PHOTO: Worse places to be on the planet. If the phone doesn’t ring it’s me…
PHOTO: Greetings from La Paz. Me, Tosh and Gordie don our masks…that no one ever used anyway! So we just wear ’em for fun now!
BAJA NOTES
Originally published in Western Outdoor News the Week of June 30, 2009
I’m writing this looking out across the sunny sand and water at Muertos Bay and you can’t imagine too many other pretty places that can be much nicer. There are some coco palms in front of me and the water is that deep teal blue you see on postcards. Barely a ripple breaks the water surface and other than the folks here in the bar behind me, it’s deserted.
OK, I fib. There’s some real estate folks chatting it up with some prospective pigeons…uh clients… a few tables over. I try to tune that drivel out. If I hear that phrase “get in on the ground floor” one more time, I’m gonna go postal.
But, all-in-all, it beats scratching out on a keyboard in some cubicle. I know I’m blessed. But all is not well in paradise.
Recent bad news from Loreto. Add one more casualty to the pyre.
The 6,000 unit Loreto Bay Resort, about 20 minutes from Loreto, has suspended all operations. The mega-resort was to have included a hotel; seaside village; as well as homes, but had been struggling recently as a combination of the economy, real estate bust, bank failures as well as negative feelings about Mexico in general tied to the swine flu and drug war scares.
The hotel and golf course have been closed and fewer than 800 home units had been sold. More than 400 workers have been laid off.
The failure of the project puts current homeowners as well as those in the middle of construction in a mess and adrift. Despite months of speculation, many were not notified until the last minute that their services had been shut off. The government has asked to take over the project until new investors can be found. Folks do remain hopeful.
On the other side of the spectrum. I don’t know if something “official” has filtered to the troops and other law enforcement personnel at ground zero. But, here in La Paz as well as what I’m hearing from other areas and travelers in Baja raises an eyebrow or two.
Are the cops and soldiers getting some kinds of be “ nice-to-gringos” edict? I think it’s more than our collective imaginations. Here in La Paz, we go through check-points regularly. It’s pretty routine to go through checkpoints set up for drunks (just like the states) as well as regular random checkpoints by the military inspecting for drugs and arms.
At these checkpoints, normally, they’re pretty business-like as a matter of routine. At best.
At worst, there’s been some pretty rude encounters I’ve had over the years. Even traffic stops that I deserved (for wrong turns, seat belts, etc…I’m bad) have been pretty business-like. Just like the cops at there back home in the U.S. Just doing their jobs and nothing says they have to be friendly about it. I get that.
However, lately, guys in uniforms seem to go out-of –their-way to be nice. Even other gringos have said so. At checkpoints I get waved through with a smile. I don’t even roll my window down anymore.
I’ve been asked how my day is going. How is the fishing? Am I enjoying my stay? What??? Sometimes everyone else gets pulled over to be checked, but I don’t.
I turned down a one-way street and immediately got the red lights flashing. Oh no! Here we go. I’m gonna get hard-nosed.
On the contrary. As I watched in my rear-view mirror, the officer walked up like he was gonna nail me. I braced myself. Then he saw my California plates (that I’ve not changed yet) and I saw him break into a grin.
I rolled down my window and he smiled. Like an understanding parent, he told me it was dangerous to turn down a one-way street and to be more careful next time. He didn’t want anything happening to “visitors” to Mexico. He wished me a good day then made sure there was no traffic so I could turn around. No lecture. No Barney Fife harangue about being an idiot and now having to pay a humongous ticket. Just a big old grin.
Make my day indeed! Viva Mexico! I think they have been told to be nice to gringos. Thankful for little blessings.
That's My Story 
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