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telcoman

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About telcoman

  • Birthday 07/05/1949

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  1. If you are at the san carlos rally and want to see the total solar eclipse after, there are options. At least 2 escapees are signed up who will be staying behind in San Carlos after to tag onto one of 3 Total Solar Eclipse caravans run by Caravanas de Mexico which occurs April 8th in either Mazatlan or Durango. There is still room on these. One will be 15 days (from San Carlos, one 17 days and one 22 days. The last one includes a tour of Copper Canyon northbound. One group will be at Totonaka RV Park in San Carlos april 1, the other April 2. This is the most significant eclipse for most of our lifetimes, the next one occurs in 2024 in North America. It is 4.5 minutes long and the chance of clear skies in Mexico is around 80% compared to less than 50% in Texas. There will be a professor of physics and avid eclipse chaser along. If it interest you, send me a Private Message. They will likely be full by Fall. If you choose the Durango option you will travel over on the continents most spectacular highways. There will be some included meals and tours in the Mazatlan area. One thing to keep in mid is that you will have to get a permit for your rig at Km 21 south of Nogales at the same time you get your tourist card for the rally. I can supply details on that. If the rally is using the Lukeville crossing, same thing about 20 km south.
  2. It has been an issue but we do not have any issues with caravans. it is a Mexican based company and has some pull. The situation is the SAT, the organization that sets the rules puts the limit at 7710 lbs cargo capacity, which Banjercito the organization that enforces it, interprets as GVWR, which it is not. We can solve that with the intervention of an Aduana (customs agent) who can look at the rig, determine it is recreational, and issue an exemption. Sure you can stay down but you would still have to pay for the cheapest package which is a 16 day tour. That is because the company has gone to all the trouble to reserve space for that eclipse, which as you can imagine will be at a premium. If you want to spend more time, I would suggest looking at the Copper Canyon trip with extension.. It leaves in mid January, does Copper Canyon, then mazatlan and then you pay a one time surcharge (to cover the wagon master) and go a few days south to Melaque (full service park with pool in a great town) which is 5 hours south of Puerto Vallarta for a long stay. You pay your own RV park from then on. You can head off from there at any time you want to explore if you wish. (That park charges $600 a month, I make reservations). It may use Boca Beach for part of time. It then makes its way to Durango for the eclipse and then out of Mexico quickly thereafter. (April 11 or 12) The $700 surcharge covers the wagon master getting you to Melaque then Durango then out of Mexico and also includes 2 tours of Zacatecas and Durango on the way north to the eclipse. My guess based on this year is that that one is going to be popular. 12 rigs max. I have attached a photo of the RV park in Melaque. You can also read a magazine article I wrote on it a few years back at https://mexicocaravan.com/blog1l.html.
  3. I am a Wagon Master for Caravanas de Mexico. They are running several trips to take in this eclipse, including 2 Airstream. I am leading one of them myself. Several are close to being full . It will be total in Mazatlan and Durango. Almost 5 minutes of totality.
  4. certainly forums are being replaced by Facebook. Sad.
  5. I was president of the north American Truck Campers Association and it too declined in membership. I am wondering if the rise of social media has a role to play. A shift in how people get their socialization. A bad one, IMO.
  6. I have led many RV caravans in Mexico, There are a lot of speed bumps on the highways there. I have seen 2 cases of cracks in Lippert frames. With the low labor costs down there, we had new weld jobs done on them both along with more reinforcing at all the weld points. There is no doubt in my mind they are a problem. That is why I bought an Arctic Fox, because they do theiri own frames.
  7. Caravanas de Mexico is running a Nov-Dec RV Caravan down Baja that so far is undersubscribed. They are offering a $500 discount to Escapee members to try and get a couple more to make it break even. It runs Nov 11 to Dec 15 from Tecate to Mexicali and includes 11 tours and 15 meals and on tour Spanish lessons. If it interests you send me a message and I will provide details. Fuel in Mexico is cheaper than in the US. I have been a wagon master for this company in the past
  8. Interpretation of any stats is always flexible to a degree since they always contain many variable factors, any statistician will tell you that. They can show the trend, but there is always a factor of interpretation in there.
