How to Really Get Mugged in Mexico!

Not The Way You Think

You've seen the headlines, and you've heard the warnings. Mexico isn't safe! Don't venture outside the resort. People will trick you, skim your credit card, empty your bank account and shake you down.  It is easy to get mugged in Mexico, and some even end up dead. Stay in the resort people say - they will look after you.

We haven't experienced much of the above during our travels so far to this fantastic country. The truth is, we cannot get enough of Mexico, and we are looking for reasons to spend more and more time there. It is one of our favourite destinations. 

Mexico has only served us with pleasant surprises. We love their food, rich culture, natural beauty, and friendly people. We've discovered that the real gems are outside the resorts in popular tourist destinations of Cancun, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Porto Vallarta and others. If you go where people can only speak Spanish, you've arrived at authentic Mexico. That's where you want to be. Then the real adventure begins.

Our most recent and unpleasant experience in Los Cabos confirmed this again for us.

Leave the resort!

If you want to be tricked, have your credit card skimmed and your bank account emptied, all you have to do is accept a "Gift Certificate" from a prestigious Mexican holiday resort, and make the trip as an unsuspecting tourist. They will "take care of you".

We stepped right into this one. Instead of the horror crime stories you read in the news, we discovered that the typical Mexican holiday resort has a much more subtle and civil approach to shaking you down. Here's what happened to us at The Grand Mayan at Vidanta Los Cabos.

Our timeshare company dished out the annual "gift certificates," and we were the lucky recipients of two this year. For around US$300/week and change, plus a nominal daily resort fee, and an exchange fee, we get a week in the off-season with an available holiday resort of our choice. A good deal isn't it? Yes and no. It all adds up once your annual levies and fees come into play and your cost of funds for buying the timeshare in the first place is added in. But, that is a sad story for another time.

Shaken Down

This is how we booked two weeks at The Grand Mayan at Vidanta Los Cabos in early December of this year. We couldn't wait for the welcome break and landed on a sunny winters day after a reasonably pleasant flight with Westjet in San Jose del Cabo.

While we checked in at the resort, we made the disturbing discovery that what is usually a nominal daily resort fee (generally around $15/day) turned into US$60/day per person expense (US$120/day for my wife and I, which translated roughly into CAD$165/day or CAD$1,155 for a week). Luckily we've sent the other Cowboy home to South Africa for Christmas and left the kids at home, or this would really have turned into an even more expensive holiday since the fee is a per-person fee.

However, all is not lost we were assured by the reception that it is not as bad as it sounds. We have the opportunity to get 75% of our resort fee "back" if we spend the money at the resort's spa, restaurant and shops. Oh yes, and then there is the small matter of going to a complimentary breakfast and a short presentation as well. It will not take more than 2 hours of our valuable vacation time we were assured. Yeah, right! We know about these things.

Heck, the prospect of getting back some of the exorbitant resort fee, which we are now paying in a fast sinking CAD$ made me jump at the chance to attend a short presentation and get some of my money back. After five years of dodging the despised breakfast and presentations in these resorts, I was finally outwitted into one. I was a sitting duck.

As you know, the presentation was not just for two hours. It was an almost three-hour highly unpleasant battering to shake us down for a "Vidanta Holiday Club" membership. During this time the price came down from USD$120,000 to below USD$10,000 for a week, and an on-the-spot nominal deposit of USD$900 for something I still cannot comprehend and don't care to understand. We were not in the market for it. We made it clear every step of the way.

What I do know was that when the fourth and final "handler" couldn't get me to agree to the purchase, she finally threw our "client assessment forms" at us across the table while telling us to take our documents to reception and check out. I was ready for war, and my wife had a micro melt-down. She oscillated between disgust for the way in which we were treated, scolded me for losing my temper, and fearing that our holiday just came to an end. All that remained was for someone to escort us off the premises.

No one came. Instead, we dutifully handed over the extorted loot of a resort fee every day on Tacos and breakfasts at the resort's overly priced restaurants. We paid five times the going rate. Drinks at the pool bar made our eyes water when we saw the bill. Let's just say the price of a couple of beers can buy you a case at the local grocery store. You can purchase a small coconut plantation for the fee of a single pina colada.

We changed our flights. We shoved the second week up Vidanta's arse to return prematurely to a snowy Canada, while vowing never to set foot at their facilities again. More importantly, to never fall again for this cleverly disguised and very civil scheme of extortion and skimming. It cannot be good for business and definitely not for the people of Mexico!

