Rincon de Québéc

A week ago, we moved from The Beach to The Town and into Don Beto's place. Don Beto runs a "bungalow" complex and it is filled with snowbirds from Quebec. We knew it from the fleur-de-lis banner waving from a second floor window. Canadians love their Maple Leaf flag and proudly fly it wherever they are staying, but the Québécois invariably favor their Province's fleur-de-lis. Maybe it's a welcome mat for other Francophone visitors. Or maybe it's a warning to Anglophones.

We didn't care. The price was right and we just needed a place for our last week in Mexico.

For me, it became a chance to bludgeon these poor Canadians with my terrible high school French. For the Canadians, we provided hours of entertainment (and head-scratching.) And it turned into something of an adventure for us all.

Doin' the Crocodile Rock

Okay, so it's buggy. My legs are pockmarked from weeks of mosquito bites. (No, I don't like pesticides and cannot stand putting them on my skin. And my citronella oil does not seem to be very effective.) Am I a weirdo for thinking that this is a small price to pay for fireflies at night?

In the Big Town -- as we've been calling our former home base (a small but growing fishing village/winter hangout for norteamericanos) -- they spray the canals and swampy areas to eliminate mozzies, but here, the mangrove swamp is a protected habitat for crocs and herons and bright red tree crabs.

These crocs look like something out of Jurassic Park.

Hello daaaaahling...

 Sometimes they break through the chainlink fence and come out onto the beach.

Never underestimate the speed at which a croc can move!

Pet owners, beware!

And when they are feeling particularly aggressive, they make the most amazing sound.

"I thought there was a weedwacker being used somewhere!" I marveled.

"You are so removed from nature," Big Dog laughed, reminding me of the Rattlesnake Incident.

"What do you expect? I've only lived in cities until a few years ago!"

Well, for all you other City Folk, let me present our Croc Video. Shot by Big Dog and quickly slapped together by moi. Be sure you have the volume turned up.