Xcalak Mexico: Olldhippie's A look at life at the end of the road

Not much time

2011-04-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

so here is a look at some of the things that have happend in the last month. I love living in this small town the girls in town came to dance for us. we love all our girls. The girls made the driver drive all the way up the to Casa De Suenos to dance for us.

Playa Sonrisa has a Blues Night. What a great band and a great night. Thank you Playa Sonrisa Johnny O, John and Dave. Donn dubed them 2 1/2 Johns.

A boat hit the reef on his way out. Not a good thing for the reef or the guy.

Sorry for the short blog but we have been busy with the hotel.

We have been working

2011-02-27T07:22:00.000-08:00

Lorrie and I have been working on Casa De Suenos (casa hippie). we have been fixing up the big 2ND floor apartment. Well it is done and has made big hit with our guest. With 2 bedrooms, great view of the ocean and private balcony. It is a great place to stay. Now we are still working on our Tye-dye sheets and putting the hippie touch on everything. We put allot of love in our little resort and hope it shows. The owners Sara and Dom have given us a free run of the place and we are enjoying working with them. it is nice to work for people you love. Anyone who has ever been to Xcalak knows everything here moves at a very slow pace. So getting work done here always takes longer than planed. But we love this town and all the great friends we have here. I have talked to allot of people who have come here and told me that they read my blog. So to all of you who read my blog thank you. I hope it has made you want to come see the place Olldhippie calls home. For all of you 1st timers here Xcalak is one of them towns you just have to see once and then you are hooked. If you do make it down this way ask anyone where is Olldhippie? Would love to have a drink with you or stop by Casa Hippie.

Halloween 2010 Playa Sonrisa

2010-11-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

Halloween for 2010 was hosted by our friends from Playa Sonrisa. Great food, strong drinks, and fantastic friends always makes for a fun time. Donn and Cindy the owner of Playa Sonrisa went all out to make sure everyone had fun. With Nick and the guys on drums and Berry on guitar people took to the dance floor. The costumes were something to see. Living so far from a Walmart we cant just drop in and pick up a costume so most were home made. I came as King Neptune and my wife came as a blow-up-doll. Everyone did a great job on there costumes. There was a costume contest at the end of the night. The winners were The blow-up-doll (my wife) and my buddy Tom the cereal killer (great job Tom). I just don't know why I didn't win I sucked up to everyone I could. But in the end I just did not look as sexy as the Blow-up-doll who took 1st and i was not as sophisticated as Tom the cereal killer who took 2nd plus he had weapons. He even pulled a knife on me. Don't laugh one of those plastic knife can give you a mean scratch. As King Neptune, well it is just not good to have blood coming from a scratch on your arm in the ocean. Well it was a great night to live in Xcalak

Casa de Suenos

2010-05-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hello friends of my blog sorry to make you wait so long. I have been very busy here. As some of you know we have been living in a 20foot trailer here on the beach for over a year. The Owners of a resort up the beach felt that we would make good managers for their resort. Well Lorrie and I talked it over then we talked to the owners. Well we are happy to tell everyone the we are the new managers of Casa De Suenos. The owners gave us free run of the place and told us we could change the name if we wanted to. Well we did not want to change the name but we did add to it. We are now calling it Olldhippie’s Casa De Suenos or in English Olldhippie’s House of Dreams. Now we plan on doing some tie dying and naming of the rooms. Some of the room name we are looking at are Purple haze, orange sunshine, Panama red and so on. We love meeting new friends and this is a great way to meet friends and make some money too. One of the best things is we are back up the beach again. My wife and I are nudist and enjoy the nudist life. Now this resort is not a nudist resort but if we have nudist stay with us and we don’t have any non-nudist here then we can stay naked and when we don’t have any guest we stay naked. There is nothing like getting up and going out back to the beach for a swim then laying back on a beach chair for some sun nude. It feels so good with the warm sunshine and the cool breeze on your body. It also cuts down on the laundry. Being a solar powered resort that is a big thing. Being a solar resort has good and bad points. First thing that any guest must know is that this is not the type of resort for everyone. If you cant live with out AC then you don’t need to come here, we don’t have AC. If you want to be waited on hand and foot, don’t come here. If you love the beach and the simple things in life this is a great place to find them. We have no TV, no AC, no cell phones, we do have internet but not all day. So if you want to get away to a place you can get to know each other again or you just want to relax and unwind, you will love it here. Well living in Mexico on the beach is great as a nudist, but this time of year we get our biggest rain fall. It is much need to fill our cisterns and bring the wells back up. It feels good on the body to go out in the warm air and have the cool rain wash the heat away. But with all good things there is always a down side. The bugs always come after the rain. I hate the bugs. The land crabs are now moving around too. it is funny to see them all over the place with one big claw and one small. You walk out in the yard and they take of running with the big claw up in the air to threaten you, it is funny to see. Even with all the rain we try to take our swim everyday. As we walk to the water the crabs run out of our way. Rain, crabs, bugs it is all part of life as Nudist in Mexico.
This is our avatar for the resort. Olldhippie's House of Dreams (Casa De Suenos)

