Guaymas/San Carlos

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Guaymas Adventure To Get a TelCel SIM Card

This morning, I drove to the nearby city of Guaymas to get my TelCel SIM card for my phone. Just as I was leaving San Carlos my truck started to make the ‘uh oh, that’s not good!’ noise it makes when oil levels are low. I had checked the level before leaving Nogales, but my dipstick is as useless as my gas gauge, so I was obviously lower than I thought I was. For some unfathomable reason, I didn’t have any oil with me, so I made the decision to drive to Guaymas knowing that I would quickly encounter a Walmart. I went in and looked for the automobile section, finding it in the middle of the store rather than at the periphery. I found 5W-30 weight oil for a gasoline engine and then asked a clerk about the Guía Roja mapbook. She told me to try an Oxxo store!

Out in the parking lot, I added the oil to the truck, glad that I at least had latex gloves, a funnel, and paper towels handy. The one small container did the trick.

Then, I headed downtown to the TelCel store. It was easy to find thanks to a gigantic billboard. The parking lot was a nightmare and I’m just glad I got out of there without crunching anyone. I drove around the block a bit and ended up parking on the street behind the store. I’m starting to understand that as long as there is no crossed out E (for estacionamento/parking), you can park anywhere in Mexico…

The store was huge and a little overwhelming. I first had to stand in line to sign in and get my order started. Croft claims he’s had service there in English, but no one seemed keen on serving me in anything but Spanish. Not a problem, I’d studied all he vocabulary I needed for this. Test time! I explained that I wanted a SIM card for my iPhone to use in Mexico this winter. The greeters had a conversation, apparently agreed on what I wanted, and gave me a ticket, then told me to go stand in line to speak to a representative.

I did so and eventually got to a very nice lady. I reiterated what I had told the greeters, then added that I wanted a small amount of local minutes, needed to be able to text to Canada and the US, and wanted a 3GB data plan. She confirmed that my phone is unlocked, then asked for my ID and processed my order. After that, she told me to go pay and return to her; she would wait. As I headed to the ‘carga’ (checkout), I looked at the bill and noticed that there was a charge for a SIM card and a modem. Huh?

I went back to the lady and asked her about that. She looked mortified. I apologized for being unclear and she said that, no, I was perfectly clear. Of course I would be using my iPhone as the modem! She fixed the bill and then got me to the head of the carga line so I could pay for the SIM card and a very basic plan.

Back I went to the lady and after struggling to get the case off my phone, she switched out the SIM card for me. She was impressed that I had a little plastic SIM card case in my purse in which to store my AT&T card and where my SaskTel card is safely stashed away. That done, I asked about increasing to the 3GB plan and she told me either go back to the carga line or go to… Oxxo. I guess Oxxo is like the Japanese 7-Eleven, one stop shopping for everything!

The carga line wasn’t too long, so I went back there and asked to buy 3GB of banda ancha and then I was free to go. I can’t believe I did the entire thing in Spanish!!!

My total cost was 149MX for the SIM card and basic plan and then 400MXN for the bigger bandwidth plan. I’m not sure how much voice or texting I have and I wasn’t giving any literature, but I did get a few texts so I’ll go read up on that, as well as figure out how to track my bandwidth usage. Bandwidth is expensive here, so I’m going to be conservative. No Netflixing allowed! But this should get me by for quite a bit as long as I’m frugal and use public wifi for big downloads until I get set up with hard wired internet.

The way my truck was parked, I would have had to make a left turn onto very busy MX 15 and there was just too much traffic for that to happen. I figured that I could just circle around the block using main roads. The city does not have a grid pattern and I found myself who knows where, taking the ‘scenic’ route and trying to avoid hitting anyone or being hit myself due to the lack of lane markers and respect for stop signs and lights. I can’t believe how funny I found my situation. I knew that as long as I kept going right I’d end up somewhere familiar and I didn’t feel in any danger. It was just turning into one of those situations that was going to make a great story. And, remember, I found my way out of Flagstaff, so I can navigate anywhere now. 😀

Eventually, I saw in the distance a sign saying the Walmart was that way, so I got into the left lane and quickly found myself back at MX 15. Waiting for the green light to turn, two boys insisted on cleaning my bug splattered windshield and did an amazing job of it in something like 15 seconds! Unfortunately, the only small change I had was a single peso coin, so that’s all I was able to give them. I did get a genuine gracias, so maybe it was enough.

Back on MX 15, I thought it would be an easy and mindless drive back to San Carlos, but it’s a good thing I was very alert because the exit sign was super tiny and low to the ground. I noticed it only at the very last second for making a safe turn. Phew!

