I live on the Malecón, Catemaco's most famous street, and I mostly judge the amount of tourism by how many people walk in front of my nose, steal my parking spot, and the number of boatmen shouting "lancha- lancha" on my corner. Looks like December turned out pretty good for Catemaco. Better than last year.
The first world Club Neyama, on the way to Ruiz Cortines in San Andrés Tuxtla, added 7 cabañas to its recreation center. They also have gocarts and a restaurant. Interesting place to visit when it is open. They are flakes and apparently only open when they feel like it. Nevertheless, this is not what you expect to see in Los Tuxtlas. http://www.clubneyama.com/
Events:
The celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose home is actually in Mexico City, attracted thousands, maybe even 10000, mostly day trippers, to the local Virgin version. The parades were endless and as usual mostly composed of taxis decorated with Virgin photos and blaring horns. Soon after, the customed "viejos" started strutting the streets of Catemaco until on New Year's eve, firecracker stuffed replicas were exploded. O Joy! After you have seen both events once, you may consider heading for the beach or the mountains instead.
One nice recurrent addition are the fairly regular jarocha music presentations in Catemaco's central park. I hope they keep them going.
Weather:
Running hot and cold, and most everyone I know laid down for a week with some really bad cases of the flu. I was lucky, I had mine a few months ago.
Business:
A Coppel department store opened where the Hotel Catemaco used to be. Two storied, with a little bit of parking behind it, it is a very welcome addition to Catemaco. I just wish they had built it on the highway instead of "beautiful" downtown Catemaco. Contino, a mostly dry goods retailer opened in the Bancomer building on the plaza. I think that is a future disappearance act in that jinxed building.
Food:
Nothing exciting, except households fall all over themselves preparing dishes you usually do not see in restaurants. Make a friend in Catemaco, maybe they'll invite to a holiday meal.
I had my first meal at Valentino's, (next to El Caballo). Not bad!
Drink:
The teeny bopper and above crowd is barely holding its own in Catemaco's pink zone (Malecón near the boat dock). Watch out for some of those gorgeous creatures that have 5 o'clock shadows!
Saturday night, Dec. 30th, started a party that was still going strong at 7 am this morning 1 Jan.
For adults, nightlife is pretty much limited to El Caballo and the increasingly popular Wahikini, both at the south end of the Malecon.
Crime:
Didn´t really notice any this month, except for some really nasty stuff in neighboring counties. Very heavy army and police sightseeing traffic.
Politics:
The Catemaco mayor, best known for his frequent absence from Catemaco, followed by a flurry of self praising pronouncements, did offer his 2nd annual computerized "state of the union" speech. A big let down from the pomp of last year, especially the absence of monetary figures that would give citizens a chance to understand where the money went.
General:
Good time to be in Catemaco, if you can stand the noise. If not, don´t worry. 95% of the rest of Catemaco stayed idyllic.