The passing of a friend

2010-02-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

This week has not been the best week we have ever had here in Xcalak. Let me go back to where we first meet Cliff shortly after we arrived in Xcalak. Some time around Nov 2007 I was at our new friends Neal and Shawn who at that time operated the Flying Cloud Hotel here in Xcalak. They were telling me of this friend of theirs (Cliff) and what a strange old guy he was. Well about that time Cliff showed up driving this old beat up blue truck that looked like it was way past its expiration date. You could hear this truck coming from 2 blocks away. He turned it off and it loped about 2 or 3 time before it stopped. Out stepped this tall skinny guy with a beard something like mine with a smile and a nod he walked up. Neal said speak of the devil this is Cliff he reached out with his one good arm and shook my hand (Cliff was born handicapped his left arm went to about to his elbow but had small finger tips on it and he called it his nub). He said howdy in a pure Texas drawl. We talked for a short time and I had to leave. On the way out I told Cliff to stop by anytime. Well I got home and was telling Lorrie (my wife) about this new friend. I had not been home 10 minutes when up pulled Cliff in Old Blue (his truck). He wanted to meet Lorrie and talk to me some more. Well over the next hour or so we talked about allot of things from Old Blue to music. Cliff was a real music lover. Well I love my music and I have allots of Cd's. Cliff had recently lost his hard drive that was full of old music. He was over joyed to see all my Cd's (over the next 2 years Cliff had copied every CD I had). It was a start of a good friendship. Now I am not going to tell you that Cliff was one of them lovable type of guys. Cliff was Cliff. Very opinionated some what gruff very out spoken take me as I am type of guys. He did not care if you liked him but if he liked you he would do anything for you. He would push buttons just to see what happened. If you stood up to him and gave it right back he could deal with that. I think he even liked it. Cliff live south of town as he put it "I am the last gringo before Belize". It was just him and his pit bull Toro 3 miles south of the town of Xcalak down a very bumpy path that they called a road. The house was in the middle of an old coconut plantation in the largest mosquito breading reserve in Mexico. Cliff was one of them great story tellers. He had done everything from the largest roach clip manufacture to one of the largest Ford dealers in Texas. The stories never stopped. Now I will never know how much of it was true or if it all was. He would stop by our trailer in town and stay all day. Cliff did not have many friends that he would take the time to go visit but when he did stop to see you it was never a short visit. I could go on and on telling you of how he put on camouflage paint snuck on to the Mexican military base to get his dog back or the million other crazy things he did. What I did need to tell you is my friend Cliff has passed away. He came by on Jan 8Th to tell my wife happy birthday, he stayed for a short time to catch up and he had to go get gas and water. After a time of not hearing from him I emailed him. We had an understanding that he was suppose to email me once a week but he never did. But when he did not return my email I started to worry. So I sent him one more telling him if he did not email me back I would have to come down there. Again he did not answer. So my wife and I started the trek to Cliffs house down the bumpy path they call a road. It is not an easy thing to get to his house and once there you first have to get by Toro a very lively pit bull that takes his job of guarding Cliff and the house with all the gusto of a full blown tiger shark attack. We pulled up and Toro met us half way to the house. As we pulled close to the house the door was open as Cliff always had it during the day. We got out and Toro did his jump and bump thing as always. Everything looked right but Cliff was no were to be seen. So we in to went to the house and yelled for him. No reply as I went in to the lower floor looking for him Lorrie went upstairs. As I was returning from my walk Thur Lorrie called to me from the stairs. She had opened the door to the upstairs and slammed it. She said "Oh my God the room is full of flies". I went up the stairs and told her to get back and I went in the room. There is no way I can tell you how it feels to see a friend who you love in the state I found him. The smell of the room and the look of the body of some one who has been dead for over 14 days. It is something you will never want to know. I came back out of the room and told my wife he is dead. So we went in to a kind of mindless do what needs to be done mode. From getting the Mexican cops (fun in its own way) to taking care of the dog and the house till the owner got here from the states. Now we are done with what we felt was our duty to our friend. We can sit back and mourn the loss of a good friend. Cliff you were a good friend and we will miss you so very much. You did what you once told me was your reason for coming to Mexico "I came here to die". Cliff died of a heart attack while taking his afternoon siesta.
Here is a link to Cliff's blog page. Great stories about his life here in Xcalak.
http://portillas.com/

