We Are Learning Some Mexican Ways

Being the last day before the weekend, we took off for exploring a part of the area. Key was doing it early and before the heat of the day would settle in.

On the map I found a possible place for dumping waste water - a campground in connection with the Hotel Playa De Cortes. 

After entering Hwy 124 we took the first turn-off to the right - which was a good, but narrow road. It led along a nature preserve and we saw the "Delphinario" complex. 

View across the nature preserve with Cerro Tetakawi in the background

Then we got through some pretty upscale neighbourhood some of the part of a gated community - clearly folks with a fat bank account.

The Hotel Playa De Cortez is located at the end of a bigger main road with a huge wall forcing you to stop. Half of the Spanish-style opening was closed off with a gate, but the left side was open. An empty chair placed on the side signaled that a guard should be sitting there, but at this time there was nobody. We drove into the yard and saw something what looked like an RV-Park, but entirely empty and overgrown with weeds. In the background on top of a mountain a building resembling a castle, made of concrete. From a video I have seen, I know that this monstrous building was the former headquarter of a local cartel boss. I briefly checked out a faucet but there was no water. A single very old 5th-wheel, grown in with weeds was parked in one of the sites. And not a single human soul around. I got a eerie feeling and we got out of there. 

Googling the hotel, I found out that it is still open for business, except for the campground. It was built in 1935/36 and was famous for its features and elegance. Booking.com offers overnight stay for $77/night.

Ok, it wasn't the place we had hoped for so we went into Guyamas and to Walmart. The Walmart is absolutely comparable to any Walmart in the US. We got ourselves some swim shoes which hopefully would protect us a bit against the stings of the baby stingrays, we had been warned about.

While I went into Walmart first, Bea and Dixie stayed in the car, AC on full blast. Then we switched. Now, I certainly made a mistake by going into the self-checkout. My Spanish needs a lot of upgrades if I want to understand the messages this machine shows. Trying and failing I needed the help of a Walmart associate several times. Next time, I will seek out a human cashier for sure.

Next Bea wanted to find a coin laundromat. There are only a few, if any, in Mexico. Laundromats in Mexico are full service where one drops off the laundry, then comes back (after shopping for hours) to pick up your stuff. Some of these facilities are clean others are filthy. We found a real clean one close to downtown San Carlos with an English speaking lady behind the counter.

Getting back to camp, it was the usual heat, and I went for cool-off into the ocean.