Danger's Blog, Cancun Casa,Living on Isla Time
In a Little Cafe on the Other Side of the Border, a Virtual Visitor's Blog on Cancun
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03/01/12
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends…
Filed under: Cancun Casa Blog
Posted by: Dangers @ 9:40 pm

As the old Emerson, Lake and Palmer song goes, welcome back my friends, so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside…

 For those that know me and those that don’t, a little catching up to do, I’ve been on a writing hiatus for some time, having become obsessed with a little slice of the Mexican Caribbean’s paradise lost that has long had my attention. Long gone are my writings and rants on U.S. Politics, Irish Nationalism, Music, Poetry and the Professional Sporting Scene. Now, I’m not saying, an occasional rant here and there might not pop up from time to time, just that the last book I read by Hunter Thompson before he died almost made Bob Dylan sound intelligible.

 So, as the world of Gonzo journalism lost its icon and folk rock lost its voice, I slid under the radar and into the mainstream before the pterodactyls could catch me, hanging on Thompson’s “edge” to long, and surviving, gave me a new found respect for the cave bats and Jimmy Buffett’s island escapism. Along the way I kept the Abandoned Luncheonette but moved onto the Cafe as this pirate put forty astern.

As it is, I’ve carved out a little space in the cyber world that I’d been holding onto until that earth shattering novel comes tumbling out under a blizzard of Mojitos that will have Hemingway sitting up in his grave. With this blog, I’ll try and spotlight the Mexican Caribbean, particularly Cancun, for better or for worse, toss in a few tall tales in between while drifting off into an occasional daydream that would make Syd Barret proud. If by chance I’ve lost you already, that’s alright, keep reading the blog and I’ll bring you back, I promise. Though I will tell you that if you’re easily offended, commonly pedantic or think that all of us bought into the kool-aid of the Bush Generation, you may want to look elsewhere.

With that, we’ll post our first official blog of the season and I hope you enjoyed the audition.

Seamus “Dangers” O’Mangan

Come inside, the show’s about to start….


 

 

 

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02/29/12
Cancun Spring Break, Money for Nothing and the Chick’s for Free…
Filed under: Cancun Tourism
Posted by: Dangers @ 2:00 am

 Well folks, it’s that time of year again in Cancun, the time of year when thousands of mainly American, Canadian and assorted International and National College aged curiosity seekers descend on Cancun. Naturally, we’re talking Spring Break in Cancun, the supposed beach playground of North American Youth for a 4-5 week period, typically covering most of the month of March and shouldering in on both February and April respectively.

 Some time back, around the year 2001, this was the bane of the typical tourist set and locals alike, a 21st century Ides of March in the adult playground of Cancun when a 100,000 or more young party types would manage all the alcohol they could spill, drink or throw until they were picked off at night by the pterodactyls or the local policia. Mostly it was raucous good times with an emphasis on Wet T-Shirt contests and 2×1 drinks at the evening bars and club scene, preempted by poolside games, crashes and low quality bathtub booze, bong hangovers. All courtesy of Mom and Dad’s credit card and the promiscuity brought on by one too many boat drinks, in other words, money for nothing and the chicks for free.


Many a spring breaker and tourist alike fell victim to the putrid concoction of “Slammers”, lethal shots of cheap tequila mixed with a host of mixers to kill the taste but to further the party. In most cases, no more harm than a hangover ensued or a late night visit to St. John before resuming the festivities. That was until Cancun started declaring war on Spring Break somewhere in the 2002 season, cracking down on public drinking and setting sail on a new upscale image that wouldn’t come into full view until post Hurricane Wilma (October/2005) in 2006.

 
By the end of 2006, Cancun had remade herself, the hotels and restaurants devastated by Wilma were now mostly heavily renovated or completely rebuilt, the new clientele sought was to be middle to upper class tourists with a timeshare credit approval rating and and an eye for something better than sharing the Mexican vacation playground with their neighbor’s college kids. Of course with this new found image, someone had to help pay for it, so if Cancun was going upscale as were her guests, so was their hotel bill, not that Cancun isn’t still a bargain, just not as good a one as she use to be. With it however was a renewed disdain of the Spring Break crowd.

