Party Down South for Easter Holiday
Tara A. Spears
Since Mexico has some of the loveliest beaches in the world, gorgeous sunsets, and a super fun attitude, it’s no wonder that tens of thousands of people take advantage of the two week national holiday by visiting the coast.
The president of the Guayabitos Association of Hotels and Motels, Alejandro Chávez Bustos, said that traditionally Guayabitos and La Penita have 100% capacity for the Easter vacation period and this year is no exception. Senor Chavez reported that during Easter, there is a multijurisdictional security operation planned by authorities in Rincon de Guayabitos, Los Ayala and La Peñita. This security effort consists of continuous surveillance maintained by the Mexican Navy and local police, first aid, lifeguard, traffic regulation, and rescue operation (EMT) throughout the beaches. Just the presence of police is a great deterrent to beach robbery or fights from too much ceberza.
While many parts of Mexico observe the holiday with passion plays and processions, the more secular west coast area is a feast of popular cuisine. Thirsty revelers guzzle aguas frescas- water flavored with local tropical fruits or coconut, vast quantities of tequila and beer; and the abacoa and cerviche tacos from the roving vendors are in high demand. Holy week is the traditional start of Mexico’s ice cream season: pushcarts that are loaded with tubs of ice cream or the popular fresh fruit ice bars on a stick, called paletas, roam the beaches and village streets calling out “nievees”. Vendors also sell snow cone-like shaved ices known as raspados. The dulces regionales-candies made from coconut, tamarind and other regional ingredients- are sold by industrious vendors trudging with wheelbarrows through the sand.
Another holiday beach staple is the strolling musicians. The boisterous sound of competing bands keeps everyone in a party mood. It’s delightful to see multi-generational musicians as well as the extended families celebrating together. And if the fun in the sun doesn’t wear you out, there is partying after dark! Look at the main intersection of downtown Guayabitos: closed to vehicles for dancing in the streets. All of the celebrating comes with an excess of trash, as the morning picture of the same intersection shows.
The Hotel Association and individual towns are on top of the trash issue with extra pickups. In advance of this mega tourist season the local stores prepared by stockpiling the high demand items such as toilet tissue, beer, booze, and beverages. The steady stream of large overloaded delivery trucks clogging the always challenging highway 200 was replaced by an even larger stream of tour buses and cars! All one can do is have patience and pass the driving time by counting cars or people watching.
Dramatic changes: During this super season, it takes 45 minutes to go from Guayabitos to La Penita. With the explosion of additional smart phones, the internet and local cell service is slow and intermittent. Patience, patience is required.
All of the visitors have vehicles that have to go somewhere, so the normal streets are nearly impassable.
Any unguarded bit of land will become the impromptu site of campers; think of the sanitation issues.
The 2017 spring break season has experienced near perfect weather and record breaking crowds. The excitement is palpable as families come from all over the world to enjoy lovely Jaltemba Bay. But due to the excellent civic preparation, the thousands of visitors will go home only with good memories and a sunburn.