It is the busy time of year here in Mahahual, and I am way behind on the blog. I have been working the cruise ships during the day, and I have been socializing with people down here visiting or looking at real estate at night. Because of this, my days are pretty full now, and it seems like everytime I sit down to write a blog something comes up. But I am not complaining, I will have plenty of time to catch up on the blog during low season.

I am meeting a lot of new people from all over the world visiting Mahahual, and of course meeting a lot of people off of cruise ships as well. So today I thought I would write a blog about some of the interesting people I have met recenty on the malecon. The thing that is different about this post is, these are people who are not on cruise ships, and a bunch are readers of this blog who are visiting or living in Mahahual during the winter months.

I am very surprised at the amount of people who have come up to me lately and asked me if I was Stewart, the guy from South Carolina who writes the blog. There is not day goes by that someone does not come to me and talk to me about this blog.

The other day I had a woman walk by below on the malecon with her husband, and yell up to ask if I was Stewart, the blog writer. I said yes, and went down to meet them, they are from Minnesota. They were supposed to come back and give me their names because I have a photo of them. She asked me where were some of the places they could eat at that I have mentioned on the blog in the past. I took and introduced them to Rosa, my cook on the malecon, who makes some of my meals.(I had fish stew last night for 50 pesos, great, had about 10 shrimp, half a crab, and fish) Here is a photo of them below.  Note…Their names are Mike and Rose Decklever, I ran into them last night and got their names.

 

I think they come to Mahahual every year, and they own property here. I am sure I will see them soon, so I will edit this later when I get their full names. I have to write people’s names down now, because I meet so many people I cannot remember all their names. I remember what state or country they are from, but names escape me sometimes.

In fact now we have a Tropicante Steve, a Minnesota Steve, an Aussie Steve, in town, so I try to remember that way. All American names sound alike to me anyway now.

One story I have to relate, as an example of the people I meet sometimes.  About a month ago, I remember it was a rainy Thursday on the malecon.  Business was slow, and I was sitting inside out of the rain at the Tropicante.  I had had a long couple of weeks showing people around, and going back and forth between Mahahual and Playa del Carmen.  I had a stuffy nose, and I did not feel all that great, and I had been outside all day in drizzle, and off and on rain.

Well I was sitting there, and the next thing I knew this wet Asian woman came up to me in the rain and asked me if there were any rooms to rent at the Tropicante.  What struck me was she had a English or London accent, and looked Asian.  I told her no, that the Tropicante was a restaurant and only opened for cruise ships.  She then told me, she and a friend were new in town, and they were looking for a room for the night.

She was wet and cold I could tell, so I thought to myself, should I get up from my chair and help this woman find a room in the rain, or play dumb, or just blow her off and be rude and say I don’t know.  Problem is, I know every room and hostel in town, that is part of my job.

So being the southern gentleman that I am, I got up and told her lets go, I will find you a place to stay.  I started off on the cheap route by showing her a couple of hostels.  She was not interested in a dorm hostel, for a night, and she needed something more private.  So we walked around in the rain, and I showed her a couple more hotels, and she finally decided she liked Ponchamama’s right off the malecon.

 

She got a nice room, I think for around 600 pesos, and the room was very nice.  So her and her friend got the room for the night, and I think they even stayed an extra night.  The next day she came by and thanked me, and called me “Her Knight in shining armour”, in her English accent which sounded pretty cool to a southern guy like me.

I helped her plan her next trip south to Bacalar, and I think they headed west, and then ended back in Cancun before flying back to England.  She is now a Facebook friend, and I think she reads the blog.

I also met another very interesting blog reader a couple of weeks ago, here on the malecon.  I was sitting there at my chair, and a guy walked up to me and asked me in an Australian accent, if I was Stewart who wrote the blog here.  I said yes, and he told me he is from Australia, and he reads my blog.  Now I have noticed on my blog that I get some readers from “Down Under” sometimes, so I told him, “So you are the guy from Australia, who reads my blog”.

 

We got to talking, and he and his wife packed up everything in Perth, Australia, and took off to see the world.  They have been traveling throughout Mexico, and the western USA, and stopped in Mahahual to check it out.  He and his wife both are writing blogs and taking photos of their world tour.  To see their blogs and photos go to http://www.stephenmanning.com.au and http://www.sharonmanning.com.au.  I have seen some of their photos, and they are quite good.

I think they had planned on staying on one week, but like so many others who come to Mahahual, they have extended their stay, and have been here two weeks or more. They are heading next to Tulum, and then Cuba, I think.  “Aussie” Steve comes by almost every day, and I have learned a lot about Australia from him, nice guy, and I love his accent.

Another couple of people I have met lately, are Ghitta and Lilric Lejeune, originally from Frankfurt, Germany, who now live in Canada.  They showed up in Mahahual awhile back, and their car broke down, so they are here until it gets fixed, which may be awhile.

They are traveling through Mexico looking for a place to retire away from the snow and cold weather of Canada.  They tod me they like Mahahual because it is quaint, far away from mass tourism, and a lovely paradise.  If they decide on the Caribbean, they want to live in Mahahual, but first they want to check out the west coast of Mexico.  I got a weird feeling they will be back.

The other day, I was sitting on the balcony, and I looked down and I saw a guy who looked lost.  This guy seemed out of place, he had real white skin, and he was wearing a hat that was way too big for him.  I noticed he was looking at the town map, and looked confused.  I thought to myself, another lost tourist, because he looked real out of pace.  So being the guy that I am, I shouted down to him if he spoke English or Spanish, I already knew the answer.  He said he only spoke English, and said he was looking for an ATM machine.

 

I pointed down the malecon to the dive shop that I knew  had a working ATM machine, and told him to go there.  I watched him walk away, and he got halfway down the malecon, and he was surrounded by taxi cab drivers.  I said to myself, Hell I better go down there and show him, or the taxi cab drivers will be driving him to Chetumal or wherever for an ATM machine, and it might cost him a lot of money, because he spoke no Spanish.

So I walked down there and shooed the cab drivers away, and took him to the dive shop so he could get some money.  Come to find out he is an Episcopal priest from Taunton, Massachusetts, and he is here for a week on vacation.  He thanked me, and I have seen him walking around on the malecon almost every day since he has been here.  He always stops and says hello to me when he sees me, nice guy.  So lately, I have saved a “Damsel in Distress”, and helped a man of the cloth, find an ATM.

These and many others which I have not listed here are some of the examples of people and events that occur on the malecon for me in Mahahual.

Thanks for reading,

Stewart Rogers USA-South Carolina