 When 2007 rolled around, Old Man Use To wasn’t yet dead but the patient was in intensive care, Spring Breaker numbers were reeling back heavily as more and more hotels either through cost, age limits or downright refusal stopped catering or allowing Spring Breakers in their establishments. Estimates vary but by most accounts the 2000-2001 estimates of Breakers had dwindled from its peak of approximately 100,000 plus to a mere 35,000 by the 2008 season. Most of these Breakers being pushed into less than accommodating resorts that were more cattle pens with pools and taps than front line vacation Hotels.

 However, still the allure continues, and with proper attitude it’s not necessarily a bad thing, the Spring Breakers that is.

 Certainly from this perspective the numbers seem more manageable and despite the MTV and Real Cancun reputation, most of the young people landing in Cancun these days appear to be generally polite, reasonably behaved and obviously looking for a good time and aren’t we all. This year, 2012, the Cancun Hotel Association has been predicting anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000 Spring Breakers based on local press reports and that doesn’t look to be unreasonable, mostly bunched together at a handful of resorts that Mr. and Mrs. Average American wouldn’t take a liking to anyway.

 So, the long and short of it is, for the typical tourist, research your hotel choice beyond “it’s on sale” and you should have little issue with the Breakers during any time in March. The reality is that if your staying at the Ritz and in bed by 10PM, you won’t see them anyway, other than huddled in masses during the day at soylent green operations akin to Mickey D’s and the like.

 For the Breakers, as a veteran of almost every Cancun Spring Break since 1987, keep it cool and keep it from going over the top and you’ll have a great time in Cancun, do remember that in Mexico, your rights and law enforcement are quite different, respect the locals and the culture, enjoy the party but try and get a glimpse of Mexico while you’re there because it may be the only chance you get to see of her.


 
There’s plenty of great things to do in and about the Cancun area for everybody; Maya Ruins, Cenotes, small tropical Isla’s like Mujeres and Cozumel, Eco Parks, Snorkeling, Scuba and of course the surf and sand scene. Why spend a thousand bucks to shack up and swallow the Mezcal worm in Mexico, not that there’s anything wrong with that, without ever seeing what Mexico really has to offer.

Dangers…

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01/20/12
El Meco, Maya Ruins, the Hidden Wonder of Punta Sam, Call it Cancun’s “Tulum”
Filed under: Cancun Casa Blog, Cancun Tourism, Maya World
Posted by: Dangers @ 5:00 pm

(Courtesy of M.Auro/G.Barea: Foto Propia)

When I first wrote this review upon a return trip from Cancun, Mexico this past October I was laughing out loud remembering the wisecracking caretaker Jesus, my local amigo Javier, and me jousting around my broken Spanish and their broken English talking about how to get more visitors to this beautiful Maya ruins site located at Punta Sam.

Jesus wanted to know how some Gringo, me, calling himself Dangers (I told him my real name but I’d be writing under the Danger’s byline, he was more interested in “Dangers”, in Mexico, everyone has a nickname) was going to attract people to El Meco through some obscure writing foray in the States. While we were joking about Jesus started doing his El Boxeo impression mimicking Muhammad Ali in his classic Ali shuffle while Javier feigned the Sanford shuffle made famous by Redd Foxx in the TV sitcom “Sanford and Son” with me in hysterics downing a not so cold cerveza at the laughter at my expense.

Such is Mexico, and if a Gringo in El Meco can share a few laughs with the locals while getting the down low, it’s all good by me.

In any case, I told Jesus, I’d try and make him famous, so here goes as originally written for here and elsewhere by yours truly;

Dedicated to my amigo’s Javier and Jesus.

