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RE: no-see-ums/sand fleas
I guess how bad the bugs are depends on your tolerance level and if a bite causes a reaction (depends on your immune system).
In the area between San Blas and Miramar just north of Miramar where Bob was, there were a few bugs that came out at dusk mainly in grassy areas, we found the situation similar north of Teacapan, maybe in in the campsites in town it was worse, the area there is more low-lying and grassy. We carry various repellents with us (including 100% DEET), these are for use in northern Canada in the spring where the bugs take no prisoners , so far haven't used them anywhere we've been to in Mexico
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almcc
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10/04/08 08:54am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Satellite radio
For us Canadians, the sat radio situation is somewhat more interesting in that both companies here operate separately from those stateside, although most of the programming is supplied from the US. I believe the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) has a financial interest (and has a number of channels)in Sirius Canada so it will be interesting to see what happens down the road. When my Sirius receiver packed it in last year when we were in the US, I was told that buying a US receiver would result in the loss of some channels (probably the Canadian ones) so it's not quite the same service US vs. Canada
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almcc
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10/04/08 08:28am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Cel Phones review
Hi Snarly:
In Teacapan the Telcel phone worked, we used it and our Rogers phone (once) when there, the Rogers phone (Nokia) had better signal strength than that on the cheapie Motorola Telcel phone. Looks like Teacapan could be on the edge of the signal range for Telcel.
We are probably leaving later this year compared to last year(2 new grand kids!), we probably won't be into Mexico until mid/late December. We look forward to seeing you down there. We will be in Teacapan all February.
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almcc
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09/23/08 06:41am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Cel Phones review
geewiz, we took Chris's advice a couple of years ago and bought a cheapie basic Movistar phone, it was about 420 pesos and came with some pay as you go time. We bought ours in Tepic and were fortunate to get an english speaking salesperson who was very Helpful. We used it to call home to Canada a few times, we didn't have any incoming calls but I assume it would work. Last winter we added time when we got to Mexico and it worked again, so I don't think we lost the phone #.
Last year we found that where we were on the Pacific coast that Telcel had coverage in the smaller places and Movistar did not so we also purchased a cheapie Telcel phone, it worked well, we will see if we can re-activate it this winter.
I would check to see who has the coverage in Playa Del Carmen area and then get their pay as you go phone. Maybe someone staying in that area can let you know via the forum here.
In Mexico we also carry our Canadian Rogers phone, they partner with Telcel but the rates to call Canada are $3.50 per minute, so we use it only for true emergencies (there are no charges for just having it on in Mexico). The Mexican phones are much cheaper than Rogers.
I think that GSM band phones are the way to go, I wouldn't go with CDMA service (that's what Bell uses).
In terms of Skype, as indicated, Skype didn't work at all well for us with our Hughes internet dish, others have reported some success but Galaxy Broadband (the Hughes reseller that I think you use) has a website article that I think confirms my experience.
By the way, when are you leaving for Mexico? I recall I promised you a steak on the grill when we met earlier this summer. We are in Northern Ontario and should be back home by the end of the month.
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almcc
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09/22/08 09:43pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Star Choice Satellite - Mexico
Bev, make sure that SC gives you the larger dish size, it will work better for you.
Al.
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almcc
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08/23/08 02:29pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Health Insurance For Mexico
We have had good dealings with the Co-operators here in Ontario, we didn't do an extensive search but of the three carriers we checked, they had good pricing and coverage (and you get to talk to a real broker).
Last year they even dropped the extra premium charge for covering smokers!
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almcc
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08/23/08 02:26pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Star Choice Satellite - Mexico
The Star Choice service works great in Mexico, we've gone down as far as the San Blas area and have had no problems.
The signal strength will be lower than when you use the service in Canada, our signal strength numbers in the San Blas area were in the mid 30's compared to 91 in southern Ontario. Some of this difference is probably due to the fact that our set up on the road is one dish with both sat internet and the Star Choice LNB on the same dish, the dish skew setting is for the internet sat, not the SC sat.
However, even with lower signal strength numbers the reception was fine (and rainstorms are not an issue down there!).
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almcc
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08/23/08 07:17am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: El Mirador-San Carlos up for Sale
It's too bad the El Mirador is closed, we stop there each year on our way south.
Looking at the sale price and doing some "back of the envelope" ROI calculations, your money would be better invested in bonds or T-bills than buying the place and keeping it as an RV park. Look's like it will disappear as an RV park.
I also note that real estate ads are as accurate down there as they are up here, there's no way you can get 100 people into the restaurant as configured unless they are seated on the flat roof above!
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almcc
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08/08/08 05:48am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Proposal To Increase Diesel/Border Stations
Moisheh, the US border folks at Nogales allowed our Mexican beef in last March, they took our Mexican ham. Coming back into Canada, the Mexican beef was prohibited, but the folks at the Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing allowed ours in on the proviso that it was a small quantity.
