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Name: Los Ojos del Loro (The Eyes of the Parrot)

Address: Calle 168, Numero 72, Chuburna Puerto

Introduction:

In my house, make yourself at home! In that spirit I mean relax and enjoy whatever you find in the house. I have worked on collecting many things that you might enjoy in many categories. There are board and card games, beach “stuff”, craft and art supplies, recipes that work in Mexico, various cooking utensils and small gas stove with oven.  

There is an electric, two burner hot plate and toaster oven you can take to the back patio “outdoor kitchen”  or use in the breakfast area in the upstairs bedroom. Cooking in the “outdoor kitchen” keeps the heat out of the house. There are “collections” of pretty linens/table clothes, pillows, art, books, videos and music CDs.

Basic House Info:

The House is two stories. Downstairs there are two rooms, the first being the “Grouper” room for reading/relaxing. (it has a Grouper “fish” in rock paved on the floor). Then you enter the original house. There is a kitchen and bathroom with “dressing” area toward the back of this large room. Upstairs there is a bedroom and full bath with breakfast area.

The back patio has a large tiled sink and tiled shelving for outdoor cooking. The back yard is sand and coconut trees, various plants and is private with walls between the houses next door. There is a privacy fence across the back of the property.

There is a third bathroom (shower and toilet) you enter from the outside. It has a separate key. It is nice for washing sand off after being at the beach. 

Rules and General Notes:

Please lock the doors anytime you go away, even if you are just going next door. 

To lock the two rear doors from the Outside, pull the door closed, put the code in and turn the lock to the left.

Do not put toilet paper/feminine products/or any type of paper products in the toilet. Place in the bathroom waste basket in the plastic (grocery) bags provided and dispose of with the everyday trash. (this is not just my rule, it is the standard for all of Yucatan, restaurant, airport etc.).

No smoking in the house, Absolutely No Drugs at all. There are drug sniffing dogs at the airport and you will invite great trouble if you try to buy them here. Do not rent this house if you are planning to have drugs.

Keep everything as aired out as possible. It being a hot humid climate, air circulation is imperative in order to keep fabric items fresh.

Be Very careful not to tangle the hamacas. It is extremely difficult to untangle one, and they are My beds. Try to leave things better than when you arrived for the next person.

If you run out of something such as toothpaste, dish detergent, shampoo, etc., replace it for the next person.

Don’t drop any food on the floor, be fastidious about cleaning up in the kitchen. Ants find anything very quickly. Place a drop of “Terra” on the floor here and there to keep the ants “occupied and dead”. 

I check my clothes and shoes for scorpions. It is a wise idea. (remember that you have spiders at home where you live)

If you break something, let me know. Most everything is “pretty” but of little real value. Stuff happens and things do break. Replace it if you feel like it or need it, otherwise, don’t worry about it. Make sure you clean the stove well so that it will last. I used vinegar and water sometimes to keep things from rusting as quickly. Rust never sleeps in Yucatan. 

I usually cook in the outdoor kitchen. It is cooler and doesn’t heat up the house. 

There is a very affordable laundry in Chelem called Rubber Ducky. You see it on the right as you drive into Chelem from the house. I wash my “laundry” in the outdoor sink. I use the blue and purple bowls to carry wet clothes to the clothes line. I hang them to dry on the back patio. There are two “clothes lines” with clothes pins. 

There is a freestanding large closet downstairs and a wardrobe upstairs for hanging clothes.

Sleeping:

Hamacas: Be very careful sleeping in them making sure they are hooked in securely. Get in and out gently. You sleep on the diagonal, so you are sleeping flat, for the most part. You can easily sleep on your side in them. You will just have to practice with the sheets/blankets. It is an art to sleep in a hamaca, but it is worth the effort and practice. On a warm night, I pull a chair up beside me and put the sheet/blanket on it so I can reach over and get it if I get chilly. On a cooler night, I wrap the sheet/and or blanket around myself and then lay down.  I sleep with a pillow under my knees. There are a variety of pillows around the place.

There is a Queen sized bed in the upstairs bedroom.

The 2nd bed can be made downstairs by pushing the two “custom made” lounge chairs together to make double bed. There is an assortment of sheets, quilts to use for bed “dressing”. There are 6 inch foam mattresses on the lounges. I have made two “thick comforters” to place on the foam mattresses to make them softer. 

The Mayan People as bilingual. Many are trilingual. They are the sweetest most gracious people I have ever seen.  Please pay them for any services they provide. We are in their country as guests. Mayan is their first language, Spanish second, English third. Do not assume anything. If you meet a Mayan on a bicycle on a dirt road, he may speak 3 languages, have been to the “States” several times and traveled widely and is a very skilled craftsperson. You will be pleasantly surprised with the local population.

