Drive to Coatzacoalcos

Today we drove seven hours from the Pacific coast to the gulf of Mexico.   One body of big water to another.  And they could not be more different.  We went from kind of sere to mountainous to jungle, just like that.  One minute we were in brown and dry, and the nesxt minute we were in wet and green.  All in the course of seven hours.  And we have not yet seen any other gringos.

We are in the process of touring the states of southern Veracruz, Tabasco, and Chiapas, but sadly will only be scratching the surface.  While we were driving today, we stopped and got corn on the cob, which came all cooked in a nice plastic bag, with salt, lime, and hot sauce.  I would not have thought of eating corn that way - butter, salt and pepper is what I was raised with - but this was really good.  A much better road snack than chips from OXXO (the 7-11 of Mexico).  When you drive any distance in Mexico and pass through little settlements (Not even towns or even villages) there are speed bumps in the road to slow you down.  And they are HUGE speed bumps, so you have to slow almost to a stop.  It is at that point that people step out into the road and try to sell stuff, usually food.  They have corn on the cob, sliced fruit of all sorts, ice cream, and popsicles, just to start.  We usually don't get anything, but this time we decided to do so.  I guess we will do it again if we get hungry.

This town is an oil town, right on the gulf.  It isn't the prettiest place, but it has a nice malecon (beachside boardwalk made of concrete) and a lot of statues dotting the way.  It was kind of overcast, which was actually sort of a nice break from the hot sun of the Pacific side.  It is pretty humid, though.  The waves are big and loud, and I would not want to be sailing in this.  The only ships I have seen are tankers.  We saw some huge lizards, some strange vulture-looking birds with white on their wings and tails, some unknown raptors, and some bluejay type birds with really long tails.  We need a new bird book - the one we have is for North America and the further south we get, we discover more and more species that are not listed in the book.  A lizard list would be helpful too - they are not all iguanas. 

Tomorrow we continue east towards the Maya ruins at Palenque in Chiapas. We are stopping at a museum/park in a place called Villahermosa where there are Olmec artifacts - the Olmec being the oldest known group in Mexico.  After that we will continue on to Palenque.  All in all, we will be gone from the boat for another eight days.  We ordered a part to frix the frig - and it should be there when we get back.  IF there are no problems with customs.  There shouldn't be, but one never knows about these things.

So that about sums up today.  We did bring the second camera, so we should have pictures of this trip.  I am exausted and plan to go to bed really soon.  The room here at this hotel has CNN international, so we can get a TV news fix.  Not that it is going to be anything I want to hear.  Good night to all!