These regulations don't make a lot of sense (but then again, it's government)!
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almcc
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08/04/08 05:51am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: MX Speed Limits
Yes Don, the Bells road logs are excellent.
They are a couple of years old now, but we found that the topes were well documented, we noted that some of the ones marked in the log have now disappeared as a result of road work.
It's a great guide for finding Pemex stations, the log tells you if diesel is available or not. It also guides you through the towns and cities with turn-by-turn directions. Well worth the minimal $$ to buy.
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almcc
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07/26/08 10:48am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Question about Mazatlan airport
If you need detailed directions, we bought the road log from the Bells (it's cheap at $10 for the route from Nogales down the coast and under $5 to Mazatlan), it gives turn by turn directions with things to look for so you know you are on the right road (for example Pemex stations with numbers), it's in PDF format, printable and helped us get through some of the cities down there.
http://www.ontheroadin.com/Mexico%20road%20Logs/nogales_to_mazatlan_road_log_and.htm
Having said that, you shouldn't have a problem finding the airport from the north, it should be under 2 hr. from Celestino.
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almcc
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07/21/08 06:31pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Question about Mazatlan airport
Mexbungalows, I think you are referring to the route through town. We don't go into the "downtown" area, we go south past the Playas Norte exit on Mex 15 and then exit onto local roads (looks like it's Mex 20), and keep veering towards the left until we get out of town.
The airport road goes off to the right off Mex 20.
All the above is from memory (and the link above), so it could be a little "fuzzy"!
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almcc
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07/20/08 03:47pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: What's the best form of 'money' to bring into MX
I've also had my card "eaten" by a bank ATM just before Christmas in Miguel Alliman (sp?) between Kino Bay and Hermosillo.
It's important to have a back up card and advise your CC company that you are on the road in Mexico
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almcc
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07/18/08 06:57pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Question about Mazatlan airport
Thanks folks for the information.
As for getting to the airport from the north, from memory it was quite well signed on the toll road, you shouldn't have a problem finding it.
The attached web site link gives GPS co-ordinates and a (not so great) map.
Link
A correction, actually you can see the airport if you zoom in on the hybrid image, it's directly off Mex 20.
Again (from memory), the toll road doesn't restart until south of the airport.
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almcc
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07/18/08 06:30am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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Question about Mazatlan airport
Hi Folks:
When we are RVing in Mexico next winter, we plan to pick up our kids at the airport so they can spend a week with us.
I would appreciate any information about the airport (parking, security, ease of getting in and out etc.). Being south of the city, it seems easy to get to.
Thanks in advance.
Al
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almcc
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07/16/08 05:47am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Booking Celestino RV
I think the answer depends on what service Celestino uses, if it's a US based service then the plan is different than if it's Mexican. A Canadian couple we were traveling with used their standard plan in some places down there but it didn't work in a campground in Mazatlan (must have been a Telmex land line connection).
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almcc
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07/13/08 03:13pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: where to go from Mexico
It may not be there now, but in March I saw a 1999 38 ft. Holiday Rambler Endeavor Diesel pusher (Cummins) parked in the storage lot at El Mirador in San Carlos. It had Alaska plates on it and hadn't been moved for a while. The engine hour meter had 1800 hours on it. The sale sign said $63,000 but I'm sure it could be bought for less.
It may be worth a call to El Mirador to find out if it's still there.
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almcc
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07/13/08 12:29pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel Fuel in Mexico
While testing is a good suggestion, if there is no requirement to go to ULSD what's stopping them from putting a load of regular diesel into the underground tank following a load of ULSD, or mixing a tanker load half and half?
I recall that there was a phase in period in Canada for the ULSD to allow the underground tanks, transport tankers and distribution pipelines to be flushed of the sulfur to allow the parts per million specification for ULSD to be met.
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almcc
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07/11/08 12:17pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Cell coverage in Mexico
Our experience with Skype on Sat connections is the same as we RV's. We have a Hughes sat internet and Skype doesn't work very well (you hear the caller but your voice is chopped up on their end). For that reason we dumped our Skype subscription.
We also tested Skype on park wifi and found that most parks outside major cities in Mexico also use a sat connection, we had the same results (as did other campers who tried Skype with thier computers).
If your communications are casual (not "mission critical") go ahead and try, otherwise get a cell phone.
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almcc
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07/11/08 05:54am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Which route from Ottawa Can. to Puerto Vallarta?
Although we don't go quite as far south as PV, we did go down as far south as the San Blas area in the past two winters.
We go down to Tucson and cross at Nogales, using the toll roads going south to the San Blas area. The only negative is that it can be busy at the border around Christmas time with returning Mexicans, having said that it always seems to take about 1-1/2 hr. to get your documents done whether they are busy or not!
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almcc
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07/08/08 06:20am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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