The whole process took about two hours round trip, so I’m glad that I did it today instead of on my way to Los Mochis.

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Searching For Coffee in San Carlos

I left my room at 8:30 this morning to find coffee. The park office wasn’t open yet, so I decided to just go wander to the other end of town and back along the main drag. Surely I could manage this feat on my own!

It became apparent very quickly that San Carlos gets a late start on Monday mornings. Very little was open and I couldn’t find a single restaurant with an abierto sign. I did find an ATM inside a bank with a guard outside, so I made a withdrawal to get me to Mazatlan (I hope). I got all the way to the end of my map and still no open restaurants!

Dejected, I began the long schlep back to the park when I finally saw an open restaurant! I walked in and asked for coffee. The lady shook her head and pointed up the street, telling me to try the Oxxo convenience store. Why didn’t I think of that?!

I went into the Oxxo and there was a coffee counter set up just like you can find in Canada and the US. The pot was empty, however. I asked the clerk if he had more and he pulled out a freshly brewed pot! I put a little into a cup and smelled it. Not bad! I filled the remainder of the cup and added creamer, which works in a pinch since I use so little. The cost was 15.50 pesos. The coffee is comparable to or a little better than US McDonald’s coffee (which is more bitter and not as good as what you get at CDN McDonald’s). I am quite satisfied with it and it is pretty tasty with a Kashi peanut butter granola bar!

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First Night in Mexico!

I got to bed around 10:30 last night and promptly passed out. Next thing I knew, it was five and I was staring at a tiled ceiling trying to remember where I was. That doesn’t happen often, but the room was so unlike anywhere I have ever stayed that it took a moment for my sleep addled brain to remember, “Oh! MEXICO!”

The park was dark and quiet last night, but life here starts early. I fell back asleep around six and was woken an hour later by the sound of an RV moving out and maintenance vehicles.

So a very, very, very good first night in Mexico. So pleased! 🙂

The internet is muuuuuch better this morning, so I can show pictures of my room. The internet was great long enough to upload the pictures to this post and now it’s acting up again. 🙁

The bed is hard, but was more comfortable last night than expected. The only thing I don’t like about the room is the sewer odour coming from the bathroom. I left the bathroom door closed all night because the window doesn’t close well and there was a VERY loud sound of insects (crickets?) coming from the rear of the property. When I opened the door this morning, the smell was really obvious and not pleasant. I opened the window and hope that will help today.

My first challenge of the day will be to find real drip coffee. There used to be a well reviewed café in town, but it’s closed. I will ask at the front office.

Later, I will drive to Guaymas to get my cell phone sorted out.

I am also going to see if I can find a non-gringo priced manicure place. I can’t for the life of me find my nail clippers and files and my nails are soooooooo long. Typing is getting to be a problem and you should have seen the hard time I had yesterday entering my card PIN into the Banjercito machine! I find my situation hilarious. I mean, I was a nailbiter for 32 years, so the habit of keeping my clipper and files handy isn’t quite entrenched yet. I saw places in AZ where I could have had the work done for 10USD, so I’m looking for anything cheaper than that. I think my manicure in Nuevo Progreso was 8USD.

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My First Mexican Taco!

My stay gave me a free margarita at the bar/restaurant next door with the purchase of food. I wasn’t super hungry since I had a late lunch, but I was peckish enough to order an appetizer so off I went. I was asked a question about the margarita and it took me a second to figure out that the server wanted to know if I wanted it on the rocks or slushy (frappé). I replied the latter and the resulting drink was what I expected. Not a big one, but plenty.

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I decided to order a single taco for dinner and requested ‘pulpo con queso.’ The server did a double take and repeated my order to make sure he had understood me correctly. I nodded and repeated my order. I’m guessing not many gringos order octopus around here?!

The taco was wonderful, full of melty cheese and sweet tender bites of octopus! I’m sure the locals add hot sauce, but I didn’t need it. Someone ran to my table to give me chips, salsa, and lime as I was taking my first bite, so I did squeeze a quarter of a lime over the taco to give it an extra burst of freshness. I am tempted to have a couple more for lunch tomorrow, it was that yummy!

in Japanese, this would be a tako taco! :)

in Japanese, this would be a tako taco! 🙂

I can’t wait to try out the taco carts the locals eat at. Wonder if I’ll do like Croft’s wife, Norma, and find myself munching on goat… 😀

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Nogales, AZ, to San Carlos, MX

Once you get through the US post at the border crossing at the end of Mariposa Road in Nogales, there is no way to return for quite a while. You have to go over pieces of metal that would shred your tires if you go across them in the wrong direction. Then, you are on a closed toll (cuota) highway for quite a while. The highway opens to four lanes past the Mexican city of Nogales, and continues that way after the KM 21 checkpoint.

