May 3
Marina Chahue
A bit of a sad morning -- I had to
say goodbye to Ole as he’s off to work again. This time
might be a bit longer separation, as he’s been asked to
take on a special project in the Miami office until
September. I know I’ll be fine here on my own: the
town is charming and has lots to offer, the weather is
great, and the security can’t be better. I certainly
have projects to keep me busy, from varnishing the
interior of the pilothouse to recovering the wall in the
master head and stateroom, as well as writing projects I
want to take on as an income supplement.
Before he left, we took a two and a
half hour taxi trip to Salina Cruz to secure a ten-year
Temporary Import Permit that will enable us to bring
boat parts into Mexico without duty. The marina office
helped us with a bit of research to locate the right
office, and pointed us in the direction of the bus
station. As he drove us toward the bus, Eduardo, our
enterprising cab driver, urged us to consider letting
him drive us all the way. When we added up and compared
the costs of taxis at either end, bus fare, and time
spent waiting to change buses, we were grateful for the
hustle and enjoyed a relatively comfortable drive over
good highways to the port city of Salina Cruz and the
bank charged with the responsibility of issuing the
permit. Eduardo helped us interpret at the bank, and
directed us to a great little seafood restaurant where
we bought him lunch to thank him for his help. The
countryside is beautiful, though dry, with rugged
mountains, dry riverbeds, and a unique system of traffic
humps to control vehicular speed through the many tiny
villages on the way. At some of these mandatory
transmission-eating speed bumps, gaggles of young girls
ran toward the car, shoving bottled water, tamales,
mangoes, and other road food through the windows,
applying a more aggressive business model to the idea of
a kid’s roadside lemonade stand– and we got to sample a
typical local snack – young ears of corn, freshly
steamed, bagged up with lemon and chili salt. Part of
the drive reminded us of the Pacific Coast Highway in
California, as it wound around cliffsides giving us a
different view of the Gulf of Tehuantepec several
hundred meters below.
Saturday evening we dressed up
(clean shirt, sundress!) and walked into town, stopping
at a few places to get a feel for the town. A margarita
at one, a Coctel Iguana at another (a blend of
mescal, mint, lime and club soda, served in a clay
jar with a sculpted iguana circling the rim), and a
sandwich at Hemmingway Cantina where we listened to live
music for awhile. I must say that mescal is a much
earthier version of tequila, tasting of smoke and herbs,
and blending nicely with mint. But one is definitely
enough! We strolled the zócalo, enjoying the fact that
it was lively, safe, and friendly, with no great street
hustle as in more tourist-oriented Mexican cities like
Acapulco or Mazatlan. Toward the end of our walk, we
found a great shop full of local products – chocolate,
mole, chile, and mescal, complete with tasting bars.
The charming part about the shop was that it was full of
locals enjoying a browse and a taste.
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