From this day onwards we will only spend our Pesos with a local property owner, buy our tacos and beer like locals and invest in Mexico - the real Mexico. Viva la Mexico and Vidanta be damned!

Hendrik
Taco Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too.

Photos

Local Beer

Local Taqueria

"Traditional" Resort

Dead Cow

Bliss!

Traveling Cowboys: The ¡Perfecto! (Best) Margarita at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore, Alberta

¡Perfecto!

The problem with our line of work is that our palates are spoiled. We have the privilege and plenty of opportunities to eat the best and drink the fantastic wherever we go. The result is that our expectations are high. It also means that our standards are ever-increasing.

We do have our favourites, though. Ever-so-often, we have to circle back to what we refer to as "our people". They are our friends where to we travel. Visiting them, eating and drinking the best they have on offer is like wearing a familiar pair of comfortable shoes or sitting in a favourite chair. There is no pretence. It is the casual and a part of us.

This is how our love affair started with Margarita, until Laura at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore, Alberta made it enduring.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). Although it has become acceptable to serve a margarita in a wide variety of glass types, ranging from cocktail and wine glasses to pint glasses and even large schooners, the drink is traditionally served in the eponymous margarita glass, a stepped-diameter variant of a cocktail glass or champagne coupe.

There are various stories about the origins of the drink during the earlier parts of the last century. However, most people know its murdered cousin found at the typical all-inclusive Mexican hideaway or passed-off as a drink-of-choice for riotous partying Springbreak youngsters in warmer climate locations.

We've discovered that the real Margarita is a drink with character and a power that should not be underestimated. Laura at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore introduced us to her. Aroma is now our favourite place for our Margarita-time because we've not succeeded in duplicating their version. This spurred us into action. We had to find out more about the secrets behind their particular version that makes it so uniquely delicious.

Chef Jose Castillo and Laura Matamoros were both born in Mexico City and raised in the kitchen. In 2009 they introduced the Bow Valley to their authentic and traditional Mexican cuisine in the Bow Valley. The restaurant has a warm and cozy atmosphere. It emulates the intimacy felt around a Mexican’s family kitchen table. Jose, himself is behind the stove in the kitchen.

He offers a fusion of Indigenous and Spanish cuisine, traditional sauces, tortillas, and desserts. All are artisanal homemade and slow cooked from scratch for each order. It is worth the wait if you are lucky to get a seat during the busy times. We know Jose and Laura personally, so it is our weekly culinary gourmet trip to Mexico. There is always a special table reserved for us, the "familia".

Observations

Laura took us on an expedition of Margarita discovery without divulging a single secret. From that perspective, we failed in our quest to know how to make an excellent Aroma Margarita.

Instead, we journeyed through the traditional, the flavourful, the herby, the fruity, smokey and the savoury. Just as our faculties began to fail at number four (or was it six), Laura managed to wake us with the kick of a spicy Jalapeno signature Margarita. After that, it all became a blur!

Aroma is not a "fancy" restaurant. Jose and Laura succeeded in keeping it personal and homey with really good traditional, but refined food. If you take time to get to know them, you will find it quickly turns into a friendship. For us, it is a welcome friendship because it includes frequent rendezvous with the fabulous Margarita.

P.S. Some Margarita's are only available when Laura is in attendance, and you won't find it on the menu. She guards her recipes that closely ;-)

P.S.S. If you have the guts, ask for the Two Cowboys version. See what happens!

Hendrik van Wyk

Mexican Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to publish our premium content. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other local maker stories.

Photos

Order is Up!

Heaven

Laura

Mixing

The Perfect Time

Secrets!

Two Cowboys: Fiesta with Casa Hogar Los Angelitos Dancing Away with Ballet Folklorico in Okotoks, Alberta

The Rhythm

Music and dance have a way to transcend culture, time and place. Even more so on a Monday evening in Okotoks Alberta, as a school theatre is packed with spectators witnessing and clapping to the pumping Latin rhythms from Mexico's Ballet Folklorico.

The spectacle was courtesy of the touring dancers of Casa Hogar Los Angelitos of Manzanillo, Mexico, on their tour through the Canadian Prairie towns. The Two Cowboys was lucky to get an invite to the Okotoks performance.

