Latin America Collection

In most of Mexico and later in the Central American countries, we
soon became aware of some unpleasant things which exist. One of the most
noticeable was the method they use in disposing of their garbage and trash.
Along the road just outside of nearly every village, town or city would be
areas where the trash and garbage was brought out and apparently just
thrown out of the vehicle along the side of the road. As we saw some of
them burning, someone must be in charge of setting them afire. Nearly
always there were dogs, children and old people combing through this
refuse trying to find something useful, a treasure or a bite of uneaten food.
Cholera is a big threat to this area of the world, and this would be an ideal
way to spread it.

Another very unsanitary thing you will see in all of Mexico and
throughout Central America, is in the toilets of the cities as well as in the
rural areas. Beside the toilet will be a waste basket in which used toilet
paper is thrown. They do not flush toilet paper down the sewer. If there is
no basket, the paper is just thrown in the corner, behind, or beside the toilet
on the floor. In public toilets along the border states such as California,
Arizona, New Mexico and Texas where there is an influx of Latinos, you
may have seen this practice. This could also be a way of spreading Cholera
or other diseases. The United Nations needs to set up a way of re-educating
these people. A few years ago we used to see sanitary re-education programs
on television programs in Japan.

One of my pet peeves is not a sanitary thing--it is more a sanity item--
and is something for you to watch out for in your drive through this area.
That is the "tope", also called "vibradores" or " Reductores de velocidad" in
Central America. The tope is a speed bump, and they are used in the
smaller towns and villages to control the speed of traffic. In Mexico, they
usually have warning signs starting with, TOPE 300 M, TOPE 200 M, TOPE
100 M, and then right beside the speed bump is a sign with an arrow
pointing down at a 45 degree angle toward the bump, with the word TOPE.
If you do not slow down, your head will bang against the ceiling and knock
your teeth out--not saying what it will do to the car. Some are so severe
you must come to a complete stop before creeping over them. They are
mean, so beware!

Some villages may have one at the entrance and one at the exit of the
village. Larger villages may have three or four of them. What really slips
up on you is the very small place with just one speed bump. You do not
realize you are in a village until you hear, KER-PLOP! Then you have had
it.A typical sign warning of speed bumps or "Topes" ahead.
And of course, throughout Latin America are the ever present potholes.
Even a country as advanced in education, health and industry as Costa Rica,
does not take care of its potholes. They even have unmarked holes in the
streets where sewers have caved in, and which are large enough to swallow
your car's wheel. One of the greatest hazards is where someone has
removed a manhole cover, and it stays unmarked forever. Hitting one of
those could ruin your day--not to mention your wheel alignment. I would
have to give Guatemala and El Salvador both credit for having the most
pothole-free roads on the Pan-American Highway over which we drove.

Not until we reached Costa Rica did we discover another driving
hazard. That is the police with their radar guns. The speed limits vary



between 40 k.p.h. (25 m.p.h.), 60 m.p.h. (37 m.p.h.), to 80 k.p.h. (48 m.p.h.).
I do remember a 100 k.p.h. (62 m.p.h.) stretch of highway somewhere along
the trip. Local cars have their speed indicators calibrated in k.p.h., while
most American cars have the kilometer scale inside of the m.p.h. scale. My
van has small white numbers, and with my 73-year-old vision I cannot read
them while driving. I have had to memorize the scale, and at age 73, that
is quite an accomplishment.

When you get stopped and ticketed for speeding, the policeman comes
equipped with tools to remove your license plates. The only way to get them
back is to go to court and pay your fine. It has been alleged that some
policemen will accept an amount less than the official fine, on the spot. You
must be careful, however, because you may run into an honest cop.

As we reached the coastal plain between Tehuantepec and the
Guatemalan border, we started seeing orchards of different fruits which
we were not familiar to us, as well as bananas, citrus and coconut palms.
Later we found that the unfamiliar fruit trees were to become our favorite
tropical fruit --the mango.

The roads were very straight, and we were able to hit speeds of 65 to
75 m.p.h., but we had to be constantly alert for the speed bumps and
potholes.

We arrived at the border city of Tapachula, Mexico in the late afternoon,
and found a very clean, fairly new motel at the exit end of town, at a very
reasonable rate. We preferred motels because we could usually park right
in front of our room and unload what we needed for the night, including
our ice chest which we had to clean and replenish with ice, sandwich
makings, yogurt, fruit and drinks.

Talking about drinks, there are grocery stores in every town or city, which
have bottled water and packaged cheese and sandwich meats. As I
successfully did in China for years--eat only fruit that you can peel, and
beware of ice cubes. We had no trouble with "tourista" sometimes also called
"Montezuma's Revenge". In medical terms this illness is known as dysentery.
Just drink bottled water and sodas and you should have no problem.
However watch out for ice cubes made with unpurified water. Speaking
of ice, here is a handy advice for your ice chest. Get one of those rectangular
plastic dishes with a tight fitting lid. Put your ice cubes in it. That keeps
the melted ice from spoiling your food.
That night, the Saturday night before the Super Bowl, we had dinner
in a restaurant down the street. They had a big screen TV and big signs
inviting everyone to come there for the Super Bowl Party. It might have
been tempting to us if the 49ers, the Rams or the Raiders were playing. But
without them, why waste our time?

After dinner, it was such a nice warm evening that we stopped off at
an ice cream parlor down the street from the motel for a couple of "conos"
or cones. While seated at an outside table, we started talking to a very nice
English-speaking Mexican who was there with his lovely wife and adorable
baby. We mentioned that we planned to take the more direct coastal route
through Guatemala to San Salvador the next day. He suggested that the
road through Guatemala City, which was a little longer route but much better
and faster than the coastal route. We decided to take his advise and thanked
him very much for his help. Later, we even thanked him more, and thanked
god for sending him our way. We were not aware of that, however, until
two days later in Honduras.