Tastes like chicken?"No gracis, I'll just drink it like this. You know me when it comes to " ron Cubano" I would just prefer to drink it straight."
"Very well senor, if you do change you mind it will be in the cooler. Did you hear the story from up the road?"
" Nope."
" Last week, in the local paper, I saw the typical terrible photos that "la presnsa" loves to publish here."
" What's that, some truck accident?"
"I shouldn't tell you all the details, it just might make your amigos feel a little uneasy, but this one turned out to be more than a rumor."
"Go ahead, tell me, in fact sometimes it helps a little just to shake up someone around here so they don't walk around with their head up....... you know what I mean?"
"Usted sabe where the Coca-Cola plant is?"
" Yeah, at the entrance off the highway, right?"
" Se that's el. It seems that a couple of local crack heads or maybe meth freaks were just behind the plant in a makeshift "encampamento." They had been there for some time and were working on and off for a clean up crew at the new construction in the area. I heard they were 'indios' from Chiapas or maybe from along the Usumacinta river on the Guatemala border. Someone said they had been in the area for a month or so and had been camping out at various locations. It seems they liked the 'coke factory' because they had 'un pozo de agua' out back that they were using."
" So someone didn't like them using their well and living on their property?"
" Well the local "policia" made a stop to check up on things and found quite a mess."
" What's new about that?"
" Not much, but in that mess they found some "ollas" that contained some 'mystery meat' that was cooking."
" I think I know where you're going with this one. Some local calls and says.....'hey my pets are in those cooking pots.' "Tacos de gato, tacos de perro or worse, right."
" Well senor it's presumed that they went a little farther then that. During the investigation they found a few stolen items from the area and while uncovering a pile of packaging and coconut shells, a torso, hidden away under that stack of debris was found. By the way...........it was missing some parts."
" I hope those were the edible ones."
"Ka"
"Never mind."
" Pero su verdad senor. Remember when everyone would sit on that side of the road just last week while waiting for a bus to come by?"
"Not any more, right."
"Claro amigo, claro."
" I suppose it gets better from here?"
"Amigo, the papers said that one of the "residentes del campo" was too messed up to get into town 'para mas drogas', so he gave money to another and sent him to do the job. When he returned, 'ningunas drogas y ningún dinero,' and he said he was robbed. Well, the other guy believed that he just used up the dope and the money and then there was " una lucha grande."
"I think I know who lost."
" Yes, he beat him to death and stashed his body."
" Nothing like a good tenderizing before BBQ."
"No entiendo senor."
"Never mind, go on"
" I guess he decided that with no food or drugs, well the locals said he removed portions, cooked them and................"
"And he was going to open a taco stand for the workers at the plant, right?"
"Did you hear that also?"
"That's a joke, Amiga."
"Not around here it isn't senor."
" I bet this story didn't make the "Playa tourist travel chat lines."
" Oh yes it did, senor, yes it did."
" Thanx for that info, I think I'll take some of ice now."
Generally when camping on a beach that is totally open to the public and has no security, I recommend to stay close to other's. Don't pitch your tent too far away from the rest, it might just invite some visitors while you are gone at the expense of you trying to achieve more privacy. Although , I have learned that proximity isn't always the answer. Recently I did experience the theft of a tent, with everything in it, when the visiting nephew of the campground owner found that his entire abode was spirited away un-noticed in the middle of the afternoon. It was probably folded up like a "chalupa" and toted off, stuffing and all.
"I guess it doesn't pay that much to know someone , when someone else doesn't know who you know."
I'm not quite sure how I would deter an em brazened thief in broad daylight not to lift up my entire tent and contents and just walk away, but I do use a few tricks when I am in a tent at night, esp when alone. That would be twist ties or small "biners" locking your zippers together from the inside of the tent, or maybe a bell attached somewhere to alert you when someone is messing with you. I have thought of going as far as a motion detector, like those K-TEL ones that you get for windows, they make a loud sound and are priced at about $5 for three of them.