Locals travel the beach road selling their “wares”. They yell out what they are selling, play music/instruments etc.  as they walk by. You can purchase propane, newspapers (diario (daily), de Peso (of weight (important news)), and Por Esto, (news for you) Coconut milk/ice cream, pastries/sweets (pasta),  bottled water, (agua). The “free” trash truck comes by on Monday and Thursday. Set the trash out on that morning, not overnight so any dogs will not spread it.

Churches: There are Catholic churches in each pueblo (town). They are always on the town square. You would be welcomed but of course it is in Spanish. There is an English speaking congregation that is technically Presbyterian, but the congregation is comprised with people from Everywhere and sounds very nondenominational. The minister’s name is David and he holds a service for the “expats”. It is in Progreso on 35 between 80 and 82. 

Safety: Police travel the beach road often. They are very helpful but only speak Spanish or “Spanglish” (broken English). 

Don’t leave anything of value in your beach bag on the beach…. Things can be stolen.

Wear the rubber shoes when in the water. I have a variety of sizes at the house (see photos) or you can bring your own. Watch for the row of sticks horizontal to the shore. You can carefully step through them or, if you look, there are many places where the sticks are above the shoreline and you don’t have to cross them. Take care going through them in rougher water. I have never seen any dangerous animals/fish in the water, but that being said, it is a natural habitat and I haven’t “met” all the locals. Th 

To get from the house to the water, you need to use the legal entrances at each entrada (road coming in from the highway). Please refrain from walking through people’s yards to the beach. 

Wifi/Music CDs/Movie DVDs/phone:

The Wifi password is 12345678. There are 2 internet rooms (no coffee, just computers) in Chelem. I like Alex’s. If you are facing the church, turn left and walk straight across the street to Alex’s. The computer room is up a narrow staircase on the 2nd floor. 

To the house, I bring my  laptop with a dvd player and watch movies and listen to music. If you have Netflex or Hulu, you can simply sign in through the Wifi. My smart phone works fine here. Check with your phone plan for any “rates”. Your phone should connect into and use Mexico’s Telcel network. I have bought a Telcel phone with minutes. You could buy an inexpensive phone at a Telcel store and add minutes at any OXXO (drug store) and many other places. You hand the phone to the clerk, tell her the phone number, give her money and she hands the phone back to you with the new minutes on it. 

There is a collection of books, some DVD’s and alot of Music CD’s. If you start a book, and don’t finish it, you are welcome to take it home with you. 

Notes when Arriving and General House Notes:

Locks. There are electronic locks on the 3 outside doors. The two back doors can be OPENED and LOCKED from the outside by putting the code in and twisting the lock. If a lock starts beeping at you differently, the battery may be dying. Use a screwdriver and change the 9V battery. There is usually a spare 9V in the house. You can buy them at the service desk at Bodega Aurrera in Progreso. 

House Electricity is on the wall facing the front of the house. Turn breaker on if necessary (down is on). There are freestanding fans and ceiling fans.

Open the shutters to let breeze in. I like to cover things with the beach shawls to keep them from getting dusty when I leave, so uncover things.  

Water systems: There are two water tanks, one in ground in the back yard (cisterna) and one on the roof (tinaco), The cisterna fills up and a pump sends the water to the roof tank.  It is a gravity system from the tinaco into the kitchen and bathrooms.

Water heater: the water heater should be full and on. There is hot water in the kitchen, back outdoor kitchen and showers. No hot water in the bathroom sink downstairs.

Gas stove/oven: Make sure there are no leaks. To test for leaks, pour soapy water on connection and watch for bubbling.  Light match FIRST, turn eye/oven on while holding flame near eye of oven or stove top. Make sure gas is not leaking anywhere before lighting match.

Toaster Oven and electric stove eyes: You can use these in the upstairs bedroom or on the outside patio “kitchen”.

Toilet: do not put toilet paper/feminine products/or any type of paper products in the toilet. Place in the bathroom waste basket and dispose of with the everyday trash.

Notes when leaving:

Please just try to think that no one may be in the house immediately. Clean out the fridge and give to the neighbors. Make sure dishes are washed and fabric is clean if possible and dry. You can hang things inside the house if you have to. Just string the clothes line across the room tying it to the hamaca hooks. I like to leave the refrigerator/freezer propped open and the electricity off. It just depends on whether anyone is going to be there soon.

Leave the shutters slightly open when you finally leave…. enough to let air circulate, but not enough to see in.

You don’t particularly need to get the floor clean….. it will be dusty in a couple of days anyway!  

You cannot legally drive a rental car into Mexico from the US.

Car Rental and Transportation:

I’m using Mex Car Rental

The bus station in Merida for Progreso is in El Centro on 61. If you are facing away from the front of the big Cathedral, you walk across the park to the other side (61) Turn left and walk down 2 blocks and it is on the left.

