Is Mexico Safe?

I'm a member of the invite-only Sayulita People on Facebook.
It was a family/local dispute & ZERO concern for anyone else.

The community wants to keep it quite as that's what it is but people might freak from the tourist angle. No different than all the shit that goes down every day in the US.

Consider:
Are you talking to locals or gringo's ? Tourists are far less likely to be hassled than locals and tourists on motos are even less likely to be hassled.

Talked to some locals, and then got advice from theborder police when I got my bike permit today. What do you guys think?

I did the same and found nothing as well. I agree with you on Sayulita. I only discovered it 2 years ago and I have been there 3 times.

Wasn't try to inflate it or fuel a Mexico isn't safe debate. Just curious what really went down. Thought this would be a good place to find someone in the know.

Its it rare that domestic violence in Mexico escalates to a shooting? Is it common for locals to possess guns? Thought the guns kinda followed the illegal/deviate behavior crowd?

Again just asking. I go to Mexico and will continue to. It was my recommendation for my girl and her best friend to go to Sayulita so I would probably be in deep shit if she gets a flesh wound from crossfire. haha jk

Thx for the info

no i didn't think you were trying to fuel the thread. don't sweat it.
i just posted what was presented on SP.
yes the gun ownership is in question and a true answers will never be known nor will the connections and motivations, atleast by the public. it's being swept under the rug. there is a local guy dead and he left a wife and baby daughter behind. real sad story

As cold as it's been, I think I would want to stay in the lower elevations. A year ago I came back from Guatemala via Tenosique-Villahermosa-Veracruz-Tampico-Soto la Marina-Brownsville. The reason locals are steering you away from this route is probably because some really bad shit happened along this route in San Fernando a few years ago. Google if you're interested. I think it's pretty old news now, but that's just my opinion. Anyway, I had zero issues, and would take this route again, but it's not as scenic as the highlands, IMO.

geez, i figured the BP would answer don't go.
and i'm sure most of the locals don't cross either.
the correct feedback you need is from this thread from those who do cross over regularly.

whenever I go to Matamoros ( 3 to 4 times a year ), I take that route and back.....something like, Matamoros - San fernando - soto la marina - estacion manuel - ebano - panuco - huejutla - pachuca - mexico df - taxco

and nobody ever bothers me on my bike, not once, not even by the chicos malos, no hassle from federales or military

heck, come to think of it, I´m due for a re visit of matamoros any day now

I guess here in mexico, and all over the world, things can get out of hand in any discussion....

as for locals possesing guns, yeah, it´s illegal, but I own a couple of handguns ans a long barrel M4, no affiliation with policias or chicos malos, I´m just a gun nut and would retaliate if driven to it, just like any one else

such is the life around here, but I feel safer than when I lived in Fresno and Crenshaw.......

+1. Lower coastal areas will be warmer. Wish I was riding to Guate but I just don't have the time. I'm flying down the 17th.

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Always ask if the BP officer goes to Mexico. I do occasionally and I have NEVER found one that has actually crossed the border.

Trice, "dinner at La Mera Madre"...nice touch, thanks!

As noted by Stormdog, the winds were really strong at La Ventosa.

At the risk of totally annoying AndyT, the Wednesday morning quarterback can tell you that when a cold front is sweeping the USA, we usually get a norte event. Norte events happen about once or twice a week during the winter months, some are ho-hum and some are whooo-yeah! The winds will sweep down over the course of, usually, two days from the north, the effect is amplified as the winds sweep across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (the narrowest part of Mexico between the Gulf and the Pacific).

For Traveller137, if you want to head south fast, simply drop down from Brownsville to near Tampico in one day. Next day, you are easily in Tlacotalpan. You have options whether to ride inland and off the Mex #180 on the way south or back on the way north. Or both (which is preferable). It is winter and the green blur of the Mex #180 becomes a "golden or beige blur" and nothing more. There are exactly 3 sites of interest on the way from Brownsville to Veracruz: El Tajin (near Papantla), Quiahuixtlan and the beach where Cortez dismantled the ships at La Villa Rica de la Veracruz (there two are directly opposite each other). That is it. If you like potholes, kamikaze Central Americans with vehicles in tow, double semis that invade your lane, crumbling road shoulders and deep ditches, blowing sand, debris, and mile after mile of sheer boredom with the odd decent view of the Gulf (but only an elevated view near Boca Andrea) then stay on the #180. If you like mile after mile of interesting curves, cooler temps, higher elevations, better food, friendlier people, less hassles, take the mountain routes (at least part of the way). PM me if you want a free PDF file ride guide for Eastern Puebla and most of Veracruz.
Best news is that the weather is going to be warming up considerably from the 50f we had last night. Should be in the 70's by Friday afternoon and right through the weekend. Mountain routes will all be sublime, decent temps by high noon and no landslides etc...

For newbies, and at the risk of sending AndyT (you getting the message yet?) into a spin worse than a jar full of hornets, here is a link to a little PDF file from Mexico Desconocido which is a monthly magazine with many special editions during the year. Mexico Desconocido is a little on the higher end side for travelers, they recommend good places, but not usually the cheapest. The magazine is in Spanish, of course, but you can practice your comprehension. Their regional guides are pretty good, I have tried out many of the places they recommend and have never had a problem. Gives you a little overview of what to see and do in different locales.

Here is a simple overview of San Miguel de Allende for someone who has never had the opportunity to visit the place.

http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/assets/pdf/EBOOK_SAN_MIGUEL_ALLENDE_final.pdf

And no, contrary to what some might think, nobody on this forum is going to ridicule you or anything else for asking questions and then entering into a discussion about things. Are you getting the message yet, AndyT?

Trice, I owe you a few from the backyard.

Since one of the neighbors renovated their place, this family was displaced and are now all over the place in the neighborhood. They messed up the other neighbor's TV antenna. And if you stay still too long, they come a little closer to have a looksee.



We've had this little lady on the wall for some time...



Was shooting the arches, going for a real "old school" Alvarez-Bravo look and feel, and this guy wandered through the shot. That's a "Picho", like a tropical raven, we've got crows (cuervos of course as in Jose) but they are more rural.



When it gets cold here, we usually get some intense blue skies that reflect really well in the pool. There is nothing like the ride up on to the high plain, on a crisp clear morning in January and seeing the contrails in the sky above El Pico and El Cofre and watching them fade and new ones appear during the day, with the sun glinting off the ice fields on El Pico...



Actually, there is something equal to the contrails in the skies over the high plain. Sun up, dawn, on the way to, of course, Tlacotalpan or Catemaco via the Tuxtlas or bette yet, Roca Partida and Monte Pio, looking out towards the Gulf. Only one set of headlights approaching, a lone bird (the infamous early one) and you know you'll make Alvarado by the time the sun is definitely up, gassing up at the Pemex at the curve out of town before the hill before the bridge, and stopping for some picadas with salsa verde and fresh chorizo and queso fresco... before you arrive it looks like this...




It's a Yin Yang thing, the Pacific has sunsets, the Gulf has sunrises.

Thanks again for the info. It is said that he left family behind and will be a tough road ahead for them.

The gf wasn't really worried but I will pass this along to her.

KIKO, you are 1000% right, you can legally purchase and register up to 10 guns ( if you`re in a shooting club ), and one for home defense....it´s kinda of a bitch to get them from SEDENA, but yes, it can be done.......but they would not authorize me the calibers or guns I wanted......so....just went around the corner to my local DF illegal gun buying corner in tepito and walked away with a few toys for my enterteinment...

I know that guy!
His name is Eric Holder.

Awesome! Nice rifle?