stuck boat

2009-12-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

this boat was stuck in the mud out behind our trailer this morning. Xcalak you never know what you will wake up to.

Xcalak real estate

2009-12-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

We lost our house after 6 months of working a deal with the owners. 8 days after one of the owners told us he was looking over the contract I got this letter

December 2, 2009

Dear John,

I regret to inform you that Xcalak Properties Inc. has accepted a cash offer on the corporations property in Xcalak. As majority shareholder, I will return the monies paid towards said properties taxes as soon as you provide either Mr. Hodges or I a secure address/bank account.

Sincerely,

Duncan Ray

so I post this info for all to read and I hope it helps.
This is good info if you are buying a house in Mexico.
If you are buying in Xcalak Mexico I would print this and take it with me when dealing with any realty companies here.
This was sent to me by a very good Mexican friend (not a gringo)who knows what he is talking about.

Dear John & Lorrie,

Again I wanted to let you know I am really sorry about how all this turned out. I honestly was in disbelief at the unfortunate series of events that took place. Having said that, I am going to limit my remarks and avoid making judgments since I am not as wise and measured as Murph is and would not be able to make a point in such good form, in turn, I´m going to make an attempt at clearing up several misconceptions about buying/selling property in Mexico so that you have more resources next time an opportunity arises and perhaps so that others can be better served.

I´m going to start with a quote out the Xcalak realty website:

“Currently, there are no licensing requirements or regulations governing agents for land sales. Unfortunately, this allows anyone to call themselves a real estate bróker. There are some people that use the prefix LIC in front of their names in front of their names in an attempt to mislead their clients into thinking that they are licenced real estate brokers. Our goal is to provide clients with accurate information that will help them through the process of purchasing property and be confident that their investment is secure”

Firstly, I would like to address the statement that affirms that there is no licensing requirements or regulations governing agents for land sales. To better understand this, we need to look at how property records and sales are regulated. Eeach state has a “Registro Público de la Propiedad” with translates literally as “Public Property Registry”, it equates roughly to your House of Records. That is where all titles or “Escrituras” are kept. An “Escritura” is a document issued by the State that GUARANTEES property rights. There are other types of titles, such as “Título de Propiedad” or “Certificado de Ocupación” that grant you some rights, but are less legally secure. Inexperienced foreign investors should only invest in property that has an “Escritura” (the property you had an agreement to buy did). If this is the case, the rules are very simple, straight forward and safe.

The main reason why there is no regulation over real estate agents is because a land sale transaction of a property with an Escritura cannot be completed independently by two individuals. One must go through a “Notario Público”. I want to make the point that these are not at all like your Notary Publics. Notarios in Mexico are very respected attorneys that are registered with the federal government and have considerable power. There is a finite number of Notarios in the county, dependent on the number of inhabitants in each place. One cannot become one unless one of them dies or retires, at which time a public announcement is made and the Notaría is up for grabs. Then a very stringent and lengthy vetting process that starts with many written tests, mainly on REAL ESTATE and SUCCESSION LAW.