If you take the bus from Merida to Progreso, it drops you at the bus station pictured here (the yellow building in the background). You simply walk across the street and ask the drivers of the buses (pictured here) if they go all the way to Chuburna’.  Chelem is not far enough. You need a bus to Chuburna’. They may direct you to the next block to the east for that bus. Ride the bus and ask to get off at the “Bufeo” (Entrada Number 168) and walk down to the house. Or you can take a taxi. 

There are these sweet motorcycle taxis now in Chelem and Chuburna. I would suggest if you don’t rent a car, when you get to Chelem, gather the phone numbers of several of these drivers and call them from the house and they will come out and pick you up and bring to back and forth to Chelem. It works that way for Chuburna too! The house is technically in Chuburna’, but you can pay a motorcycle taxi driver a bit extra and they will transport you. 

Medical Clinics:

Chelem – Next to “The Bullpin” restaurant. A father and son have opened a clinic. Father works mornings, son works after 4. The son speaks some English.

Chuburna’ Puerto – Drive to Chuburna…. You will come to the series of small “road bumps” with two Large speed bumps (topas). That is the school zone. The medical clinic is on the right beyond/beside the school. 

Restaurants:

Closest restaurant: Las Dunas-1 mile on highway toward Chelem. If you eat, you can swim in the pool. (Sort of a public pool). They also have bands and dancing upstairs in a beautiful open air space with a bar. There are two popular “gringo” restaurants in Chelem. Taco Maya and The Bullpin. They are across the street from each other at the West end of the town. Just ask for directions. Very nice people run them. On Sunday mornings gringos like to meet for breakfast.

Yucatan Food to Go will deliver meals Mon/Wed/Fri…. They have vegetarian options, Julie and Ben Tinkey own it. Order by 10AM and let them know what time to deliver. Ben delivers. It is located between Las Dunas and my house. You turn down “Osito” entrada and take the first lane on the left. I believe it is the first house you come to.  Website-Facebook

Driving: I like to Google Drive at home before the trip. (this is what I call practicing driving on Googlearth) If you are driving, I suggest you Google drive everywhere and take notes for yourself. Go to Googlearth, bring yourself down to street view (upper right hand corner … click/turn/look and drive to all your destinations. 

You have to pay extra attention to your driving because of the topas (speed bumps). They are sometimes poorly marked and they are everywhere you drive. Also do not drink anything and drive. There may be a law for “how much” you can drink and still legally drive, but I don’t think so. I think it is zero tolerance, and you don’t want to be finding out the hard way. Best just to have a designated alcohol free driver. Watch your turning always because there are many bikes, motorcycles that use the “pull off the side of the road” lane as another lane of traffic.

Directions to various places:

If you are renting a car, just drive to all the ruins and pueblo sites you want to visit. Watch those topas (speed bumps). If you are going to Merida for the day, you can drive to Progreso, park  and take the bus into Merida for the day. There are free museums and entertainment all over. Progreso has a lovely beach and beach restaurants and it is a fun place to go for the day. Lots of shopping too. A day walking around Chelem or Chuburna is nice. Any pueblo off the road going to and from Merida is fun to visit too. All are safe and have shopping and specialty crafts. 

You can get your first meal in Chelem. Just find a roasted chicken and they will sell it to you with several sides for about $5. Grocery store in Progreso- I usually shop at Aurora Bodega. It is the first store you come to as you enter Progreso. It is on the right past the first gas station. To get to My house from the grocery store, you go straight across the road in front of the grocery store parking lot, and then turn left. Turn right at the small glorieta (traffic circle) and follow the signs to Chelem/Chuburna….. all Westbound roads lead to Chelem and to my house. Hard to get lost if you just keep going West. ( I sometime get to a group of big yellow buildings between Progreso and Chelem, but if you just follow the road around you end up at the Mermaid sculpture and a roundabout and you go right out onto the bridge and around to Chelem..)  Google drive!!! 

My Favorite things to eat:

#1 Fried Fish OMG I live for my deep fried fish.  You can ask to look at your fish. Check for size and to see if the eyes are clear... Indicates freshness. 

#2 Sopa de Lima – Salty, chicken/turkey soup w/ tortillas in it. 

#3 Cochinita Pibil – Spiced Pork Sandwich 

Tidbits:

Leaving Chelem, going to my house, the “incomplete” list of entradas (roads) are Casa Tryee, Villa Casa Blanca, Tortugas, Osito, then Las Dunas Restaurant, one more mile to go … Arrecifes, Chuchos, La Calle del Sol, Araba, Macabi, and then Bufeo….. turn right onto Bufeo 168) and go to end of that road (to the road closest to the beach) turn Right, mine is 2nd house on right. It is White with a Clay colored front and Blue trim.

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