Generally speaking, the drive to San Carlos was tedious. The speed varied from 110KPH to 40KPH and there was a lot of construction. The road conditions were decent and it was fun to drive through small towns and see the contrast between grungy local shops and shiny big name chains like OXXO (convenience store) and AutoZone.

The biggest excitement of the day was the drive through the city of Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora. There was a detour, but I just followed the signs for MX 15, as well as a whole parade of cars, and had absolutely no trouble. Really, after you’ve driven in Montreal and found your way out of Flagstaff, you can drive anywhere. 🙂 Part of the detour route would have been a little rough in an RV, but not too bad.

I quickly noticed that Mexican drivers do not believe in using turn signals, so I got into the habit myself of passing and merging without signalling. I’m already living like a Mexicana! 🙂 There really wasn’t much traffic the whole way down to San Carlos, not even in Hermosillo, and this was a good way to ease me into Mexican driving. I’m not a very aggressive driver and I was worried I’d have a tough time down here, but so far, so good!

I was just about ready to pull into a Pemex station and beg for a bathroom when I saw the big ‘El Valiente’ sign that was my clue that the exit to San Carlos was coming up! It was coming on 1:00 and pulled into Totonaka RV Park at about 1:15, almost exactly six hours since leaving Nogales. I made good time! Croft recommended that I stay in one of the rooms the park has to rent. Unfortunately, their rates are quite a bit higher than on the website, 40USD for the least expensive room, rather than 25USD. I’m staying two nights for sure, then will possibly get a tent site for 15USD if I’m stuck here because of the storm.

My room wasn’t ready, so I was invited to park, using the public restrooms, and sit outside for a bit with the WiFi. I was also offered a map of town if I wanted to go exploring. I was hungry and Croft had recommended a restaurant, Charly’s Rock, right across the street, so I headed there.

This is a seafood restaurant open to the beach (the Sea of Cortez!!!!!!) with an amazing view! What a place to unwind with a cold beer! I ordered a Pacifico, which turned out to be delicious, and sipped it while munching on tortilla chips, salsa, and limes while I perused the menu. San Carlos is a gringo community, so I expected the menu to be bilingual. Nope! I read it slowly, occasionally looking up words on an app I downloaded to my iPhone.

The chips and salsa were good and quite filling, so I decided to get something light, with my eyes finally resting on the words ‘ceviche al coco’, thin fish filet with coconut milk and serrano peppers. I had no idea if serrano peppers would burn off my taste buds, but I decided to be brave and try it! For those who aren’t familiar with ceviche, it’s fish or seafood ‘cooked’ in acid, usually lemon or lime juice.

I was almost done with my beer by the time the meal came. It was beautiful! I took a sip of the liquid and my taste buds were flooded by the acidity of the lime juice cut by the sweetness of the coconut milk. The peppers added flavour, but no heat; same thing with the red onions. The fish was soft and melted in my mouth. There was also a little avocado and plenty of crackers to soak up the juice. Yum, yum, yum. 🙂

When I was done, I flagged down the server and asked for the cuenta, which came to 135MXN. I added 20MXN for a tip. I still can’t wrap my brain around the money and keep reminding myself to remove a decimal point to make the sums easier to stomach!

I left the restaurant and walked up towards the centro to check out the supermarket. I found an ice cream place on the way back and got a small cone. There was a dizzying array of flavours, most of which I did not recognized, so I asked for chocolate and was offered Rocky Road and some other kind. I asked for ‘No Rocky Road, el otro.’

When I got back to the RV park, my room was ready. It is small, but adequate, with a clean bathroom and a very hard bed. I am tempted to grab my mattress out of the truck! I have a fridge, but no microwave. I really need to figure out how to get coffee tomorrow morning! 🙂

So I’m really in Mexico, using pesos and speaking Spanish! Wow! I’m so proud of myself. 🙂

Driving here, I couldn’t help but marvel at the brave souls who do so with little to no knowledge of the language. I’ve been cautious about over estimating my Spanish skills, but after the last few days, I know that they are much better than I realised, well beyond the basics of where’s the bathroom and I want a beer! I mean, I have negotiated rent on an apartment, rented motel rooms, bought currency, ordered meals, paid tolls, and done a few things at the border all with what I learned 20 years ago! All those late night Tuesdays and Thursdays of conversation class are finally paying off!