wow, looks like allot of fun and a nice place to visit, I hear allot of horror stories and worry going there, does it still seem at all risky or all just allot of BS more or less
Traveling in Mexico
- Thread starter Dan F
- Start date
If I ever travel to Mexico I would want to check out one of those pyramids...were you able to go inside of it and look around?
Nice! We used to travel two or three times a year until we had kids three years ago. We've only been to Mexico once since my son was born, but this March we are going to Mismaloya (south of PV) with both the kids.
I owe a lot of who I am to the Rotary Club. They run the best student exchange program in the world. I know what you mean about your dad, I lost mine about five years ago....Dan, you made me miss my Father with this post. He was a Rotary Governor....
It really is a beautiful place.
I think it is 90% B.S., but I'm sure you could get yourself into trouble if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I've been there dozens of times and never even been pick-pocketed.
At this place you had free reign, but most places you can't. There really isn't much to the interior, just a small bat-filled room on this one.
I don't think it's BS. In fact, most of it you never even hear about. If you want to see what REALLY happens in Mexico on a daily basis, have a look: http://www.blogdelnarco.com/
But you are right, it's all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time (which can happen anywhere). A friend of ours was on the cruise that had an incident right at the dock in Mazatlan. Ever since then the big cruise companies stopped going there. And I think a lot of them changed up their tours a lot in the past couple years.
Great pics though. Looks like a blast!
Ahh Ziploite... I have ridden the biggest barrels there. Great surf. Great thread Dan as well !! I too have traveled all over the Pacific coast of Mexico surfing, and spent a few trips in the Yucatan years ago exploring Mayan sites and free diving. I currently own a home about 2 hrs south of Ensenada in northern Baja. I will post some pics later..
I guess it's not B.S. in that the statistics are correct, Mexico does have a much higher murder rate than the U.S.. However, I think the level of danger an American (or any nationality) tourist faces by traveling to Mexico is blown way out of proportion by the media. This kind of puts it in perspective:
Making a Fair Comparison
Tijuana and Philadelphia are about the same population (about 1.4 million) and strangely enough about the same physical size.
In 2011 Philadelphia had a slightly higher murder rate than Tijuana. Both were right around 7.2 per 100K people.
In 2011 Philadelphia had more car jacking's than Tijuana
In 2011 Philadelphia had more than 3 times as many police officers as did Tijuana.
Yet there is a Travel Warning for the border areas of Mexico and not one for Philadelphia?
The 2011 Crime stats are not yet available from the Justice Department or the PJE in Mexico. So we will have to look at the crime stats for both Mexico and the US from 2010.
In 2010 the Murder Rate in the US was 5.6 per 100K people.
In 2010 the Murder Rate in Mexico was 13.2 per 100K people – BUT if you deduct the direct combatants in the drug war (cartel members or police) it slashes Mexico's Murder Rate to 5.8 per 100K, just fractions above that of the US.
In comparison the most dangerous country in this hemisphere and most dangerous non-warring country in the world is Honduras, with 72.3 murders per 100K, followed closely by El Salvador and Guatemala, all over 50 murders per 100K,
In 2010 more than TWO THIRDS of US cities were more deadly than Tijuana in murders per 100K.
Tijuana, the most dangerous place in Baja if you will, had a murder rate of 7.2 per 100K. New Orleans, Baltimore, Detroit and Washington DC was all in excess of 15 murders per 100K. Where is their Travel Warning?
Source - http://www.bajainsider.com/baja-california-travel/mexico-travel-warning.htm
I definitely wouldn't argue that Mexico is 100% safe, but I also wouldn't say that about Philadelphia (watch yourself, krich!)
Anyways, dangerous or not, Mexico is an amazing place. I can't speak to Philly....
Yeah, Zipolite is (was?) an awesome beach. When I first went to Zipolite in 1988 there was no electricity, only hammocks to sleep in, and a dirt road connecting it to Puerto Angel. They've paved the road and you can now get yourself an air-conditioned room. Still a great beach, but it isn't the same....
Please post up pics of your place in Baja, I'd love to see them!
Will do tomorrow. Im not on my own computer ATM or I would. I first started visiting Puerto Escondido (Zipolite) in 1990. Same thing, sleeping in hammocks under a mosquito proofed palapa on the beach. In the years since then it has improved drastically year to year. I was last there in 2003 and it had totally changed. The city that is.. The surf there was just as gnarly and dangerous as it was when I first visited, just more crowds.
Will do tomorrow. Im not on my own computer ATM or I would. I first started visiting Puerto Escondido (Zipolite) in 1990. Same thing, sleeping in hammocks under a mosquito proofed palapa on the beach. In the years since then it has improved drastically year to year. I was last there in 2003 and it had totally changed. The city that is.. The surf there was just as gnarly and dangerous as it was when I first visited, just more crowds.
interdesting. and thanks for the pics
krich is safe. thugs check under their bed for the boogie man. the boogie man checks under his bed for krich
