Originally published via InTravel Magazine:
Located along the Gulf coast on the Yucatan Peninsula, Ciudad del Carmen, the “The Pearl of the Gulf,” was once Mexico’s seafood capital – until a fisherman discovered oil off the coast in 1971.
Before that, pirates, from 1558 to 1786, took shelter on the island and used it as a staging ground for raiding and pillaging until they were forcefully evicted by Spanish colonial forces.
(Actually, in recent years, the pirates have returned to rob oil rigs and commercial vessels.)
My wife and I relocated recently to this, the partially-reclaimed-pirate-island-turned-oil-mecca to check out la vida real.
The vibes are industrial and working-class. It’s a relatively young-looking and young-feeling city; there is none of the classical architecture that you might find a couple hundred miles down the road in historic Merida, for example.
Most of the inhabitants are migrants from other parts of Mexico, usually coming to work on the oil rigs. So my wife and I aren’t the only outsiders, in a sense, although our status as aliens is more obvious at first glance for sure. The people, as they often do elsewhere, stare at the white foreigners, who are somewhat of a rarity here.
Here’s what I’ve seen.
La conquistadora pridefully displays the hide of her prize kill, an alligator that wandered onto her property, which she euthanized out of worry for her dogs
Mayan fertility goddess (pre-colonial iconography)
The likeness of Mother Mary, who is revered seemingly more than Jesus (post-colonial iconography)
Fisherman muchachos depicted on a mural
Seabirds on poles
More birds, not alive and not on poles, but rather mechanical ones plastered on a building
Not sure why, but Mexican streets are incredibly colorful.
Hardworking señoras in a cocina economica (“economical kitchen”) that actually wasn’t super economical relative to typical foods costs in Mexico; our meal for two was like $20
Armpit third eye (more in the series of “I don’t know what that means but I like it.”)
Western-style sunset walk-off
Dolphins enjoying an underwater psychedelic drug experience
Just a piglet (cochino) and his slop bucket, probably not on any kind of drugs
Town cathedral
The massive avocados of Campeche
Boat pelican. To quote Tony Montana, “look at the pelican.”
Flock of seagulls (or whatever; it should be obvious by now that I’m not a zoologist)
Utilitarian vehicle
Town square on Mexican Independence Eve
A migrant from Chiapas (the relatively impoverished state to the south of Campeche, populated predominately by Mayans) selling drinks on the beach
Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via Armageddon Prose and/or Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter.
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