One of the main attributions Notarios have is that ONLY THEM can make changes in the Registro Público de la Propiedad. This means that whenever two parties have reached an agreement and wish to carry on with the transfer of an Escritura, they both approach a Notario (of the buyers choice, of course. It is them who hires them and it is their best interest they are looking out for) and need to provide a number of documents to establish the following:

1- That the seller has unrestricted rights over the title/property. The main documents one needs to produce are the following:

a. Original title

b. If the title is in a persons´ name (with Mexicans), official ID is enough, in case of a corporation or trust (for foreigners) one needs to produce the corporation charter (where power of attorney over the corporation and it´s assets is granted to the person designated to carry out the transaction) or the trust contract with the bank.

c. Recent “Cedula Catastral” (Property ID). This is a document issued by the Registro Público which is a sorts of “Registration” of the property, it states the propery´s owner, area, limits, assessed value, etc. And it´s easily obtained for a small fee at the Registro Publico.

d. A “Certificado de Libertad de Gravamen” which literally translates to “Certificate of no leans”… so the Registro Publico will issue ANYONE with a copy of the Cedula Catastral and 220mxp pesos (around $20 usd) a certificate where it says the title is clear and that there are no leans on it.
(we were charged around $200 us dollars)

e. All property tax receipts.

f. A letter from the CFE (electric) and CAPA (water) stating that there are no monies owed to them.

2- That the buyer is legally able to purchase the property

a. If the buyer is Mexican, official ID will do, for foreigners, passport and proof of legal stay in the country (FM3 or current tourist visa)

b. For foreigners, a purchasing vehicle (corporation or trust). The charter for a corporation or Trust.

What happens then is the Notario carries out A THOROUGH TITLE CHECK. This is NOT OPTIONAL and is included in the closing costs (this is particularly important) because a “Title check” is carried out regardless (and included in the closing costs, that the buyer pays) so there is NO NEED for a second or independent “Title Check”, especially at considerable expense, since all they do is go to the Registo Publico and obtain a Certificado de Libertad de Gravamen (for just over 20usd), have it translated (it´s one page long), put it in a folder and give it to you.

Then the Notario writes up a new Escritura, that generally speaking says the following

1- States both parties names, birthdays, occupation and nationality

2- States that they want to carry out the sale of X, Y or Z lot and then ALL of the lots pertinent information

3- The value of the transaction

Lastly, both parties meet at the Notarios office. This is usually where the buyer gives the seller a cashier´s check or finalizes a wire transfer, etc. and they both sign the new Escritura.

Having an Escritura that was issued through this process GUARANTEES you BUYER IN GOOD FAITH STATUS with all and any courts, authorities and pretty much allows everyone to be safe.

Recapitulating, these lawyers take the place of a Licenced Real Estate Agent. There in no such thing as an Escrow account in Mexican law, and no person can mediate in any legal capacity to carry out real estate transactions other than Notarios.

Now, it is NOT UNUSUALL for a Realtor in Mexico to RECOMMEND either Notarios or lawyers/advisors to their clients. However, what is highly unusuall is for them to go any further than giving you their contact information. It is unheard of that they deliver quotes, bills and especially collect money in their behalf. It is considered a conflict of interest and is both unethical and illegal.
(this happened to us)

Closing costs at a Notaría are transparent and commoditized, and usually about 3% of the value of the transaction (percentage might go up for transactions for less than 100k usd, because there is a flat fee).

I would also like to make the point that in more complex real estate transaction, like those involving structured loans, institutional financing, etc, a foreign investor would probably benefit from the counsel of an independent real estate lawyer (there are some very good, bilingual ones) that are able to explain what each legal document is in terms they can understand, act as intermediaries with the Notario and especially as a person of trust that guides you through the whole process. These services are valuable and sometimes expensive, but not required in a straightforward purchase (even with a simple mortgage) like what you were attempting to do.

Now let´s address the statement where it is argued that certain people misrepresent themselves with the prefix “LIC”.

In Mexico, in order for one to be legally authorized to carry out any profession (lawyer, doctor, accountant, etc) one must be a “Licenciado”. This literally means licenced and Licenciado status is achieved after one has completed the curricula at a registered university, has written a lengthy, original research project on one´s area of expertise and has sat through a day-long verbal exam with four examiners. There is actually a document issued by the “Secretaria de Educacion Publica” that says that one is a “Licenciado”. So, whenever you meet anyone that gives you a business card with the prefix LIC before their name, the only thing that means is that they have a bachelors degree.