  9. Each to his own, but in reality you are in just as much, if not more, danger in the US these days and statistically people who are armed actually get shot more.https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17922-carrying-a-gun-increases-risk-of-getting-shot-and-killed/
  10. Both Canadians and americans. There are at least 1000 between Chapala and San Miguel Allende. More large clusters in Puerto Vallarta and the Yucatan There are several hundred expats in Melaque / Barra Navidad, a small town just north of Manzanillo where I live, both American and Canadian. I would estimate close to 500 actually, about 1/2 of them 6 month residents. The facebook page "Expats in Mexico" has 120 thousand members. On top of that there are 1000's of seasonals, many with Mexican resident status. I am one of those. My reason is medical, I have to spend 5 months a year in Canada to keep Canadian medical. I rely on Mexican medicare down there and belong to skymed so I can be flown home if needed. Mexican free medicare is crappy, but its free if you are a resident, and you can sign up for the higher level IMSS for about a grand a year. It helps to speak Spanish. A lot of people are taking out Mexican resident status. I have been assisting many of them at the small INM office in Melaque, since I am now very familiar with the procedure, in fact I teach a course on it in Canada in summer. They process at least 10 a day in Melaque in Nov-Mar. Appointments at both US and Canadian consulates to start the process, are months out. As far as RV parks are concerned there are over 500 in the country. Many last year were full from Jan to March, especially those on the west coast. During covid they were pretty empty, but it is bouncing back. The one down the street from my place in Melaque was 100% full in Jan-Feb. Mind you it s a pretty nice park. Pool, 30 amp $600 a month
  11. I get very tired of all the misinformation about mexico. 1000's of Americans and Candians are choosing to retire there and most will tell you they feel a lot safer there than they felt at home. I am guessing over 1000 US and Canadians RV down there, judging by how full RV Parks are. I took out legal residency myself as i am considering Mexico for assisted living options once I get to that stage. Regardless I have spent at least 1/2 year down there for almost 15 years and never had a problem. I have covered almost every corner of the country in my RV and have led several RV Caravans there. It is like the 50's, stop on the side of the road for a break and you have Mexicans stopping to ask if you need help all the time. I was within a block of the Gaby Giffords shooting, close enough to hear it. An acquaintance of mine spent over a year in a wheelchair after being injured in the LAs Vegas shooting. I can understand peoples fears, but look at the mirror in your own country. You are certainly not safe.
  12. Sure, just like i would not put my kids into a US school, attend a country music concert (a friend of mine is now in wheelchair after that one) , go to a movie theatre and risk a Walmart in Texas. The fact of the matter is you are at some risk anywhere, but I feel safe enough in Mexico I actually became a legal resident. At least most people down there do not have guns, Cartels do, but if you leave them alone they leave you alone. Guns are not the main cause of deaths among children like they now are in the US. I have nothing against them per se, but the US is an armed camp and you are risk every time you go to grocery store and your kids are certainly at risk going to school. That sort of thing does happen elsewhere, even Canada, where I live 5 months a year or the UK or New Zealand or Australia, but it is rare. Mass killings are now a daily occurrence in the US. They don't even make the news anymore unless its a big one, they are so common. I am on my guard every minute i spend in the US these days.
  13. someone likely stole the rv and took it across the border, nobody in their right mind would go into Juarez, Nowhere to camp there. It is generally a lot safer in mexico than in the US these days with all the mass shootings. At least in Mexico they tend to be targeted and have a reason behind them rather than the random stuff in the US. However, some spots are no go and Juarez is one of them. Cross at Nogales, Tecate, Eagle pass or Colombia bridge and get 100 miles south of the border. I spend 6 months a year in melaque near Manzanillo. Been RVing down there for 15 years without an incident or hint of one. I definitely feel safer than in the US, these days with its out of control gun violence.
  14. one of the couples on our recent Yuctan caravan stopped in Puerto Penasco (rocky point) and had it down. message me if you want their email
  15. We run RV caravans to Mexico. (www.mexicocaravans.com) We decided to suspend them this season. Hospitals are under stress for starters. We are resuming next November when hopefully this will have at least receded to a low level. I have 4 Mexican friends who have died of Covid. Arkieguide you say you led caravans, we are on the lookout for new wagon masters.
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