Catemaco Dollars

Hopefully you are one of the rich gringos or drug lords travelling with stacks of 100 dollar bills.

WATCH OUT!

A new 100 dollar bill was recently introduced. My experience in beautiful downtown Catemaco and the rest of Mexico has been that money changers and banks refuse to accept old bills. I imagine within a few months that will include anything except the new C note.

Catemaco & Roca Partida

DEMO 1 Paisajes de los Tuxtlas from Inuky Studio on Vimeo.

Catemaco Trip Log

I found this log in the largest exchange library in southern Mexico (without the Yucatan), at the Tepetapan Trailer Park in beautiful outside Catemaco.

The mileage is correct, but the facts are a little dated, nevertheless the log will help you to enjoy the few hours to get here from Veracruz.

click to enlarge

Sontecomapan, Catemaco

Yesterday was one of those beautiful days in Catemaco that make up for the occasional spells of bad weather. So I decided to visit the port of Sontecomapan to see what´s new and eat some fresh fish.

See the new hotel, swing through the trees like tarzan and shuck some oysters at:

What´s new in Sontecomapan?

Catemaco tourism handicaps

Tourism to Catemaco is intertwined with tourism to Veracruz City, 3+ hours away. The majority of several million annual tourists arrive to that city via the toll road from Mexico City.

The completion of the Mexico City to Tuxpam (on the coast) toll road next year will impact Veracruz City tourism, and consequently Catemaco.

In the past, Catemaco has been impacted by the cuota (toll road) from La Tinaja (outside Veracruz City) to Villahermosa, bypassing Los Tuxtlas entirely, except for a "highway from hell" access road from the cuota near Isla to Santiago Tuxtla.

A few years ago, the main north to south highway 180, connecting Catemaco to the rest of Mexico, received a loop road along the Gulf of Mexico, directly to Montepio, which was previously a major destination for visitors that had to pass through Catemaco to get there.

In the planning stages are a road from San Andrés Tuxtla to the Gulf beaches, which will bypass the city of  Catemaco. Additionally, in the talking stages is an extension of the Gulf road from Montepio to Coatzacoalcos, again bypassing the city of Catemaco.

Access from the south of Mexico to Catemaco is via the cuota at Acayucan, 75 minutes away, and reserved for mind readers because of its terrible road signage. The free road is often so heavily trafficked that walking could be faster.

Lately a politician promised a new toll road  from the cuota to San Andrés Tuxtla. Another current political candidate promises to convert the existing two lanes through Los Tuxtlas into a four lane highway..

At present the highway from Veracruz City to Catemaco is a nightmare of 150 topes, exacerbated by the heavily trafficed two lane road through the towns of Santiago Tuxtla and San Andrés Tuxtla.
Thus, a 100 mile road trip, easily converts into a four hour drive.

A long promised local airport is still a pipe dream, and the idea of opening a functional cruise port on the Tuxtlas gulf coast is on the verge of drowning.

And of course the current governor who uses his helicopter to occasionally visit here, and who has a penchant for flying all over the US in his personal jet, is now politicking to become the next president of Mexico, based on his record of "achievements". Yup! And pigs fly!

Catemaco notes

Right now beautiful downtown Catemaco is doing its best to to present the worst of Mexican tourism. The week of semana santa (easter week) fills the town to the gills with innocent tourists ready to be fleeced by hundreds of stands selling anything from plastic sandals to portrayals of crucifixion dinners. For a first time visitor, the havoc may be of interest but if you live here, you become ready to go postal.

Meanwhile, some relevant items.
Mexico now requires cellphone registration. To do so you need a CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población), sort of like a social security number. Since  foreigners usually obviously do not have one, their phones may become useless after May. RENAUT

If you are a Mexican news hound, there is a new way to read the junk published by the US press:
Google Fast Flip: http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/search?q=mexico&type=search.
For News  in English published within Mexico, try my site http://mexicofeed.blogspot.com/. It´s always good for a few laughs or some serious introspection.

Of course  I have to mention the weather.
Possibly the last cold front (66F) hit Catemaco yesterday. Now we are entering the hottest season of the year and wishing we would have just another little cold front.
http://www.catemaco.info/info/weather.html

My planned aerial flight over Los Tuxtlas has crashed and I am now researching model radio controlled aircraft (sort of what they use in Afghanistan to target wedding parties). If you you know a shortcut to fly one with a cheap digital camera, please contact me.

The local gringo (or foreigner) count has substantially increased lately.
Or maybe I've just be counting Mexicans with gray or no hair.  It just seems so.

The roads
Usually the local governments use pomp and circumstance to inaugurate each local elementary school bathroom. Somehow they skipped celebrations for  the 150th tope (speed bump) on the road between Veracruz City and Catemaco. Actually, the roads this year are surprisingly good. (fair in some parts.)  If you are coming from the north, in anything but a behemoth motor home, taking the turnoff at El Tropico to Catemaco would be a really worthwhile experience.