Under the Fan in the Yucatan: Life's a Beach!

We came upon the opportunity via our casa owner to spend a week at the beach.  Merida is about 35 kilometres from the north coast of the Yucatan on the Gulf of Mexico and the port city of Progreso which boasts the world's longest pier at 6.5 kilometres.  The tremendously long pier is necessitating by the shallow water in that area.  Progreso took over as the Yucatan's main port from Sisal in the mid-twentieth century.  Note:  our binder twine in days of yore was called "sisal" because the shipments were stamped with the name of the port.  The actual stuff is called henequen. (Take it easy the "h" of course.)

Mucho Canadians winter and live in Progreso and on the coast east and west of there.  Hard to believe -- a place other than Canada (and Cuba) where Canadians outnumber the Americans!  We are staying in the small fishing village of Chuburna west of Progreso.  Merida is a big city, Progreso is a small city, then you go through Chelem which is a town and on to Chuburana which is a village.

The place seems pretty much abandoned this time of year.  Many open air restaurants and tiny confectionaries plus a couple of cold beer joints.  There is also the requisite church and town plaza.  The side streets are the same lovely white sand as the beach which is cool.  The combination of megatonnes of limestone and crushed shells has produced beautiful sand.  In addition to the lack of services is a surfeit of dogs.  The number of dogs roaming the streets in Mexico is inversely proportional to the size of the town.  No donkeys or roosters though but LOTS of fish.

It is a wonderful coastline for shelling (collecting shells is a noun in this part of the world) and watching brown pelicans fish. Unlike white pelicans which apparently swim in a circle and then close in on a school of fish, brown pelicans skim over the water alone or in small groups and when they spy a fish they rise up a bit and then plummet straight down beak first like a missile to spear the fish.  They look for all the world like “lawn darts” (from days of yore before they were deemed , like so many activities and equipment, far too dangerous).  Watching the pelicans fish provides hours of entertainment as does observing the “boys in the hood”, aka perros, aka dogs frolic in the surf.

When we first arrived in Chuburna you could shoot a cannon off in any direction and not do much harm but the week of Carnaval has begun.  Carnaval is the days preceding Ash Wednesday when good Catholics let their hair down before the somber season of Lent which precedes Easter.  Apparently children are out of school this week and many other workers get at least some days off.  The city of Merida precedes Ash Wednesday with a week of daily/nightly parades.  The main streets turn into cantinas and the locals do their best to stay up all night and make as much noise as possible.  Business and property owners fence their gardens to prevent trampling and littering.  Here in Chuburna it all started Saturday with locals coming out to “the cabin”, many participating in an open air church service in the plaza in the evening and then playing music all night.  Earplugs are a must.  Sunday morning the families are frolicking and/or sobering up in the surf.  Apparently this culminates on Tuesday night or Mardi Gras with one last whoop up and then it’s off to mass Wednesday morning for the annual smear of ashes on the forehead and Lent begins.

While many expat Canadians and Americans own here or rent this time of year, many of the little concrete casas on the beach are owned by families from Merida and environs who use them over the major holidays and the months of summer when the kids are out of school and the temperatures in Merida soar.  It can be as much as ten degrees warmer in Merida than here on the coast and the ocean breeze can be so refreshing even if leaving one as salty as a potato chip.

The many little open air restaurants in town serve fish and nothing but fish so help me God.  Very good, fresh fish.  When you sit down and order a beer you are served an array of appetizer including at least two types of “ceviche” or chopped pickled fish with onions, tomatoes and cilantro.  This is accompanied by yesterday’s tortillas, deep fried which we call nachos, usually a small refried beans and the requisite bowl of homemade salsa.  There is always the “ of the day” which is so fresh it’s usually gasping it’s last in the kitchen and they are proud to take you back and give your choice of victims.  The favored method of preparation is to gut the fish and then dump it head, fins and all into a barrel of hot fat (a Mexican deep fryer).  The result is liberally sprinkled with coarse salt and is delicious.  I had a particularly succulent grouper one day and Neil’s was a name that didn’t stick. Many dishes are served with pickled purple onions. Papas de la Francesa (french fries) are definitely more expensive than the fish per kilo.

Shrimp cocktail is a fish bowl beverage glass or old-fashioned sundae glass full of shrimp in a bland tomato sauce.  Next time I'm bringing horseradish!  Here we have the shrimp, home we have the saunce -- need to get the two together.  And then there is the crab!  La Terracitta in Chelem serves a big plate of pre-cracked crab for only 160 pesos (about $12) that is delicious!  One doesn't even need to feel guilty because it is served with lime wedges only.

Sand, solitude, fish and beer -- the Yucatan beach!