'Wake up, wake up, someone was trying to get in out tent. He took our bags.'
It was about 3am and you really never know how deep you are sleeping till someone wakes you at that time. I turned over and in my hammock and there was Barb, she looked more than just a little upset and somewhat mystified, as I was also.
'I thought I heard something, woke up and there was some guy in the front of our tent. Jim was sleeping next to me, I woke him and the guy started running down the beach. Our huge duffel bag is gone.'
"Is everybody alright?"
'Yes, but that scared the hell out us. My heart is going crazy.'
"That is fucking weird. [The green tent, far left, in the above photo was the tent]
I can't say I immediately sprang into action, it helped to know no one was harmed or threatened, but my adrenalin levels started to match my friends, so I grabbed my 8 cell mag, my sawed off fungo bat, stuck a blade in my shorts and started down the beach at a slow lope.
This wasn't a time to do the 'Chuck Norris' thing, but I wasn't going on pursuit unarmed. Double timing it down the moon lite beach with nothing but inescapable ocean on my left and impenetrable jungle on my right It started to dawn on me that this guy probably had a route in mind and I wasn't privy to it. I was more worried that I was to be mistaken for the perpetrator by soldiers that patrol the area looking for drug runners then catching up with the thief. So the 'chase' ended.
"He's long gone. I caught a short glimpse of him, but there is no way to follow anyone on foot in this terrain. What happened?"
"I don't think I was awake for it all but I heard a noise, there was the front of our tent open, and leaning in was some guy. It really was like a dream for a moment till I started yelling at him and Jim in the same breath. It was just so unexpected.'
"Just hang for a bit and relax a little. I'm going to look around a little more."
'Do you think we should notify anyone?'
"Only if you want to ruin the rest of your sleep for the night."
This isn't the first time something like this has happened to me in a campground, in the states or while traveling. On a few other occasions I noticed that the stolen items or even the thief or an accomplice may be nearer then you think. Just because you see someone fleeing in the distance it isn't always an indication that someone else or something isn't still very near to you.
I thought I would look around some more in hopes that he tossed the stolen items he didn't want. About 25 feet away was a large clump of bushes that helps mark the two properties, I shouldered the bat, put on the head lamp and started towards them. After leaving the reflections on the white sand of the beach it looked like you just entered 'grandma's potato cellar,' it was dark. My LED light penetrated the blackness but eerily it brought life to the shadows surrounding that beam, I was totally awake now.
"Come here, over here, I need some help." Just as I rounded the edge of that bush I saw a large dark form secluded beneath the hanging branches.
"This must be yours"
'That's our bag.'
"Shit, how the hell did he get this out of the tent. I didn't know your duffel was this huge."
'Well when I saw him trying to get into our tent that bag was already gone. We keep it off to the side or at the foot of the sleeping bags because it is so large. He must have taken it out, stashed it behind the bush, and came back for something else.'
" That's amazing that he could drag out that enormous bag, without you noticing, then decide to return. I see that it has been unzipped and the top layers have been gone through. I don't see anything missing and nothing is strewn about."
'We didn't have much of value in the bag, clothes mostly, and may some snorkel gear.'
"He had some very large "cojones" to try this. I was thinking just a drunk but now I know this guy is a 'working man.'
After calming down a little and somewhat happy we didn't have a physical confrontation we started trying to figure out the sequence.
"Are you missing anything else?"
'As a matter of fact, yes. I had this small zip case, looks more like a shaving kit to me but it could have looked like a purse or clutch, that's missing. It was at the head of my bag and nothing valuable was in it. But how the hell did he see it and then "fish it out of our tent?'
"I'm not sure about that but I assume after getting the duffel out without being discovered, and then not finding cash or cash producing items, he went back for more. I suppose he brushed against you while reaching for that little "bolsa", you woke up and away he went."
'That freaked us out.'
"Yo tambien."
After a while telling everyone you see at the beach to " never leave your bags unattended or out in the open"gets a little tiresome, even if you are doing it for the right reason. 'I have them right next to me all the time' is the usual response. Or, ' I've traveled a lot and know what to do.'