We cannot stay away from people that create things - music and dance in this case - and people that care for each other.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

Baile folklórico, literally "folkloric dance" in Spanish, also known as ballet folklórico is a collective term for traditional Mexican dances. It puts the emphasis on local folk culture with ballet characteristics like pointed toes and exaggerated movements, that are highly choreographed.

You will find folk dances in the villages during fiestas and not on stage. Each region in Mexico, the Southwestern United States and Central American countries is known for a handful of locally characteristic dances. On Monday 18 September, we were treated to the Mexican folkloric journey by Casa Hogar Los Angelitos students (CHLA).

CHLA is an orphanage that is providing for the needs of the homeless and forgotten children of Manzanillo. The facilities and the not-for-profit organization that supports it was founded by Nancy Nystrom and her husband, David. Their clear mission is to help develop the young people of the city that would otherwise have been destitute.

The focus is on education. Children that would otherwise not have had opportunities are given a chance and is supported to develop into skilled individuals, ready to contribute to society in Mexico once they become young adults. Since inception, CHLA has succeeded in helping several young men and women go to universities and technical schools. All activities are funded through individual sponsorships and donations by generous patrons.

What sets CHLA's approach apart is the Ballet Folklorico. Nancy Nystrom had the idea that expressive arts may help some of the children deal with their sometimes complicated pasts. It worked. Her idea has gradually progressed to where many of the children in CHLA and even some from surrounding communities have joined the Ballet Folklorico Casa Hogar Los Angelitos.

The next step was to share it with the world by taking the show on the road. This is how people in Alberta and other communities across North America are getting to see the rhythmic enthusiasm of these outstanding performers. At the same time, we all learned a little bit more of Mexico and of ourselves as we too contributed as spectators to the opportunities for these children.

Observations

The dancing was world-class. The stamina of the performers was exceptional considering they perform almost daily while on tour. The costumes were breathtaking and the rhythms contagious.

For a short while, we were all in a Mexican plaza during fiesta. Vibrant colors were everywhere. Mariachis and their songs were thumping away in a tranced tapestry of familiarity as they sing of love and heartbreak, happiness and success. People danced. Viva Mexico!

For a moment we forgot about our pasts, and we shared in the music and dance present of the students of Casa Hogar Los Angelitos. What a present it was!

Hendrik van Wyk

Fiesta Cowboy

We earn our livelihood from producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other stories.

Photos

Ready?

Yes, He Came

Love

Celebrity

Fiesta!

Traveling Cowboys: Little Mexico on the Prairie - Motoburrito Back for Another Summer in Turner Valley, Alberta

Living the Dream

Here is the ideal lifestyle. A food truck summer in Alberta, Canada. Sunshine, sand and beach-bound winters in Mexico.

If you mention this to any Canadian, they will get a strange longing in their eyes. It is the same look someone gets when thinking of missed opportunities, long gone lovers or lost romance.

See More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

Motoburrito in Turner Valley, Alberta managed to make the dream real. This is their lifestyle. With their food truck, they are on the busiest breakfast-run biker junction of the Foothills. Summer weekends and lazy days see them serving delicious Burritos, Tacos and "Mexican coffees". Winters, they recover by lounging on the sandy beaches of Cancun, Mexico.

Observations

When Motoburrito opens their trailer for business, we know that Spring finally arrived. The food is fresh and delicious. We call it our little Mexico on the Prairie. Go for the "Dirty Sanchez" (don't ask where the name comes from, you don't want to know!) or the Pollo Loco. Even the chickens love it ;-)

These dishes are trusted favourites in Mexico. It is as authentic as you can expect from people that spend half their time South and can serve you in Alberta Spanglish if you wish.

Whatever you do, don't miss out on the coffee. Tell them that you want the "Two Cowboys coffee special". We guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised. Note though, under no circumstances do we take responsibility for what follows. Refrain from driving or riding for at least a couple of hours. You will need the rest, trust us!

The one distinct characteristic of the Motoburrito experience is that it is a local experience. These are our people. They know their customers by name. Introduce yourself, and you will quickly become friends. Walking up to the truck you will be greeted with the usual Motoburrito yelp. "Tequila!" The rest is up to you...

As they say in Mexico, "What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico". Enjoy the coffee. Keep the secret, but tell everyone about Motoburrito!

Hendrik van Wyk

Taco Cowboy

We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. Please support us and get VIP privileges like early access to content and special offers. Alternatively, please sponsor us: http://www.travelingcowboys.com or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: http://www.forwardthefavour.com. It helps us to promote our local people, businesses and events and to keep entertaining you.

