Anton Lizardo

Anton Lizardo, Veracruz is just south of Veracruz, Veracruz.   The campground is run down, almost abandoned.   There were two other RV's here when we arrived, one gentleman from New Jersey who has been there for 4 months, and 3 young men on their way to Argentina.    The campground has plenty of room for a couple of dozen or more RV's, so it looked very empty indeed.    The owner hadn't been around for a while, so when the 3 guys pulled out early yesterday morning, they ended up having 2 nights free.   We weren't as lucky, the owner showed up before nightfall, so we had to pay for our 2 days stay.  200 pesos a night.    He tried to get us to pay for the people who left as well, but Gerry just laughed at him.

With so few campers we were able to get a site with a view of Gulf of Mexico.   

As far as the eye could see in  both directions the beach was full of drift wood.   We walked 3 kilometers down the beach and only saw one hotel cleaning up the debris in front of their property.    The sand is almost black and was very disconcerting to me.       

The winds were high, making the sounds of the waves become a lullaby for me.   I fell asleep at 8:30 p.m. and slept right through the night.    Hmmm, not taking my Sprycel might have had something to do with that as well.   My drugs interrupt my sleep, so last night I decided to switch to taking them in the morning instead of the night to see if that improves things. 

This is the entrance/exit to the El Rey campgrounds.   There are sites all along both sides complete with electricity, water and sewers.   

The whole area is one big sand dune and the winds were high.     I felt dirty after just a short walk around the campground.    Veracruz used to be a big tourist area, but the resorts and hotels all seemed run down.  Nevertheless, there is obviously a lot of money in Veracruz.   There were a lot of new cars, new homes, shopping plazas and a World Trade Center.    We paid more for our laundry in this area than we have ever paid before @ 15 pesos per kilo.   We paid higher transaction fees and got a lower exchange rate at the ATM here than anywhere before.   3000 pesos cost $250.00.   When we bought groceries at the Chedraui, the prices were easily 50% higher than anywhere else we have been in Mexico and the building was high end. There were huge flat screen television sets depicting the departments.   One in particular was quite impressive, above the fresh fish they were showing reefs and fish a scuba diver or snorkeler would die for!   We felt like we weren't even in Mexico at all.   

We left Anton Lizardo this morning even though we are both still needing some rest time.   We just didn't like it there.   We pulled into The Trailer Park Neptuno on the Emerald Coast around noon today and even though no one is here, and it is rainy and cold, we are very pleased with the campground, we might stay a couple of nights.   The only problem here is we are on the edge of the Telcel signal for internet, so it keeps cutting out, and is extremely slow at best.  However, the Emerald Coast is another blog, for another day.