Perspectives of Progreso: An Outsider Looking In

The populations of Progreso, Mexico are comprised of all the elements that you would find in a normal seaside town: there are the fisherman, the swath of restaurants that line the street along the beach, the vendors that line the same street hawking their goods on a daily basis for sometimes 12 hours a day, the locals, some of whom work in town and some who take the 13 peso bus into the larger city of Merida, those who are part of a more seedy element, those who work in the market in a similar manner to those who work along the beach, the children, and one is not to forget the element of the tourist in the town. While many people focus on the local populations I chose to focus on the tourist populations because I am an outsider who views things from a different perspective from others who look at it from the inside out.
Upon first glance it seems as though everything in town is geared toward the tourist, but that is simply because most of the people who come to the town, head to the tourist spot, the beach. I had a friend who came to visit for a few days last week and from the moment she arrived here in Mexico all she wanted to do was go to the beach, but the moment when she arrived there she felt as if she was being accosted by the vendors who would not leave her alone. My response, “What do you expect, you play the tourist well…”, as she replied, “…but I can speak Spanish”. This is a sentiment held by many outsiders who visit, if you can speak the local language then you should be not viewed as an outsider despite the over sized camera, sunglasses, sun hat, and a scent hinged with sun block, all of which speak volumes about where you are from and say, “I love your little trinkets, I need something that feels authentic and native before I go home...maybe a hammock”.

Here is a video of the main strip of Progreso through the eyes of a tourist.

And here is the perspective of Progreso from someone who is not simply just visiting from a Cruise Ship.

When you walk into a restaurant as an outsider you are automatically handed an English menu and are spoken to in English, The question I have from this is, have the vendors always been like this or is it out of necessity from the tourists? The economy of tourism has been a large part of economies as a whole in the Caribbean since the days of steam ships and the first prop planes, but it seems now more than ever before that these economies that have been propped up by tourism have been feeling the woes of the exodus of tourism as the tourists in their own lands have been feeling the crunch of the global economic downturn.

What struck me as odd while wandering the streets of Progreso is that many of the outsiders have created homes there in the styles of places that are not even remotely stylistic of the Caribbean and would be much better suited placed in the Greek Isles.
Even more odd are the prices these houses can cost which in my ramblings I saw prices as low as $65,000 USD and as high as$450,000 USD, and many of these places occupied by people who journeyed all the way to Progreso from as far north as Ontario, Canada in their minivans and SUV’s. Which also made me wonder, are these people looking for an escape from their lives or simply transplanting their lives from their colder abodes to the north?

What is also evident is the stark difference in the populations in a mere two blocks, in which the state goes from an opulent Greco themed paradise to houses made of rusted metal and paint. The further away you get from the beach front estates the more crowded and smaller the houses become along with this also comes a larger amount of pedestrian and auto traffic as you move into the areas that have a higher local rather than foreign population. Even here it is amazing to see the differences as the houses yet again change style as you begin to move outside of the area further away from the beach on foot into a zone that is completely rural within 20 minutes on foot.
Within 45 minutes on foot you are in a world that is completely unrecognizable to the hustle and bustle of the beachfront and the main strip where the locals drive abnormally slow even when there are no people on the beach front creating a cacophony of noise with six or seven different types of music playing in every different type of vehicle you can imagine.

Moving away from the city you can arrive at El Corchito, a relatively modern idea in the town of Progreso aimed at taking hold of an “eco-tourist” footing in the Yucatan region in which you can swim in “cenotes” and watch crocodiles and various other animals in a habitiat that is geared toward connecting people with a more pristine environment. I believe that in the next 15 years there are going to be many more reserves like this one appearing to attract those who wish to view a pristine life, but what is interesting is that this journey on foot takes you through a path that is anything but that, and is littered with what is a great deal of garbage, continuing the idea that there is a double life of the city, and a double expectation, one for the tourists and one that is not for the tourists, in which many of the tourists do not even care to see.

A video of El Corchito

Progreso, like many seaside towns can be enchanting and drag you in with its allure, but be mindful that there is more to a town than what you chose to see. Next time you walk down the road and see the road that looks less traveled, travel it, it will probably lead you to an experience that is different yet equally as exhilarating and probably offer a richer experience than the beach side hotel and beer.