I hope this has been a learning experience and that you approach any future opportunities without fear or preconceptions.

All the best,

Halloween 2009 Xcalak

2009-11-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

Well Halloween has always been my favorite Holiday. When Lorrie and first got here we were surprised that there were no big Halloween party's here. Now I know in Mexico Halloween is the Day of the dead and it is not celebrated the same. But as a nudist Halloween was a time for us to cover our bodies with great costumes (god knows my body needs cover). So Lorrie and I set up a party at the Leak Palapa ( see link on this page) . Now this is the 2ND year and the party's keep getting better and better. The Girls at the Leaky set the party up this year and did such a great job. We Had more rain that night than we have all year but the turn out was great. Even with all the rain we had so much fun. Thanks to the girls for all the work they put in to the party. The dance floor was full of sexy ladies all night. The drinks and the food was over the top. We could have partied all night. Wow for a small town we sure have great parties.

2009-07-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well lobster season started on the 1st and most of our Mexican Friends have been out at Chinchoro Banks Lobstering. They came back this week and one of our friends gave us 4 lobster tails and 2 Red Sapper fillets. Well I was in Chetumal this week and picked up 2 New York strips. Today was the day for surf and turf. I grilled the Steaks on the grill and deep frayed the lobsters. We had butter Cilantro potatoes, home made Guacamole and Salas. Now i am so full I cant move with a big smile on my face. The only down fall to a meal like that is it takes 2 hours to make and 10 minutes to eat. So now I sit here not moving much thinking of ways to fix the next lobsters that come my way. I sure put a hurtin on these ones. Yeppers life at the end of the road is hard and not for everyone.

back on line

2009-07-14T12:43:00.001-07:00

We are back on line full time now so I will be posting more soon. Oh and we are buying a house here in Xcalak

In the states

2009-04-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

We are in Tampa Florida for 2 weeks seeing our son. We now know why we moved to Mexico. The good old USA is a very fast paced and expensive place to live. We have come to love the small town of Xcalak with it's slow pace and somewhat cheaper way of living. Sure the US has all the things to make life easy, with all the hardware stores and quick food. but after coming back here to see our son we now know that having the fast food makes us get fat fast. We have fast food in Xcalak you know this anytime you have to run down the food truck on the beach road. I know living in Xcalak I lost about 3 inch of my gut and being here in Tampa I put some of it back on. I will be so glade to get back to our little town. We miss our friends, our dog and bird, our way of life. It was good to see the USA again so I could know why I love Xcalak. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the USA I just love Xcalak.

Life at the end of the Rainbow

2009-01-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

Well we have been in Xcalak now for over a year now. We have lived north of town, in town, and south of town. We after all the moving we have found that we still love it here. Up north of town we could stay naked 24/7 and as nudist that was great. In town we get the grocery trucks and the food stores and chicken night. Xcalak has as Disco now so we can go to the club as it is. When we stay down to the south of town we can get naked again but no grocery trucks. It is very quit and there are allot more animals to see. We do love all of Xcalak. It is just a great small town. I must say tho that the town lot we are living on in our trailer is so great. We have the Leaky Palapa down the street. Great food and great friends. All i can say about the girls is that they are the best. Our neighbors are great, we live on an ocean front lot. we can walk to anywhere in town or take my motto. We are a good ways from Playa Sonrisa our naked boccie club LOL. We do love to hang out with our friends there. But with season here they have guest to look after so we will spend more time there when season ends. This time of year we have allot of new friends that find there way to Xcalak and it is always nice to see new faces. We sit around the fire a chicken night and till tales of were we have been. There is nothing like sitting around a cape fire on the beach with new and old friends and great drinks. Yes life here in Xcalak is not fast paced but who needs fast paced. don't you think it is time to enjoy life? I do and i find Xcalak a great place to live life as it should be simple and slow.

update

2008-12-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not posted for a long time but I don't have Internet now. We have moved back to town and are now living in our trailer on a beach lot in town. We enjoyed our stay up the beach road but it is nice to be back in town. The beach road has take a toll on my Jeep. Living in town is nice we get to go to allot more party's and see our friends allot more. We don't get to stay naked 24/7 but I have so much work going on now that i would not have had an all over tan anyway. With Chicken Night open now there is a party every week. It is the season were everyone comes back to town. There is so much going on every week. It is just a good time to be in town. If you have never been to Xcalak this is the time of year to come. I will try to wright more soon