Courtesy of Cancun.Travel

The El Castillo at El Meco

Hidden off the beaten path of Cancun and the mainland area of the Isla Mujeres District on the road to Puerto Juarez and Punta Sam, and further North to Isla Blanca, is the Cancun regions version of the ancient Maya port city of Tulum. In this case it is the port city of “El Meco“, a once hidden city, no more, after completion of the archaeological diggings and restoration of the buildings located there over the last 10 or so years.

The Maya City of El Meco is believed to be named after the infirmity of a local coconut plantation owner of a former era who displayed a significant limp in his gait and upon whom the locals bestowed the Maya Ruin site the name. So, there’s no Maya significance or tradition to the modern name of El Meco to the ancient Maya, much like other Maya sites, that have long lost their names and have incorporated more familiar namesakes from after the Pre-Hispanic Period.

The city is however believed to have been a major commercial port for the Maya and overlooks the beach and docks from across the road at Punta Sam where nearby claims indicate that there’s the last vestiges of the ancient port hidden along the beach line. The city’s importance to the Maya is thought to have occurred from its proximity across the coast from Isla Mujeres, its location along the coastal trading routes and the area of calm but deeper water for vessels.

At the center of the site is the large El Castillo Pyramid surrounded by a dozen or so smaller structures believed to be used for governmental, religious and commercial trading purposes by the Post Classical period Maya starting in the 10th or 11th century AD. The site previous to this was believed to be home to a small native village going back to the 6th century AD.

Speculation based on artifact finds and architecture places El Meco at the heart of one of the Chichen Itza periods and further speculates that the city was amongst the then extended realms of the rulers of Chichen Itza.

Once on site at El Meco, most folks will marvel at the plush grounds,the minimal amount of insects and the array of foliage including trees that have grown through and over a few of the ruins. Thus far, El Meco is one of the quiet hideaways of Maya Ruins sites in the region, far more likely to be visited by local school children than by tourists, and a quiet, relaxing spot where one can actually enjoy and study the ruins far from the maddening crowds. A few couples were even picnicking under the large trees on the sites green lawns while enjoying the sea breezes.


(Courtesy of M.Auro/G.Barea: Foto Propia)

The working guide and caretaker on site is “Jesus” whom is extremely knowledgeable as to the site and its history. The cost of admission as of the date of the visit was 35 Pesos and well worth the fee. El Meco while not as large or popularly prestigious as many of the other competing Maya sites still resonates the history of the ancient people whom once occupied the city and gives the visitor a sense of the beauty and position the city once occupied in its location perched over the Yucatan Coast.

Visitors from Cancun can reach El Meco via bus, taxi or rental car on the road to Punta Sam past Puerto Juarez while visitors staying at the resort(s) in the newly developed Playa Mujeres region will want to travel south to the site.

For something different, something new, visitors may want to combine this trip with a visit to Isla Blanca further North and the pristine beaches and calm waters of Isla Blanca which are arguably some of the best stretch of beach and surf areas in the Yucatan though some of the locals may want this writer’s head for mentioning such.

 Location: KM 2.7, On the Puerto Juarez - Punta Sam Road, in the mainland area of the  District of Isla Mujeres, North of the City of Cancun.

Admission: 35 Pesos (about $3.00 U.S.)

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01/01/12
The Smoking Guns Behind the U.S. - Mexico Border Issues
Filed under: Cancun Casa Blog
Posted by: Dangers @ 7:00 pm

The smoking guns; drug users, weapons smuggling, and money laundering that are behind many of the border problems illustrates that Mexico isn’t the only country with a border crisis in its homeland. The above issues illustrate the growing problem Mexico has from her Northern neighbor, the U.S., in combating the drug cartels and the violence associated along both country’s borders.


Courtesy: Wikipedia

The Mexican States where the majority of the violence takes place are marked in Red, Cancun is located in the State of Quintana Roo, SE of the Yucatan State and located on the East Coast of Mexico, mid center left on the map in Green, just NW of Isla Cozumel.

