Don't go camping in Mexico

[JDubDub]

Used to take a couple trips down the length of Baja every year. Camped on beaches on both side of the peninsula. The first few years were great - coming back to the US, and LA in particular, was always more frightening. It was just like any other place - respect the locals and things were great..Then things started to change.

The cartels and their money moved into Baja and it started getting very, very scary in some places. Ex-pats that I knew started getting out or moving closer to Cabo. Even Cozumel and the Yucatán have been infected now. I've been all over México and the rest of Central America, but I don't think I'd go back. So sad - beautiful places and wonderful people.

 

[L84Cabo]

Man that sucks. Growing up/living in San Diego, Baja has been my playground for most of my life. I hate to see stuff like this. I guess it's a small consolation that at least they died doing something that they loved.

At least the authorities seem to know who did it. And in some ways it's a bit of a relief that it wasn't the cartels. There are low life dirtbags in every country you go to and very real dangers just like there are in the states. The difference here, however, is that at least you can be armed and law enforcement is better...hospitals too. The advice about not risking your life over "stuff" applies everywhere. But perhaps they didn't know the dudes were armed until it was too late.

I wish them godspeed and hope the families can find peace.

 

[Nak]

Damn. I love Baja and go there a lot. Of course, i fly over northern Baja and head to Cabo so I can drive to small fishing towns for wind sports. At the rate Northern Baja is getting more dangerous, soon it will be as bad as Portland, Seattle, San Fran and the rest. Yeah, up here I can be legally armed--so far. But at least in Baja the authorities might prosecute the guilty.

 

[gmerkt]

Hey, we ALL have the potentiality of something similar here in our own 'backyard' - but is vacationing in a country known for it's violence still a 'draw' for some?

There is risk in all aspects of life, it's just that some are way more risky (and likely) than others. Realizing this, we can pick and choose the level we wish to accept.

I've travelled a bit in northern Baja Calif. years ago, but things have changed over time and I wouldn't go places now that I've been to then. Those surfers were off the beaten path. In "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," the Old Man tells Fred C. Dobbs, "They'll kill ya for the shoes on your feet." In this case, for the tires on a truck. It's real.

My sister has a condo in Cabo San Lucas and goes there a couple of times a year. I suppose those expat enclaves are about as safe as it gets down there.

 

[Alexx1401]

When I read stuff like this all I can do is shrug. When I was a kid I LOVED going down across for fun. Cheap, and wild. You would no longer get me across that border at gun point. People have to choose to remain really ignorant and work hard at it to not know what has become of that country. Choose to go there anyway? Well sucks to be you when it goes bad.

 

[P7M13]

RIP

 

[Duneblaster]

And don't go camping in downtown Gresham.

 

[Jay Walk]

Ensenada to Cabo, 1,586 miles if you zig zag from coast to coast.
Took us 13 days. Doubtful I will ever go back.

 

[Alexx1401]

Ensenada to Cabo, 1,586 miles if you zig zag from coast to coast.
Took us 13 days. Doubtful I will ever go back.

View attachment 1876795 View attachment 1876799 View attachment 1876804

It is such beautiful country down there. What a damn shame the place has been allowed to turn to crime so badly.

 

[Bobbygun]

You would no longer get me across that border at gun point.

I disagree. That's the ONLY way you would get me across that border.

 

[Stomper]

So, maybe they have the murderers of that poor rancher they found down that well with the three.

As far as going to Mexico….. they already get enough cash wired back via the illegals and the drug/sex-slave trade.

 

[Sharkey]

I have friends that went a couple months ago and had a great time. Got another friend going with 2 guys to celebrate one getting married.

Me, I wouldn't go and I'm Meskin.

 

[WillametteWill]

The murder rate in Mexico is 26.1 per 100,000. In the States, it is 6.4. Oregon's rate is about 4.2. Portland's homicide rate is 14.4 per 100k. The rest of Oregon (subtracting PDX) is at 2.4 per 100,000. (And there are likely more guns in rural Oregon than all of Europe...and the homicide rate is closer to theirs than the rest of the US).

Staying out of trouble is mainly risk assessment. Much of the homicide rate in rural parts is due to incidents between people who know each other (family, DV, "friends...usually involving alcohol and drugs"). Stay out of Oakland, Chicago, Portland, and Mexico and your risk is lower. This is where it pays to be a local as you can identify "the wrong side of the tracks" more easily. Before we moved to Oregon, I told my bride (who was not familiar with the area we lived; I grew up and lived my whole life there) not to go south of the freeway as a general practice. The crime rate in this "bad" area was likely average or even below the national average. Where we lived, it was much lower. Situational Awareness.

Anecdotal stories are just that, one person's experience. Just because a friend went to Mexico, survived, and has a cool tattoo to show for it, does not mean that you will have the same experience. Especially if you are about 11 times more likely to be killed than if you live in most parts of Oregon. Bad things can happen anywhere, but the y generally happen in specific areas. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I went to Mexico when I was in high school once. Once.

 

[Xaevian]

Aren't guns like, illegal there and stuff?

This must be fake news. Just like Mexico having one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Such a peaceful paradise, no way that's true. Just immigrant-phobia racist propaganda.

 

[JRMadrid]

I'll take a weekend of camping in Baja Mexico over a weekend in Chiraq.

I'm more fluent in Spanish than Urbonics.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I won't go to Mexico again after that bachelor party in TJ.

DO TELL BROTHER!!!

 

[Barefootdog]

How many of these bad guys did the Pennsylvania Avenue Bed Wetter encourage to come into the US?

We've had it so easy for so long I don't think we're prepared for what's likely coming to a neighborhood near you.

I will never go back to Mexico. Years ago I dove for a few days out of Cozumel. It was one of the biggest diving operations on Cozumel. Flew to Belize for a few days diving and then back to Cozumel. While I was gone the Mexican Feds raided the diving business headquarters and arrested the owner for drug trafficking.

So I booked a few days diving with another company. These were just the normal two tank morning dive trips. On day 1...as the first dive ended these dopes took off to the location of the second dive while I was still underwater. I surfaced with my camera gear to find the boat had left and me floating above Palancar Reef without a boat in sight. They were too stupid and incompetent to count noses to make sure they weren't leaving anyone behind. The surface interval was also lunch time. Apparently there was an extra balony/tomatoe sandwich left over....then they figured out they had left someone behind. Can't make this stuff up. I did enough stupid stuff myself...I didn't need they guys piling on the stupid. No more Mexico for me. Nope. Never again.

Reparations sent out of the country by illegal aliens should be taxed 50% to fund a border wall and interdiction costs.

 

[Black Dog]

Aren't guns like, illegal there and stuff?

This must be fake news. Just like Mexico having one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Such a peaceful paradise, no way that's true. Just immigrant-phobia racist propaganda.

On the news they said all three were shot in the head. I don't see how that is possible. Gun are illegal to own in Mexico. Oh their anti-gun laws work just as good as ours. I think they need more gun laws too!

 

[Duneblaster]

Restrictive gun laws make it easier for criminals to kill. Imagine if even one of those three had a pistol..