"Hmmmmmmm"
"Ola, you guys staying here for a while?"
"Just tonight. We have a plane to catch in the morning back to Arizona. This is Jan and I'm Nate."
"I'm Stephen, mucho gusto."
"Any good spots to swim here? It looks a little rocky right in front."
"Up the beach about 200 yards there is bank with a spit of white sand and a mangrove swamp behind it, there is good swimming right in front."
"Hey thanks man, that should do it. We both have been river guides on the Colorado for 15 years so a few rocks don't bother us at all."
"Stop back later, we can share a beer or a few stories."
"Sure thing."
"Stephen"
"How was your swim Jan?"
"Not so good, someone stole our bag. Is there anyway to call the police from here?"
"No problema. Let's get ahold of Juan he will take care of it. What happened?"
"We found that spot, Nate went in for a swim and I stayed with the back-pack. It was the one that had our money, passports, ID's and tickets in it. That was so stupid. We left the rest of the stuff locked in our room and unfortunately we decided these items would be safest with us."
I have experienced this story and heard it a few times before so I knew not all is lost, it can be taken care of but there won't be any recovery, that's for sure.
"We went to the banks in front of the swamp, Nate was in the water, I was with the bag right beside me and all of a sudden a blur grabbed my pack and starting running. Nate came in and tried to follow, but this guy ran into the swamp. I can't believe it happened like that, and to us."
The police actually arrived in a timely fashion but by that time the camp was in motion. No one there was going to miss an opportunity to get the thief that had been roaming the beach for the last week or so. It was like a B movie or maybe even "Keystone Cops." People were looking for something to defend themselves with or to use in the beat down, like a shovel, or machete. Even a few rocks and fold up chairs were tossed into the back of a couple of pickups that volunteered to help look for this guy. A corridor was manned and people were watching at any exit out of the swamp that would lead to freedom. Most of these boys had been in that swamp before, they all had lived in the area for many years so they knew how inaccessable it was.
While walking down the beach to the crime site with the police and Jan I couldn't help but notice the side arm being carried by "el sargento." It was slung on him with a belt that needed about 3 more holes to accommodate a buckle that was holding the weapon well below his waist but still above his knees. It looked like a "38." There was no ammo being carried on the hand stitched and obviously home made bandoleer that was not attached in the middle.. His loosely holstered pistol was bouncing off of his hip with each step we took and I decided to move away a little just in case that thing popped out and went off. As we got close to the area where the theft happened someone shouted, "there he is."
Nate came running up. " I see him back there, behind that large embankment now. Look he sees us. How can he move in there? I don't think he has shoes on? Hey, that's our pack he's carrying."
More people arrived and saw the same thing. But after seeing his position the enthusiasm for the chase then came to a grinding halt, no one from here was going into that swamp and neither were we, or the cops. I looked over to the Sergent, wondering what's next? Then to every ones surprise this officer had a solution. He started to fumble with his buttoned down sweaty shirt pocket, pulled out what I thought was a pen at the time and held it up to the sky either for inspection or a display meant for the fellow in the swamp. I wasn't sure if I was having a "Barney Fife" moment or if that was a pen in his pocket. He then inserted the 'pen' into the revolver and placed it in the firing position.
My weak Spanish never totally revealed to me what his intentions were but I assumed a 'shot across the bow' might have been on his mind. That never did happened, maybe it was just a threat, but it would have been fun to see the look on every ones faces if he did skip one off the slime.
Time went on, maneuver's were made and the chase was abandoned.
"Well not all is lost Nate. I do have beers on ice that was given to me and I can give a ride to the airport or where-ever you want to go, anytime is OK with me."
"Does this happen a lot here."
"Not with quite that much drama, but it is the season.
"Man that guy had some big "cojones."
'Más grande que usted conozca a mis amigos.'
"Bigger then you know, my friends."
No comments:
Post a Comment