Hunting a tlacuache (January, 26-28)

From Panaba we went to Dzilam de Bravo (71km) where we actually could have camped for a day on the beach. Unfortunately, the beach was very dirty and the surroundings reminded strongly the destruction the hurricane from October 2005 caused. Augustas anyway was not much happy to stay there as he felt it was too early to stop hitch-hiking for the day. Thus we continued and arrived at the end of the day in Chicxulub, about 50km West from Dzilam de Bravo. Our driver helped us to get a permission from the Commissar of Chicxulub to stay for one night on the beach.

When arriving there we could not find much space for putting a tent. Moreover, the strong wind would have blown all the sand into our tent. When coming to a block of houses we went upstairs and discovered straight away the perfect place to stay: grass, without sand and with a little wall protected from the immediate view of beach visitors. Asking the people living in the basement for a one night stay we got the permission. Thus we placed our tent there, brought up some stones and branches to fix the tent from the outside against the strong blowing wind and then rested for a little while inside.

Not long after Augustas said loudly what we both were wishing for – to be inside the house – Patricia (from the apartment in the basement) came over to us and offered some blankets. Moreover, she invited us for a tea and thus we found each other within a few minutes in their apartment and would only leave it 5 hours later, at exactly 2 a.m. for going to bed. Meanwhile, we – Patricia, Jorge and us – got to know each other well, talked about our trip, dreams and ideas and were introduced to their way of thinking and were told about many of their life experiences. We were offered wonderful cookies, tea and a lot of stories were told until our eyes could not keep open anymore. Thus we went to bed, after being offered to use the bathroom, being invited for the breakfast and being allowed to place the tent on their terrace and thus being greatly protected from the wind.

In the end we stayed there for three days, enjoyed a lot Patricia’s and Jorge’s company, learned from and about them. They are married for thirty years now and very much in love with each other. One can easily notice this in the way they treat and call each other, for example “Jorge, my sky”, “Patricia, my heart”, “Jorge, my life”, “Patricia, my star” etc. Both of them are Catholics, Before each meal they pray for enough food for everybody on this earth. They believe that those who love them are always close. Once Patricia was walking on the beach and thinking of her dead father and brother. Suddenly. she found a piece of ceramics with the words “For YOU” with a little heart being drawn. One hundred meters ahead she found another piece of ceramics with the same words. Patricia is convinced that this was arranged by her loved father and brother. Jorge confirmed this with telling us his story of walking along the beach, thinking of a black horse he has got back in Veracruz, Mexico, and finding in exactly that moment a little black horse made of plastic.

Jorge and Patricia did a lot in their life. Jorge finished four different studies, worked as a consultant in different sectors, was a tourism minister of nine states of Mexico, which made him to travel extensively. Now he has a small business with Yucatan fishermen. Patricia was always into art, did a special art studies in Italy, designed a huge amount of clothes, was model herself. Now she is creating souvenirs made from shells and papier-māché (“alebrijes” in Spanish). She is specialising in religious figures, soap dishes and earrings. Moreover, she is giving art courses for the inhabitants of Chicxulub to teach them how to produce souvenirs and to strengthen their own economical background.

Patricia and Jorge count themselves lucky humans. Why? Jorge: “We have the biggest swimming pool (the ocean) and the biggest television (the sunset) right in front of our window.” They have two cute poodles, Bernardo and Lukas, which are rather their children than their dogs 😉

We did not do much in Chicxulub. We simply enjoyed every moment being there, dining with Jorge and Patricia, all the story telling, exchanging music, showing photos, walking around. One day we went over to the harbour of Puerto Progresso (6km from Chicxulub). Unfortunately. the access to the port is restricted and we did not manage to pass through. So. we have postponed our dream to set off with a boat to one of the islands in the Gulf of Mexico.

The last evening we spent outside, sitting all four on a bench and having the poodles with us. Jorge was playing his guitar and singing songs, while Patricia and me where concerned about Mosquitos, that we got rid of through using Aceite Esencial Citronela (Lemon oil). Augustas was reading about the lacandones – indigenous people living in harmony and with great knowledge of the nature. While enjoying this evening in front of the sea, Lukas (one of the poodles) suddenly run off straight over to a strange looking animal. He was hunting a tlacuache (Spanish name for that animal), which looks like an over-dimensional rat, about 50cm long,  20cm wide and 20cm tall. I think it was kind of armadillo, but I am not sure as I could not find the right translation. Fortunately, the tlacuache had a chance to run off because Patricia and Jorge hunted after Lukas and caught him on time. The tlacuache, irritated from this attack, ran first on the grass until it noticed that the only way down was the stairs, which it used for disappearing in the dark.

The day of our departure Jorge and Patricia wrote two small messages in our notebook:

Jorge: “The life is full of experiences, you are a nice experience in our life. God bless you.”

Patricia: “Aprendimos a quererlos rapidamente, los vamos a extrańar!!! … Dios los Bendiga! … Cuidense y escriban por mail ok? Los quiero mucho!”
(“We got used to you so fast that we will definitely miss you!!! … God bless you! … Take care and write an email, ok? We love you very much!”)

We will not forget you, Patricia and Jorge! ;))