Semana Santa has Arrived

Semana Santa has arrived. As promised, the crowds began arriving on Thursday. It seems to be a cross between young adults on spring break, and families who are in town for a four day weekend at the beach. It's Saturday morning now, and yes the traffic is heavy and there's tons of folks in town, but it's not as big as I had been hearing for weeks.

The road construction is temporarily complete enough to eliminate detours and open all four lanes of traffic instead of just two. I’ve already had one experience of a local not realizing the new road was open, and coming at me the wrong way - head-on - in what only the day before was the right direction. Yikes! The road will be a closed again after Easter, to properly complete the repairs. But now that it’s open, I have become aware of other beaches that we couldn’t access before. They’re quite obvious this weekend as hundreds of people camp out at each site.

It’s all good fun to a large extent. The driving and traffic is kind of nuts. People driving small scooters and ATVs (all terrain vehicles) that have neither roll bar, helmet or seatbelts drive like crazy through town, sometimes with toddlers and/or beer in their lap. They zip through traffic, pass on the right and seem to come out of nowhere.


Pedestrians, including children, just run out into the street, or are invisible right behind you when you're trying to back out of a parking lot. For that reason, I plan to "do" Semana Santa on foot today. Frankly I need the the exercise anyway. I've been sort of inexplicably exhausted lately and can't seem to get enough rest. Maybe a brisk walk will be just the pick up I need!

The main thoroughfare is lined with hundreds of 10x10’ pop-up tent like structures. About a third are outdoor fast food stands – fish tacos, chili, things like that. A few are selling arts and crafts, jewelry and clothing. The rest are devoted strictly to the sale of beer, usually with a porta-potty or two next to the beerstand.


The back of pickup trucks are loaded with young and old alike, driving along drinking their beer, screaming and shouting, cruising and carrying on.


There are perhaps a dozen people outside the small Catholic Church preparing to celebrate Good Friday Mass. They have to battle to keep the partiers out of their parking lot and clear for church goers.



Many of the regular business – like the hardware store, retail stores, the gym, etc. – close for four days. They put iron gates on their doors and windows. They bring in temporary chain link fences for their parking lots and hire guards to keep people off of their property. The businesses that do remain open, like small grocery stores, have extra police security standing by.

Ambulances from as far away as Guaymas are strategically parked on the beaches and throughout town. Extra police from Guaymas stroll the town as well.


Bored paramedics sit around waiting for their services to inevitably be needed. In fact all during the night I would hear the faint sound of sirens heading towards the direction of Guaymas. I don't know if is was police or ambulance. But it's a sound you don't usually hear around here.


The music and hootin’ and hollarin’ can be heard everywhere. I’ll probably walk down the main drag today to see what I can see and take pictures. I suspect today will be the pinnacle of the party. I hope to take lots of photos, but I'm having trouble finding decent AA batteries. I finally found some reasonably priced yesterday. An off brand - Astrocell - they died after 7 pictures.

II’m going to give my car a rest until Sunday evening when the crowds will mostly be gone. I'll walk everywhere. Then Frances can go to the beach again.

Speaking of Frances, her spirits have perked up since the Guaymas trip, but here digestive system is really out of sorts - more than it's been - EVER. She is eating nothing out of the ordinary. Not sure what's going on. Will go the the vet Monday if it doesn't improve.

I wonder who is playing solo trombone down at the beach?