Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Day 37 - February 1, 2012 Mahahual - Bacalar

We left Mahahual today heading for Laguna Bacalar. We drove three miles down a dirt road and checked out a campground on the north shore of the Laguna, but opted to continue to the south end. Laguna Azul, on the north, was quite remote, but we were surprised to see many campers there!

There was a couple from Switzerland that we had met in Merida who had arrived yesterday, as well as people from Austria, and one girl from Wisconsin. Aside from kayaking, there wasn’t anything else to do at this campground. We wanted to see the fort in the town of Bacalar so we left and continued south.

Rancho Bacalar is a small beach community overlooking the large fresh water lake called both Bacalar Lagoon and Laguna de los Siete Colores. (Lagoon of the Seven Colors) The name comes from the fact that the shallow lake has a very light-colored bottom and as the day progresses, the lake color shifts as the changing sky is reflected in the water. Unfortunately for us, it has been mostly overcast and rainy today, so we have not seen all of the seven colors. It is beautiful, nonetheless. We are camped at Balneario Cocalitos near the southern end of the Laguna.

Balneario Cocalitos is a very small camping area in a Mexican family’s yard. We are paying $140 pesos (just over $10USD) for the night with no hookups. There is a couple from Kentucky and a man from Virginia also camped here. We met two young girls from Argentina, Magi and Consu, who were camped here but were leaving today. We had fun chatting with them and sharing our Mexican Camping guide with them. It turns out that we will be visiting some of the same places over the next week so we may run into them again.

After parking the RV we unloaded the scooter to go back to tour the Fort of San Felipe. It was built in 1733 to protect Bacalar from frequent pirate attacks and defend the region from harassment from traders in Campeche wood. The wood was used to make dye and was as valuable as gold.

The Fort museum was $60 pesos per person (about $4.50 USD) and was very nicely done. All of the history and signs were in English, as well as Spanish. We found it to be quite interesting.

We spent about an hour going through the museum before heading back to the scooter.

We had a big surprise when we got back to the scooter – it wouldn’t start. We asked a couple people, including the local police, if there was a mechanic nearby. There was, well, sort of. Tobey pushed the scooter about 10 blocks, half of them uphill, to the mechanic. The two fellows working there thought it might just need to have the battery charged. That didn’t fix it. Maybe it was the stator, they weren’t sure. Their boss could look at it tomorrow, so we left it with them and will go back tomorrow and see if it is repaired. They thought the repairs could be anywhere between $500-800 pesos. ($38-62USD)  We will see.

By this point, we were both VERY hot, because the sun had come out and it was very humid. We caught a taxi back to Balneario Cocalitos and quick changed into our swim suits to cool down. After a quick swim the clouds rolled back in! The little boys that live next door came over here to fill their water jugs and Tobey helped them push their flat-tired wheelbarrow back up the hill. (see a pattern here?? Tobey keeps pushing things uphill.)

It has rained off and on this evening, but it is pretty quiet. We are hopeful the scooter will be fixed

and we will head out to Chetumal tomorrow afternoon.

GPS 18.65183°N, 88.40898°W