Rain rain rain

2008-09-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well it is the season for rain here in Xcalak. With the rain comes the bugs. We went down to visit our friends at Playa Sonrisa Resort in hopes of getting in a game of naked Beach Boccie ball but it was to late in the day. If you live here you know when it is safe to do things outside. With all the rain and little wind the little blood suckers are out. We have been getting allot of rain and the big bugs are moving to high ground. Now don't get the vision of the ground covered with bugs it is not that bad. You just have to keep an eye out for them. I went out on the back porch and when i turn and came back in side a big water bug landed on my neck. I know you say it is only a water bug you sissy but the water bug here have some size to them and are called toe bitters, they can give a good bit. This one was 2-1/2 inches long by 1-1/4 wide. The other day here at the house a big scorpion drooped on a guys head and another guy had one in bed with him. So when it hit my neck i just new it was a scorpion. Thank god it was just a toe-bitter. The snakes don't like high water and so they move to high ground too. I was at a friends house, house sitting. I got up around 6am and took a seat on the couch and looked out the sliding glass door. Sitting on top of the blue chair on the porch was a baby boa. He was only about a 2 foot long. I went out and took some pics of him then moved hm were he was safe away from the house. Now with all the rain come drain problems. We went in to the bodega and found the roof dripping lots of water out of a crack in the concrete. The floor was soaked and we had to move some stuff out of the water to dry it out. The bad part is we don't know if it is from the roof drain being clogged or if something else is wrong. We cant get to the roof with the great looking new security gate that was put up by the owner. The bad thing is we are going to get more rain. So all we can do is see how much more water comes down the steps and thru the roof in the bodega. The rain is not all bad it fills our cisterns and raises the water table in the wells. Life her is fun and keeps you on your toes. You never know when a toe-bitter is around LOL

I do Love Xcalak and my friends here

2008-09-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Xcalak is such a nice place to live. Not much gos on here but that is what makes it so nice. Most everybody knows everybody. If you need something you ask and someone will know were and how to get it. Everyone tries to be nice to everyone. I work as a part time handyman here and I do love to help my friends and I make some money on the side. I work when I want and try to keep my friends and myself happy with the jobs I do. One of the best parts about the job is just spending time with my friends. I like the feeling I get from helping them. So thank you to all my friends in Xcalak for your friendship and the jobs. Xcalak is very small but very nice place to come. Everyone should check out life at the end of the road.

i am back

2008-09-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been out of town. I am back now with some great stories. I will have to wait to tell them. The time is not right. I still need to talk to some friends first. Here in Xcalak it is hot with very little wind. I have more work than time but life is good. Can anyone tell me were I have been by the pic

SNAKE!!!!!!

2008-08-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well i was ask about the snake in my slide show. I walked out to our Jeep about a month ago. We were going to town I think. Well as I walked up to the back door there was this wire or vine sticking out by the rear tire. I started to grab it and yank it out but stop short. It was a snake. Now snakes don't bother me much. I have been catching snake for years. Now this snake did not care if I was there. He was not going to move till i made him. So you know me. I went and got my camera and took some pics. Then made him move on. when I got back from town I looked it up so I would know about them. Here is what i found.

About Mexican Vine Snake Vine snakes are very slender snakes, they resemble sticks or vines which helps them to stay camouflaged. They prey on lizards creeping up on them and injecting them with venom. They build dens underground and lay three to five eggs.