Photos

This is not Sanchez!

Little Mexico

Burrito Ladies

Tequila!

Cowboy News Network: Bubbles at Raintree Vacation's Club Regina in Los Cabos, Mexico

Bubbles

Excuse me. Which bubble is yours?

We travel a lot. We do it for many reasons. We travel because we suffer from a compulsion to see what lies beyond the next corner, ridge or ocean. Who else is out there? What do they think or do? It is a defining quality of the human condition to explore and learn. While many are quite content to spend their whole life in one place. Some of us just cannot remain put. We have an insatiable compulsion to remain on the move. To expand our horizons. We travel to learn and enrich our lives.

People live in bubbles. A bubble is a comfortable reality we create for ourselves. We construct it from the information we get. From experiences. The people with which we interact. The decisions we make. Our circumstances. It is who we are and what we believe.

So it happens that some people idealize travel and make an annual pilgrimage on a cruise ship or to a luxury resort. They are sold visions of far away places with white sandy beaches and blue oceans. Destinations stocked with Latin lovers waiting with open arms and cold Pinacoladas garnished with little umbrellas. Everything is set for their imminent arrival. This is not travelling. This is dreaming. These are theme parks that perpetuate a disconnect from reality. Fake Bubbles.

When you become a traveller you discover a universal truth: Life is a fine balance between expectation and reality tempered with perception. As you push your own boundaries the one thing that can truly set you up for success or failure is your expectation. How you set your bubble.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." (John Lennon) To paraphrase it for the traveller, "...shit happens when you expect things." With no expectations, you are free to experience and formulate positive perceptions about reality. Free to create a nice bubble. If you do have expectations, prepare to be surprised, and not necessarily in a good way.

My Bubble

The more you travel the more you become aware of how focused people are on their own circumstances and how committed they are to their own perceptions. The first and very real discovery comes when you realize that life "back home" continues without you. The same goes for the places you visit. Life goes on regardless of your presence. Kids go to school, people go to work, mortgages get paid, birthdays celebrated and the diseased laid to rest.

It begs a profound question. How connected are we really to our reality? How much of what happens in our lives every day is also part of others? Is it within our control? How much should make it into our bubble?

Take a look at your bubble. Who is in it? How does it make you feel? Deal with it, or change it. Everyone is in a bubble. A bad bubble is filled with disempowerment and things you cannot control. Perceptions others chose for you. Disappointments. For example, your thoughts about a dumb-ass politician's statement. The maniac driver that cut you off this morning.

A good bubble is filled with perceptions of empowerment and appreciation. Another profound travel truth is that one should never travel to escape. You tend to bring yourself along for the trip. Bubbles travel with you.

This year we've seen a small part of New Zealand's North Island, Alberta, British Columbia, Maui, Oahu, and Los Cabos. We've visited and profiled more than 200 businesses and met and interviewed over 300 people in these places. We experienced temperatures from +35C to -35C. We've visited mountains and oceans. A famous traveller once said, "the more places he's been, the more he realises just how little he's seen. We agree. We've arrived at a point where every day is an adventure. Not because we expect it. Instead, because we are open to it. We brush our teeth, take a shit, put on our clothes and show up. This is the best bubble ever.

Mexican Bubble

We are signing off our year in Los Cabos Mexico at the Club Regina courtesy of a gift from my mum. Something she still wanted to do before her bubble became smaller. One thing that always surprises me about Mexico is how hard they work to sell someone else's bubble. The theme park. The cocktail. The romantic dinner. The adventure trip and the famous "complimentary breakfast" (read Timeshare Trap)."

The best way to experience Mexico, as for most places on earth is to come without expectations. Arrive. Slow down. Take it as it comes. Face reality. Find authenticity and fold in the richness of the Mexican people and their culture. If there is one ask from us this trip it is this, "Mexico, stop selling someone else' dream. Give us yours."

Club Regina has breathtaking views. It is located in Los Cabos, at the most southern part of Baja California. It rises above the shoreline where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. Every unit faces the ocean and colourful sunsets and sunrises are a given. From November through March you see whales playing in front of the resort. We saw many.

We didn't come with too many expectations. We needed the rest. What we got is a view that gets better every day. Friendly staff and good facilities. A quiet place with everything you need.

