We leave before sunrise and travel south on Highway 200, the coastal highway. Two years ago we drove this highway from north of Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta all the way to Zihuatanejo. Sierra Madre Del Sur Mountains follow the Pacific Coast and the vistas are truly spectacular. There are mountains edging the sea with waves crashing against their rugged sides, valleys with rivers that form beaches when they reach the ocean, and very few people or towns.
We leave before sunrise and we are prepared to spend a couple of days seeing Acapulco. The sunrise with the ocean and mountains is spectacular.
Acapulco in the 1950's was popular with the stars of Hollywood and was the most popular tourist destination in Mexico in the early1990's. Today, its has lost some popularity with international tourists but it is still popular with people from Mexico City because of a new highway that makes the drive only 3 1/2 hours. Acapulco is situated on a large bay and has the longest beach in Mexico.
What happened to us next can best be described in an Email that I sent to the President of Mexico, go to the top when possible. I also sent a blind carbon copy to many government agencies, consulates, politicians from all levels of government, tourist sites and anyone else that might help.
Dear Sir,
My wife and I love Mexico and we have spent part of the last
four winters in Mexico. We have done two road trips, one to the Colonial
towns in Central Mexico and the other down the Pacific coast. Last
winter, we spent seven weeks in Zihuatanejo and this year we are spending five
months in Zihuatanejo.
I had never been to Acapulco, so we decided to spend a
couple of days shopping and exploring the city.
On November 11, 2011 at 2:45 to 3:00 p.m., we were driving
south on Rompeolas Escenica south of the centre of town on a section of the
road where there is a large hill with a speed limit is 50 kilometres per
hour. I was not speeding as traffic was heavy and there were cars all
around me. A Municipal Police vehicle pulled us over, two officers (a man
and a woman) took our drivers license, told us that we were speeding and that
we would have to go to the police station to get the drivers licence back and
pay a fine of over 5,800.00 pesos. (Over $500 CAN ) We were told that getting this
resolved at the police station would take a few days and to avoid this we could
give then 3,000 pesos in cash. (about $300 CAN)We gave them 1,400 pesos ( $140 CAN) which was all our
cash. My wife and I have limited Spanish and the officers had limited
English so all this negotiation was done using limited language and with gestures.
We were targeted because our license plates are from Ontario
Canada, and just in front of us another car of tourists was targeted by other
officers.
We had only been in Acapulco for a couple of hours, we left
immediately and did not complete our shopping or spend any more time in
Acapulco. The people in our condominium were surprised to see us return
but not surprised that we had been robbed by the Municipal Police. On the
internet, I have found numerous similar experience by other travelers.
Tourism is down in Acapulco and one of the reasons is that
some members of the Municipal Police rob your visitors. I am writing to
you in hope that you could send this message to officials that could take some
action to stop this.
William Purchase
Did I get a response! The Minister of Tourism for Mexico, Acapulco Department of Tourism, US Consulate, Consular Agency of Canada, as well as various Tourism web site. One person's response was;
Yes, welcome to Acapulco.
They do the same with residents as well..............There is nothing anyone can do until if and when the
federal government comes in and cleans house.............There is a learning curve to the way things work in
Acapulco but once one gets used to it, it's not so unlivable. It becomes more of an irritant akin to having
to scrape the ice from one's car windshield in the morning up north.
The best response was from the Consular Agency of Canada.
Dear
Mr. Purchase. I have just received news that because you gave exact
location , date and time, the police chief was able to find out which officers
had robbed you. He informs me that he has detained them and that he has
recuperated your money. He is asking me how to get it to you.
Please contact me as soon as possible at numbers below.
Regards,
I did get my money back and this story has a happy ending.
After our experience with the local police, we left Acapulco and drove back to Zihuatanejo as the sun set.
No comments:
Post a Comment