  1. The United States is the final delivery depot and user base for most things drug based from the Mexican Cartels.
  2. According to a New York Times Report over 6,600 quick sale U.S. Gun Dealers are located in close proximity to the U.S./Mexico Border and the source of much of the firepower involved in over 6,000 drug related deaths in Mexico over the last year.
  3. The cash out of hand, the money used to build these drug cartels, finance their operations, and much of the money laundering used by the drug cartels, comes from the U.S. or is U.S related.

The most recent outcry over violence on the U.S.- Mexico border has at its core a struggling recessionary U.S., rife with economic issues, and a select citizenry sold a bill of goods by special interest groups including the U.S. government (Local, State and Federal), and the phony naivete of much of the U.S. Fourth Estate better known as the newspapers, and other electronic news media. At issue is a very real problem, often pedantically displayed by the special interest groups looking to push further issues such as opposition to NAFTA and Immigration Reform, under the guise of the increasing violence on the borders, related to the Mexican Drug Cartels, which happens to be a very real problem, the drug cartels that is.

The American public has been told with quite some zeal that Mexico represents a threat as a failed State due to the drug cartels by the military wing of the U.S. Federal Government. They’ve been told, by special interest groups, that illegal immigration is stealing jobs, hurting social programs and creating two Americas; one English speaking and one Spanish speaking.  While the U.S. press has latched on to the anti Mexican wave in an advertising and ratings chase, launching countless media attacks bordering on scare tactics that have influenced tens of thousands of Americans to avoid visiting Mexico. This, despite the fact that the U.S. State Department Travel Advisory upon which they have based their view, has been relatively unchanged for over a year, and was updated only to further advise Americans of the dangers on the border, and a handful of other Mexican towns.

While it wouldn’t be unfair to label Mexico as part of the problem, it would be unfair to label Mexico as the only problem, as it is at once both misleading and pretentious. The truth be told, the Mexican drug cartels are warring amongst themselves, and both the Mexican and U.S governments seeking to stop them, for control of the lucrative drug trade into the U.S. markets.

If the U.S. continues to allow the arming of the drug cartels via retail arms sales in the U.S. with weapons purchased by American Citizens as straw buyers, and then smuggled into Mexico illegally, America is just as responsible for the gun related killings and violence in Mexico. These gun sales not only arm the cartels but spread to drug related gangs all over the U.S. Law enforcement officials in both countries frequently find themselves out gunned by these organizations in both countries due to legally purchased firearms bought over the counter in U.S. gun stores while the store owners trade profit for a blind eye to their purchasers.

If the U.S continues to allow money to flow in and out of banks and other monetary institutions with U.S. ties with little oversight and enforcement of existing law, the drug cartels will continue to launder money in huge sums to feed their organizations, their foot soldiers, and bribe both Mexican and American authorities where able, and to produce the funds for arming their members.

And, if the American consumer cannot break its continued habit of drug use whether it be marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine or other illicit forms coming from south of the border, there’s little doubt to where the crisis is. The U.S. citizen is the end consumer, spending millions if not billions a year on recreational and habitual drug use fueling legions of internal criminal cartels, mafias, gangs and like activities. Much of this money flowing back into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels who use it to get rich, ply authorities, buy weapons, lawyers, banks and widen their distribution networks.

As such, this months meetings of State between US and Mexican officials including Mexico’s President Calderon and U.S. President Obama are important steps to gaining a joint initiative firmly established but minimally funded in reality by the 2007 Merida Initiative. Releasing those funds originally allocated and working cooperatively as agreed upon is a key to fighting the cartels from both sides as President Calderon has made defeating and criminally prosecuting the cartels leaders and their minions a priority of his administration.

On the American side, the Obama Administration needs to rein in the gun sale market, halt the illegal smuggling of weapons into Mexico, step up enforcement on institutions allowing money laundering and come up with a satisfactory plan to hinder drug abuse in the U.S. and its subsequent use or face the reality of a partial legalization.

Hence the smoking gun(s) stands on both sides of the border and the issue isn’t about whose problem it is but rather how both Mexico and the U.S. need to work bilaterally in providing a solution.

Dangers…

 

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