We recommend you make the trip to San Jose or San Lucas for groceries. Do it for no reason other than feeling good about how much cheaper it is in Mexico and for fresh fruit and beer. Bring US$. They don't want Pesos. Don't bother with the resort's coffee. The Starbucks logo is for decoration. Remember, Mexico is outside the resort.

We are sold on Los Cabos as a destination. It is a relaxing experience with weather ideal during the winter months. Sunny days and a cool ocean breeze. Club Regina is worth a visit for the views.

Here is the golden key. Before you go to Mexico, and before you take on one more day of your life, let go of your expectations. Manage your perceptions. Appreciate the little things. Above all, make sure the bubble you live is yours. Not someone else's creation.

Hendrik van Wyk
Mexican Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Two Cowboys & A Camera

Blocks

Infinity

Two Cowboys: Mi Lugar Favorito Para Margaritas en Canmore, Alberta

My Two Girlfriends

(Learn: * Inspire: *** Amaze: * Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

Here's the confession. If you don't know already, I have two girlfriends.

Caipirinha and Margarita are both breathtakingly beautiful. They make my world a better, happier place. You need to be careful to pick a favourite. If you do, don't let them know about each other. If I have to pick one, it will be Margarita (Please don't tell Caipirinha).

See This Video on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

If I cannot meet her her at her place we often meet halfway at our favourite alternative spot in Canmore, Alberta. A small restaurant operated by Mexico City natives. A place she calls her home away from home. For me, it is my home with good friends, good food, and good Margarita. It is
Aroma Mexican Restaurant, an authentic Mexican establishment in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, that is owned and operated by Jose Castillo. A little bit of Mexico in the snow. Margarita and my happy place.

Jose and his maître d', Rafael transports us weekly to lapping shores on the Caribean sea, filled with flavours and aromas from his homeland. Mole verde, salsa verde. Pick any verde, for your little bit of Mexico in the mountains. Above all, remember to meet Margarita. She will take your breath away.

Impressions

Canada is a land of many peoples. Immigrants from all over the world make it their new home. The Castillo family from Mexico journeyed via Montreal to finally settle in Canmore. They operate their very own authentic restaurant on Main Street. They are now Canadian. With them came their traditions of authentic Mexican cooking and a wicked understanding of the perfect Margarita.

Canmorians gained a little bit of Mexico without having to make the pilgrimage south. We can have our weekly dose of the good times in measured and responsible quantities, right here at home in Canada.

How do I know it is authentic?

Ask for Jose, the owner, operator and head chef. You will see a head peak out from a hole in the wall with a view to the kitchen at the back. This is where Jose will be busy stirring his mole on the stove, which is Mamacita's recipe from way, way back when. The restaurant is authentic because, the owner, which is Mexican, cooks his favourite home-made dishes for his favourite customers, himself.

Aroma is often filled to capacity. Yet, you will always find one table marked "reserved". That is the table that is kept for the surprise arrival of special guests. Friends of Jose and Rafael. Loyal and long-standing customers.

Let us just say, we've never been turned away.

"Jose, thank you for introducing me to Margarita. Thank you for bringing Mexico to us in the mountains. Thank you for always treating my family, my guests and I with the very best in food, hospitality and friendship."

P.S. Thank you for sharing your favourite Mezcal with me.

Hendrik van Wyk
Mexican Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

¡Salud!

Happy Place

Mexico

The Market

Teamwork

Andale

Mole Verde

o-CNN: Cowboy News Network - Motoburrito, Turner Valley

Wheel on Over Mexico!

(Learn: * Inspire: ** Amaze: *** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

The sun is out and the snow is gone. It is Spring in the Canadian Rockies of Canada. If you are a rider, horse, steal or otherwise, you have to point your nose to Turner Valley this Summer. It's a lot closer than Mexico, but with authentic Mexican burritos and cyan coffee. You heard it right. Little Mexico on the Prairie. I couldn't resist ;-).

You are guaranteed by the ladies at Motoburrito to wake up, or warm up. The choice is yours.

Sleepy Turner Valley always gives the impression of a half dead one horse town, until you realize: There are a few gems tucked away, that only requires the down to earth friendly cowboy handshake to be let into the secret.

Say "Hi" to them from the Two Cowboys, and be sure to sign-up for the Dirty Sanchez. It will have you come back for more!!

Hendrik van Wyk
Cowboy News Network

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

For Your Eyes Only...

Blue Blue Bayou

Motoburrito!

Burrito Coming Up

Little Mexico on the Prairie

Hatless Cowboy!