#52 / 2005 Tour 3: Caleta's "Personal Dignity"

DAY THREE

#52


We are anchored in the bay at Caleta de Campos. Joe and I walked into town after taking a shower on the beach for five pesos. Joe wants me to become acquainted with the small towns of Mexico. He loves the people so much in these tiny metropolises. Rick commented that these people in Caleta in particular had a lot of "personal dignity." There`s not a lot of begging on the street. There are a few vendors, but they do not press upon you their wares as determinedly as those back in Zihuat.

When we took the dinghy to shore we were met by a local named Alfredo. He is around 40, born in Zihuatanejo and has lived in Caleta for 20 years. He has three teenagers.

Alfredo and Joe sit around the table and discuss the major battles of WWII. Besides being so well informed of popular culture and history, Alfredo is earnest, honest, with a definite philosophical bent.

The town of Caleta is tiny with a network of about five roads arteried off of Highway 200. Unfortunately like all the towns I have seen so far, it is quite dirty. The lanes are cluttered with trash, plastic bottles, and broken glass. 

The odor of raw sewage seeps through the beauty of the trees and villas which belong to many well-to-do Mexicans. We are told many drug lords live nearby and the special brand of dancing horses around here sell for over a million pesos. This highly impresses Rick who is also a horseshoer.

Mongrel dogs and feral cats walk the streets in harmony. The dogs don´t bark incessantly here the way they would if I was walking around the older neighborhood in La Vergne. Here we found a store and internet place. At the mercado we met a blond Canadian who brings his whole family down every year. 

He`s a cyclist and travels around the surrounding little towns of the mountainous area which we are in. He looked seriously organic slender with long hair and beard, said he wasn´t feeling that well this year and was so hard up he was actually buying some Bimbo white bread.