The Mexican Vine Snake (Oxybelis aeneus) is also known as the Brown Vine Snake. Although it is mildly venomous, it is not considered dangerous to humans. Because it lives in heavily forested and rainforest areas, it is in danger because of clearing of these forests.
Mexican Vine Snakes are very thin and are usually no bigger around than a pencil. They are excellent at camouflage as, true to their name, they resemble vines or sticks and are able to easily hide in trees. Vine snakes can range in size from 30-60 inches (76-152 cm) with an average length of 36-48 inches (91-122 cm). The scales of the snake are smooth and are arranged in 17 rows. They are brownish gray on the back and lighter on the underside, ranging in color from white at the tail to yellowish-green towards the head. There are often scattered markings of black and dark brown on the back. They have relatively large eyes that actually have round pupils, unlike the vertical slitted pupils of other snake species. Interesting Fact: Vine snakes have grooved fangs in the back of the mouth that are used to inject venom, unlike most venomous snakes with the typical hollow or retractable fangs in the front.
The primary food source for the Mexican Vine Snake appears to be lizards, which they actively hunt both on the ground and up into the trees. The snake will snag the lizard and stun it by injecting its poisonous venom. If a human is bitten by one of these snakes, however, the reaction is mild and usually only results in a small blister or reddened area and is not fatal. For smaller animals and reptiles, however, this poison results in total paralysis. Vine Snakes will also eat insects, frogs, and sometimes birds and small mammals.

rain rain

2008-08-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone who know me, knows I like to take pictures. I love to take sunrise and sunset pics. So I was up and looking to take some pics on the morring of 8/4 and the sunrise was not the great and i really did not want to wast time on taking any pics of it. When this big rain cloud rolled in. Lots of thunder and dark. It looked so cool out over the water. Well you tell me how it looks to you.

As big as it was we did not get one drop of rain on the house but it looked so cool on the water

I must step out of Xcalak for a minute

2008-08-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me this in an email.

All I can say is HELL YEA.

I am retired 82nd Air Borne and I am tired of all the negative press our troops get. "WAR IS HELL". There is no such thing as a civilized war.

Letter from one "Angry Woman"

I don't know who wrote it but they should have signed it. Some powerful words. This woman should run for president.
Written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it! This is one ticked off lady.

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for chopping off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide .

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care..

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it-I don't care !!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem" -- Ronald Reagan

I have another quote that I would like to add AND.......I hope you forward all this.

"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Also by.. Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out."

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: 1. Jesus Christ 2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON,
AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM.
AMEN!

Its A Delightfull Place

2008-07-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well to start off this blog I would like to say what a delightfully wonderful place Xcalak is. We moved here sometime ago and had a hard go of it to start. We came to a town were nobody knew who we were. It took some time for us to overcome some of the things that followed us here. But with the help of some great friends we met here we have truly learned to love Xcalak and the people here. We would like to touch on some of the places and things that make Xcalak such a delightfully wonderful place for us. Where we live at Casa Del Sol about 12K out of town is a great beach and reef. We are so far out of town that we stay naked on the beach or in the water a lot of the day. It is so peaceful. It is hard to believe that a place like this exists after our life in Detroit. We often go to our friends place about five minutes down the road for a game of naked Bochee Ball. Playa Sonrisa (see them on our friends sites) is a great place. Murph and Cindy are so much fun and so easy to talk to. They are nudist too and just enjoy life. It is a place where you can truly be yourself with great friends. Now I am not going to talk about all the great people who live on the beach road going to Xcalak. It would take a book to list how great everyone here is. I am sure I will tell you about all the great people in blogs to come. So I will just stay on our friends with businesses. In our opinion the best places to eat here is the Leaky Palapa. It is run by Linda & Marla two of the funniest ladies we have ever met. They sure are a ray of sunshine here. The best food we have had anywhere we have ever been. It is an American-Canadian-Mexican hybrid cuisine. A mix of north and south new and old the likes of witch you have to try. We would go there every night if we could. Apart from being a great place to eat The Leaky Palapa it is a social event. If you sit there long enough you will meet and get to know all the great people in Xcalak. Because everyone goes to the Leaky Palapa. When we come to town we always have to get some groceries so we stop at Melchor's store. The Melchors are great people who have helped us in so many ways. They always have a smile on their face and will go out of their way to help. They always try to help us with our Spanish (boy do we need it). I could go on and on about this town and will soon. There is so much in this small town that we love. But my wife will kill me if I don’t give her some time today. So I will just end by saying Xcalak is wonderful.

start off with a new baby

2008-07-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well to start a new blog we have a new grandson born at 1058pm on 14 July. Health baby boy 8lbs 3oz. We are very happy for our youngest son and wish we could have talk to him today. But everyone here knows how that is In Xcalak. We will talk to him soon but till then wa are very proud Grandparents.