Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Everyday Life in the Yucatan, and How Safe is it Really?

Before I get started on crime and everyday life here in the Yucatan I want to wish my son Justin, a very Happy Birthday! This time 25 years ago he came into my life and changed it forever. I am a bit sad today, wishing that I could be with him. What a wonderful son he is....love you Justin! This is my handsome son with his girl, Chrissy!


Now on to the meat of the matter! I am getting more and more questions and emails about the safety here in Chelem. I guess that it is being blasted all over the news back in the states and Canada that Mexico is crime ridden and land of the drug cartel. Mexico certainly does have it's problems as do all countries, but the Yucatan is the safest state in Mexico. Last year there were only 2 murders in the entire state. The Yucatan is very different than the border towns where violence is rampant. Here we walk the streets and beaches after dark with no fears, we don't always lock our doors and never lock our windows. Many nights I have left the keys in the car and never remembered until morning. I have absolutely never heard of rape, murder or armed robbery in my area. People please remember that there are good places and bad places everywhere, I have found one of the good ones! We are in a small town with no industry except fishing and construction, the people here are good hearted and happy with the little things in life. Here is a map to show you where Chelem is:


Here is a map of Mexico, do you see how far away the Yucatan is from the border towns?

Okay, I'll get down off my bandstand now, originally I was going to show you what I see when I take a morning walk, so here goes:

An amaryllis blooming this morning in my garden


A sea bird sunning himself on some rocks. Is this a Blue Heron?


View of the harbor from the new bridge connecting Chelem and Progreso.



And finally a sight that always makes me smile, my dog Julio after a swim and a roll in the sand!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Real Estate Listing of the Week

Check out this blue beauty, located in Chelem, along the shores of the Yucatan, Mexico.





Are you looking for a nice beachfront vacation home that is ready to move in to? This may be just the one for you! This nice Canadian owned house sits on a deep 76 by 8 meter lot that goes all the way from the road to the beach. It has a great 12' seawall that not only protects you from any storm surge but also keeps the sand from blowing into your house. This 2 bedroom, 2 bath home is loaded with features: a large partially covered ocean front terrace, heated and filtered 9 by 18 pool (beachfront), full size appliances (1 year old), hot water, new tinted aluminum windows, mini split ac in the master bedroom, laundry room, internet and phone services, satellite TV, modern wiring w/100 amp sevice, city and well water, a new tinaco and new roof in 2008. This home is ready and waiting for you to come and enjoy the beach life in the Yucatan. No shoes, no shirt, no problems! This great home is listed at $165,000 USD. It is just one of the many great properties that we have listed on our website: www.mayanliving.com .For more information feel free to call my husband, Doug or myself on our US direct phone number: 302-200-0461













Come on down and enjoy the good life south of the border!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Perpetual Vacation

Well the past weekend flew by in a flurry of activity. Friday we met up with a group of friends at the Bull Pen for "Beer Friday." The Bull Pen's business seems to increase every day, there were over 60 of us Gringos there this past Friday. I had a chance to catch up with my good friend Star, always a treat! The owners Patrick and Robert are very special people, whenever you stop in for a drink or bite to eat they come over, greet you and you feel like you are visiting with good friends in their home. They both have a wonderful sense of humor and concern for other people and it is truly a pleasure to see them doing so well.

Saturday we had plans to do things around the house. Mary had given me bags of plants and packets of seeds, I love to work in the yard, and mine certainly needs some work! So Doug and I are out in the yard digging and planting when an unexpected client show up so Doug was off with them showing them a property they were interested in while I finished up the garden work.. The clients came back and made an offer on a beautiful beach home, suddenly it was all business again. The cool thing about selling real estate here is that unlike the states business hasn't slowed down. More and more people are interested in the area, so one minute I'm planting yucca's and the next minute I'm making money!

That evening we took Mary and Neil out to dinner at La Playa Restaurant, a farewell celebration as they were heading back home to Idaho Monday morning. La Playa is the only restaurant in Chelem that is beachfront. It is owned by another close friend of ours, Carlos. Carlos is a local, born and raised in Merida, he spent 23 years in Chicago so his English is better than mine. He is a wealth of information about the local culture and how to get things done in the area. As we were sitting and having margaritas we saw the most gorgeous sunset. I have read for years that there are a few split seconds when the sun touches the horizon that there is something called the green flash. I have looked and looked at sunsets but have never seen it. Saturday night we all watched and we all saw the green flash, it was incredible! At the same time about 100 flamingos flew by, the sunset making their colors more vivid then ever. Of course none of us had brought our cameras so you will just have to imagine how beautiful it was!

Sunday morning it was back to the Bullpen for breakfast and then over to Neil and Marys to help them with last minute packing. They got all packed up and we relaxed with a couple of glasses of wine and then back home to get caught up on real estate emails. Life is so sweet here in Chelem, we live a perpetual vacation with a little work thrown in.

Breakfast with Neil and Mary


Mushroom and Cheese Omelets, home fries and pancakes!
Sunday Breakfast Crowd

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Trip to Ticul







Doug and I have been so busy with real estate lately that we almost forgot to take some time for ourselves and enjoy paradise! So....Thursday we got up early and headed to Ticul. Ticul is village about an hour away from Merida, the capitol of the Yucatan. It is known for it's handmade pottery and shoes. Now since I've moved to Mexico I don't have much use for shoes anymore, flip flops are normally on my feet, but pottery, I can never have enough of that. It took us a couple of hours to get there, we didn't really know where we were going and Mexican maps leave a little to be desired. But it was a great trip, didn't get lost at all and saw alot of the Mexican countryside instead of the beach which is the norm for us. When we arrived, of course we didn't know where to go and I had forgotten to look up how to say "pottery" in Spanish. So we ended up at the market, very cool, lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and delicious blender drinks but no pottery! Then I decide in my infinite wisdom that they must be selling the pottery in the town centre, good idea, but no pottery. Finally we had a young Mexican man take pity on us, he jumped in our truck and took us to the street that had all the pottery shops on it. There was shop after shop, filled to the limit with handcrafted pots, figures, and everything imaginable that could be made of clay. We stayed as long as we could, our truck wouldn't hold another pot and then headed back to the beaches of Chelem. Hope you enjoy the pictures of our trip and all the goodies that Ticul offers!