees and their families up from Mexico City. So it seemed the tourist pool, in this corner of Michoacan at least, was made up of expats, old Mexico hands, and hardy adventurers who consider witnessing the miracle of the monarch butterfly migration essential travel. (Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, also made the pilgrimage to see butterflies that weekend, but to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary near Valle de Bravo, in the state of Mexico.)

We opted to go to the reserve closest to San Cayetano called El Capulin, which is technically across the border from Michoacan in the state of Mexico. It is about half an hour's car ride from the hotel to the stables, where we rented some pretty scrawny horses and hired guides for the 1 ½ hour trek uphill to the reserve at a place called Cerro Pelon. It was a rocky, dusty trip and there apparently are easier trails to the Sierra Chincua and the larger El Rosario sanctuaries in Michoacan, but it was well worth the saddle pain.

For here in the forest, I learned the great mystery of the monarchs, which is this: Most monarchs live only four or five weeks, but the generations that make the long migratory journey to Mexico live four or five months. They breed, the females lay their eggs on the road north, and die along with the males. Then, a year and five butterfly generations later, their descendants rely on some kind of instinctive GPS system to migrate south again, returning to exactly the same forest in central Mexico.

How cool is that?

Experts say the numbers of monarchs have been dwindling in recent years thanks to logging, insecticide use and other environmental pressures. We encountered a team of scientists from the World Wildlife Fund of Mexico and the Universities of Georgia and Wisconsin testing butterflies for parasites that attach themselves to the wings like excess baggage and drag the insects down. They found the ophryocystis elektroscirrha parasites on about 10 percent of the butterflies, which only weigh about a half-gram to begin with.

And yet, there are millions of them, flying, diving, sucking nectar from yellow and purple wildflowers, and seeking, like Skipton and Goldberger, the mates of their lives.

Recalling his romantic proposal, Goldberger said she remembers running to Skipton for the picture when "all of the sudden he was down on one knee." It took her a moment to realize what was happening. "It was incredible," she said.

And what did she respond?

"Yes."

If You Go...

BUTTERFLY MIGRATION IN MICHOACAN, MEXICO: Butterfly reserves are open mid-November through March. UNESCO World Heritage site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1290. Reserves include El Capulin, over the border from the state of Michoacan to the state of Mexico. Entry fee at El Capulin, 35 pesos ($2.75). Horseback riding, 200 pesos ($16.50) and fee for guide, 200 pesos ($16.50) plus tip.

RANCHO SAN CAYETANO: Zitacuaro, Michoacan. Nightly rates, $130 plus 18 percent tax. Can be paid in dollars or pesos but quoted in dollars. Dinner at San Cayetano, 350 pesos ($27.45) plus 15 percent tip. Breakfast, 170 pesos ($13.30) plus 15 percent tip. They also will arrange box lunch tours to the sanctuaries.

[briansue]

I do not always agree with all that is said in these online stories - just post because they are about Mexico. This advice may be common sense anywhere you travel including the US. An example I have used on this forum comes from FBI and US Dept. Of Justice websites where they show all crime statistics for the US over many years. So the example is that there are on average about 38,000 carjackings in the US each year. The warning below is do not drive at night in Mexico. The same might apply in the US. Personally, our reasons for not driving at night in Mexico has to do with topes and cows - not banditos. Banditos can be found anywhere you go anywhere in the world. Mexico may be no better or no worse.

Here's this story.........

http://local.msn.com/travel/how-to-stay-safe-in-mexico
By Katherina Audley

How to stay safe in Mexico

The author offers 9 tips for traveling safely through Mexico.


I fell in love with Mexico the first time I stepped off a plane there in 1998. I've been back many times since then, and I got married there in 2011. As a frequent visitor to Mexico, I am asked repeatedly if it is safe. It is, if you're smart. A bit of preparation and planning before you leave and using your head when you're there go a long way. Here are a few tips on how to stay safe, healthy and relaxed in Mexico.

1. Make copies of your passport.
Keep a copy with you, but keep it separate from your passport. Leave another copy at home in a place where someone you know can access it. Should you lose your passport, a copy will facilitate a quick replacement.

2. Learn your local geography.
Mexico is a big country, roughly the size of Western Europe, and almost all of it remains safe and untouched by the violence that's been in the news. Research your destination and learn about potential safety issues from a credible source. The U.S. State Department's website provides detailed up-to-date safety advisories for the entire country. If you find your destination has safety advisories in effect, travel smart and heed the warnings. For example, if the area has experienced highway robberies recently, use taxis or public transportation instead of a rental car. When you get there, chat with your hotel's owner to get the lay of the land. Ask if there are neighborhoods to avoid.

