We've been here in Zihuatanejo for two weeks now-- enough time for the lustre to wear off so we can see it without the pink lenses we wore when we first came. When I first arrived I was ecstatic to be here in such a soft and pretty place with gorgeous beaches and friendly people and lots of easy-going gringos. It still has all of these attributes but I'm seeing things differently now. After visiting four or five beautiful beaches, all different, we went today back to Playa Ropa to escape the brutally humid heat in our little abode downtown. But all I could see was the Mexican people struggling to make a living from the frugal tourists who come down here to make their dollar stretch.
We took a combi to Playa Ropa, the lovely beach about a 20 minute drive from downtown. The cost for two of us was 15 pesos--about a dollar Canadian. Gas here costs about the same as it does in Canada so who knows how they can make any money transporting 16 people for that price.Once at the beach we settled in to our table under the palapa where we ordered one mineral water and one Yoli (the lemon pop that we've discovered), plus two glasses of ice. Purified ice costs money so it's not free like it is in Canada. For this we paid 40 pesos, about $3, and that purchase entitled us to sit in the chairs on the beach as long as we wanted, all day even.
We sat there enjoying the delicious breeze and watching the fishermen and the birds diving for their breakfast. The fishermen were using nets to catch fish, maybe for bait, and the Pelicans and Frigate Birds and Egrets and gulls were wheeling and diving too. I think the birds were doing better than the guys in the boats. While we sat there, beach life unfolded around us. The waiters brought menus and food and the fat tourists lolled in their beach chairs and dipped their toes in the warm water.
Meanwhile the Indigenous people who live here trolled the beach with their trinkets, their blankets, their baskets, trailing their children behind them. These women, many of whom have two or three children with another on the way are trying to survive by selling chiclets and trinkets to people from another culture that's much more sophisticated.
Then there are the guys with the parasails selling a ride, and the musicians who will sing you a song you don't know anything about for a price.
We enjoy the beach but at what cost? Gradually we are feeling more and more compromised as tourists from Canada.
This culture is so very different. We see people from Canada and the USA working to build schools for the people who live here, yet many of the women keep their children out of school so they can earn money by selling things at the beach.
Many of the waiters are pleasant young men who have finished school but appear to have no prospects other than working as a waiter in a beach restaurant.And don't get me started on the stray dogs and cats. They are friendly but skittish as they are chased away from restaurants on the beach where they beg for food. There is an organization here that works to spay and neuter but most of these animals will never be anyone's pet.
These are the people who buy tortillas and vegetables for pennies and try to feed their family.
Mexico shows the divide between rich and poor so sharply. We've been coming here and enjoying the natural beauty and the art and the music and the culture, but now I am feeling complicit in the stratification of the people and it's not a nice feeling.
Maybe I'm just feeling this dichotomy because we are living in a rental in the Mexican part of town rather than in an upscale beach condo. But I am beginning to feel so sad about the day-to-day life of the Mexican people who live here. And I wonder if it might be better to pay a bit more and take a trip somewhere else where we are not enjoying luxuries on the backs of really poor people. What do you think about this?
I think from my point of view it's best to be generous with those there trying to make a living. The country has its problems, yes, and has had them for a long time. But it, and its people, have potential.
ReplyDeleteYes you're right William. There is indeed potential. And as someone else pointed out, the same problems occur with travel to just about any country outside of Western Europe and Canada, US, and Australia. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Joanna
ReplyDeleteHi Joanna, we're in Playas del Coco, Costa Rica for 3 weeks. One week done, two left. My first thought upon arrival was, 'and now what ?' I'm not a beach person! We rented a little car and headed northeast to Monteverde, a very popular destination with lots of adventure/ecotourism activities - orchid gardens, canopy walks on hanging bridges, birding were our activities and we stayed in a new inn for only $50 a night. Lots of hostels for the backpackers doing zip lines, waterfall plunges, jungle hikes. Most people go on tour vans, or rent 4W's because there are miles of narrow, rocky dirt roads, passing through small 'communes' where you wonder, what the heck do they do here? Then on to La Fortuna/Arenal Volcano for more Eco activities, another two nights at only $45. I started this message to say, I know what you are feeling. It's not so much because of what I've seen here - it's very different from your description, but there's this thing, accommodating the travellers can support the economy of the local area as long as the tax system is structured that way. The paved roads here are a reflection of the amount of tourist activity to the area. There are educated, proud English speaking Ticos working hard to accommodate the tourists, snowbirds and ex-pats. I haven't been to San Jose or Liberia to see how it plays out in the big centres, but I haven't seen poverty so much as just traditional lifestyle. Btw, I've been following all your posts, the photos are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, thanks for your comments. I appreciate your thoughts on this. We spent a month in Costa Rica about 20 years ago and enjoyed it but there's not much in the way of cultural things to see, more in the nature of eco-tourism as you say. I think Costa Rica provides quite a bit more for its citizens than Mexico does, partly because it's a smaller country. People there are indeed hardworking. Thanks for your comments on my photos. Glad you enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all who sent me your thoughts on this topic, both here and via email. Tonight we are in Uruapan, a larger city up in the mountains in Michoacan. Being less of a touristy place I'm seeing more people just living their lives here and less dependence on tourism. It's a welcome change. Obviously tourism has its good and bad points.
ReplyDeleteThis is Mexico for you.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who lives on the border you see this divide everyday and the big fact is Mexico does not care.
One of the most wealthy countries in the world but is very corrupt. Exporting of poor people is just what they do. They do not want them, nor do they want to help them.
Schools are holding tanks till they are 15 then they tell them go to California or Arizona.
They send them to America along with the drugs, fruit, veggies, cartel members and violence. Lots of violence. So much violence.
All the places you go are in tourist areas. Right after you left Mexico City 4 people where found hanging from a bridge near the city. Cartel gang warfare.
I wonder how Canada would like if American sent millions and millions of illegals from Mexico to your beautiful country.
I am happy you have a nice time and I love your photos, it is a pretty country but it is soaked is the blood of university students, teacher, police, lawyers, newspaper editors and the indigenous people.
It is beyond corrupt.
I always worry about you when you are down there.
cheers, parsnip
Sorry about the awful but true comment.
DeleteYou have received some heavy comments- when all I want to do is hold you close and say, Joanna, yes, an open heart lets the pain in and remember that it also lets the beauty, the joy and the love in. jackie
ReplyDelete