Our first stay in Mexico was in a small fishing village of La Pesca, TAM located on the gulf coast approximately 4 hours south of Matamoros, TAM where we crossed into Mexico from Brownsville.
After the nervousness of crossing the border and dealing with the new sights and sounds, we were tired. Mexico is very different from the United States. At first it feels chaotic, crowded, dirty and like one would imagine the wild west back in the day.
We had planned to stay at an RV campground known as La Gavoita but simply could not find it! We drove up and down TAM 52 numerous times to no avail and finally decided to stay at another campground called Tropicana Bungalows located right on Rio Soto la Marina approximately 1 KM from the beach on the Gulf.
The campground was quiet and quite pretty. We sat in the palapa (a traditional Mexican beach shelter roofed with palm leaves/branches) and made our plans for the evening. As we settled in, a group of men came back from a day at the beach. We chatted with a couple of the guys and learned they were down from Texas for the weekend on a dune buggy trip.
After setting up camp & enjoying a beer, we decided to trek into town for dinner on our Vespa. As the Vespa is a small motorcycle (150 cc), Jim first took me and then came back to grab George.
We had several options and picked a taqueria (taco stand) run by a couple of woman. As we later discovered was quite typical, the restaurant was in a garage-like building attached to a convenience store. The food was served quickly and was fresh, hot and delicious.
After dinner, we walked down the town’s main street peeking in shops and restaurants in an effort to get the lay of the land. We were the only Americans so we were often greeted by stares.
When it was time to return to our campground, Jim again took 2 trips starting with George which left me standing by myself outside the taqueria. Surprisingly I wasn’t nervous as I waited for Jim’s return despite being a woman alone in what was supposed to be a dangerous area. I was greeted kindly and even had a young man practice his English with me.
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