3. Don't bring bling.
Leave the Rolex at home. There is no need to strip down to a burlap sack, but avoid wearing fine jewelry and keep your camera tucked away when it's not in use. Keep your valuables attached to you when you're walking and in sight even when sitting down to dinner. But, please, forgo the fanny pack. Nothing says "Rob me!" like a fanny pack.

4. Don't be flashy.
When I'm in Mexico, I pay with cash. It saves me international transaction fees and averts potential fraud. ATMs in Mexico usually dispense large-denomination bills. Break your large bills as soon as possible and carry only as much cash as you need each day. Withdraw your cash from brightly lit, well-attended ATMs during daylight hours and keep aware of the people around you before, during and after the transaction. Keep a few small bills in the primary compartment of your wallet and tuck larger bills away or leave them locked in your hotel's safe, along with your passport and credit cards. Small bills prevent egregious shortchanging and are easier for shopkeepers to manage. When you must carry a large amount of cash, use a money belt or hidden pocket. If your credit card is stolen or there are fraudulent charges, contact your bank right away. By reporting your lost or stolen card immediately, your liability should be minimal and usually your card can be replaced within three business days.

5. If you are held up ...
There are bad people everywhere, including in Mexico. Be aware that Mexican bandits may be desperate and easily provoked to violence. If you are the unlucky victim of a holdup, don't resist. Don't look into the robber's eyes. Give up the inexpensive jewelry and the few dollars in your wallet, and let it go.

6. Avoid Montezuma's revenge.
Skip the traveler's trots by staying away from unfiltered tap water, but do stay hydrated. When drinks are served with ice cubes, ask if they were made with purified water (agua purificada).

7. Don't drive at night.
Nighttime is when most carjackings and highway robberies occur. It is also when people, their farm animals and their pets like to congregate on the road to visit and travel between villages. Driving etiquette is different in Mexico and can be especially harrowing at night. When I must travel at night, I leave the driving to a bus or taxi driver and focus on my Hail Mary's. In Mexico City, it is important to take only certified Mexico City taxis. Most restaurant, business and hotel owners will be glad to call one for you.

8. Don't buy drugs.
Buying drugs in Mexico greatly increases your risk for being the victim of a violent crime, and your drug purchase directly supports the drug cartels.

9. Explore the world from a cup-half-full perspective.
Mexicans are some of the kindest, happiest people in the world, and tourism is a primary source of income for many of them. It is important to them that you leave with a favorable impression of their country. That said, there are bad people everywhere in the world, including Mexico. When in Mexico, assume the people you meet are good, kind people who want you to have a great vacation. With a perspective like this, chances are extremely high that this will indeed be the case.

[Turtle-Toad]

Of course each one was accompanied by a photo, with links to more photos of that area.

The second one was on how to stay safe in Mexico. You know, the usual stuff that anyone with an I.Q. above a grape would consider just common sense.

The third one is dedicated to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. I haven't been able to get that link to work but I'd be willing to bet that I've seen every photo that they've posted. Still better in person!

[briansue]

10 safest places to visit in Mexico now

News of violence in Mexico has frightened many visitors away in recent years. But smart travelers know that there are hundreds of places in Mexico, a country roughly the size of Western Europe, that have been untouched by recent events. The following 10 places are just a tiny sampling of the many of beaches, cities and towns in Mexico for which no safety advisory is in effect.

http://local.msn.com/travel/10-safest-places-to-visit-in-mexico-now

Oaxaca

The city of Oaxaca is as complex as the mole sauces for which it is famous. Not content to rest on its ornately architected laurels, Oaxaca bursts with modern culture. The city’s renowned studio art scene, coupled with galleries selling the finest examples of traditional art in the country, attracts art lovers like bees to honey. An impressive range of cuisine and accommodations is available, too, from clean, traditional and affordable to cutting edge gourmet.

Puebla

For a place with as many forts and battlefields as Puebla, the city is remarkably calm. It has long been known as one of the safest cities in Mexico, and its citizens today are more known for their talavera pottery and comida tipica (typical foods) than they are for their triumph over Napoleon’s French troops on May 5, 1862. That said, history buffs will wear out their soles visiting the city’s extensive architectural gems. The publicly accessible bell tower of Puebla Cathedral — the tallest bell tower in Mexico, at 226 feet — offers a view of the city’s extensive historical patchwork of baroque towers, tiled Moorish domes and other richly ornamented facades, all of which bow to the twin volcanoes in the distance, smoldering Popocatepetl and sleeping Iztaccihuatl.

Guanajuato

Guanajuato is a pretty inland city beloved by foreigners and Mexicans alike. Bridges and streets tangle, knot and cross like a frustrated M.C. Escher drawing amid tumbles of richly tinted buildings that cling to hillsides. “Have you been to see the mummies?” locals will ask as you wander the vertiginous streets. And indeed, El Museo de las Mumias is impressive if you are a mummy fan. But Guanajuato offers much more than that. A small colonial city with a booming cultural scene, Guanajuato is riddled with character. The Festival International Cervantino, for example, is a three-week-long international arts festival held every fall, featuring world-class opera, music, dance, theatre, street performance, visual art, film and literature.

Valle de Bravo

Replete with natural beauty and Old World charm, Valle de Bravo is the Lake Como of Mexico. Located two hours west of Mexico City, the lakeside community has long been a popular weekend getaway for Mexico City’s elite. Smart attendants stand ready at the many white-tablecloth restaurants and hip bars that line the town’s main drag. Meanwhile, thrill-seeking paragliders float above the pine-forested hills that frame the shores of Lake Avándaro. The main difference between Valle de Bravo and Lake Como — besides the chance of a George Clooney sighting — is the price tags. It is easy to find five-star luxury accommodations in Valle de Bravo for less than $150 per night. In Lake Como? Not so much.

Santiago de Querétaro

Querétaro, population 2 million, offers its residents a higher quality of life than most cities in North America. It’s the city’s natural beauty and historical importance that give it a grounded feel. Eye-catching craft shops and candy stands set along Queretaro’s narrow passageways invite travelers to slow down and experience life at a more leisurely pace. Inhabited continuously since 200 A.D., the city reached its golden age in the 17th and 18th centuries. Queretaro has worked continuously to preserve its history and was rewarded in 1996 when UNESCO declared the city’s historic center a world heritage site.

Palenque/San Cristobal de las Casas

The most dangerous thing about San Cristóbal de las Casas may be its cobblestone streets, which become perilously slippery during summer rain squalls. To stay safe in San Cristobal, should you find yourself attempting to cross town in flip-flops during a rainstorm, it is best to wait it out under one of the city’s red-tile-roofed terraces, where you can browse through a cornucopia of handmade goods and crafts on offer by brightly dressed indigenous people from surrounding mountain villages. When in the state of Chiapas, don’t miss out on the opportunity to visit the misty, magical ruins of Palenque just three hours away, set in a jungle full of moaning howler monkeys.

Todos Santos

If art, beer and surfing are your holy trinity, then Todos Santos will be your heaven on earth. The gallery scene is sophisticated enough to receive nods from international art collectors. The beer goes down extra easy when enjoyed against the backdrop of golden sand beaches and the peaceful turquoise sea. And even the waves are easy-going in this tranquil little beach town at the south end of the Baja Peninsula.

Tulum

The hippie-gone-chic white sand beaches of Tulum are an upscale yoga lover’s Shangri-la. Beyond the meditation classes and mango daiquiris, Tulum boasts an international gourmet food scene that makes it possible to eat your way around the world in style. For those not into getting their “om” on, day trips to Mayan ruins, snorkeling trips in the crystal clear water of a cenote and scuba diving in the coral reefs beyond the beach are fun options. Just a few hours by plane from either coast, Tulum is the perfect place to get off the grid and return to yourself.

Merida

Yucatan capital, Merida, was founded in 1542 and built on top of the ancient Mayan city of T’ho. Modern Yucatecans today are as proud of their Mayan ancestry as they are of their glistening city. Restored pastel haciendas dating back to the mid-19th century pay tribute to Merida’s period of prosperity as the world’s leader in sisal production. A thriving cultural and culinary scene keeps travelers coming today, as does its solid reputation as one of the safest and cleanest cities in Mexico. Merida is convenient to the stunning pyramids of Chichen Itza, as well as the large flamingo flocks of Valladolid, and countless cenotes and coral reefs.

San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende is known as much for its expat population — 8,000-plus Americans and Canadians and counting — as it is for its rose-tinted turrets. The city makes it famously easy for newcomers to settle in to a comfortable lifestyle and works to retain its baroque, cobblestoned allure. The result is a safe, relaxed city with a knack for seduction. San Miguel de Allende’s good restaurants, idyllic weather, interesting architecture and healthy art scene also contribute to showing travelers a good time.

[kca87]

When I use the URL, I get to the page and then immediately redirected to my local weather (La Paz, BCS, Mexico). Given the URL, maybe it has to do with what MSN considers to be your "locale" and does a redirect based on your ISP or something. Who knows. They sound like great articles so maybe someone could post their contents here for the rest of us to read.

[Graydon]

They all work for me

[briansue]

Weird - they all still work fine for me - maybe only in the US? No idea.

[Turtle-Toad]

The first two worked fine for me. The last one got me a can't find error.
They all are MSN Travel based pages, the first two show me my local weather and below that, the first of the 10.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Can't read any of the links. I connects then in less than a second goes to the Victoria weather. (Which I can see by looking out my window!)