We have beeen in a Mexican Caravan for the past four weeks. I have read pros and cons regarding caravans. Let me give you three pros.
After one week of driving the narrow roads of Baja California, one couple was just about to return. Then they destroyed their driver side mirrow with an oncoming semi's mirror. That did it. Our wagonmaster laid out their options. They elected to take the ferry across to mainland Mexico where the roads are wider. The wagonmaster called on his Mexican cellphone and made ferry reservations. He then led them about 100 miles to the ferry port calling out oncoming traffic to them on the CB and assisted in their boarding of the ferry.
A week later we had a 71 year old man collapse in front of his RV. The wagonmaster saw him and rushed to his aid. His wife called the paramedics while he administered CPR. The medics and a doctor arrived in our park within five minutes but they could not revive him. The wagonmaster took care of all of the official paperwork. He then arranged for the cremation of the deceased and through the deceased's insurance arrange the flight reseravations for the wife back to the states and for a driver to return the RV. In the meantime the wagonmaster's wife essentially winterized the RV because it was going to Minnesota. We all bought what food and pesos they had. The tailgunner stayed behind when our caravan departed and took the wife to the closest airport and put her on her airplane.
Our third incident happened yesterday. Fourteen of us went out whale watching in a 26' open boat. Returning to the dock at about 25 knots we hit a huge bouy. We were all thrown forward. I probably had the most minor injuries, just some bruises. My wife got a broken finger and some major bruises. Others had broken bones and one got a slight concussion and a nasty cut on his head. Our wagonmaster met us in the emergency room and took care of all of the paperwork and expenses. He then made arrangements to transport us all from the hospital back to our RV's.
It certainly helped that both the wagonmaster and his wife are retired California Highway Patrol officers and both speak Spanish.
After one week of driving the narrow roads of Baja California, one couple was just about to return. Then they destroyed their driver side mirrow with an oncoming semi's mirror. That did it. Our wagonmaster laid out their options. They elected to take the ferry across to mainland Mexico where the roads are wider. The wagonmaster called on his Mexican cellphone and made ferry reservations. He then led them about 100 miles to the ferry port calling out oncoming traffic to them on the CB and assisted in their boarding of the ferry.
A week later we had a 71 year old man collapse in front of his RV. The wagonmaster saw him and rushed to his aid. His wife called the paramedics while he administered CPR. The medics and a doctor arrived in our park within five minutes but they could not revive him. The wagonmaster took care of all of the official paperwork. He then arranged for the cremation of the deceased and through the deceased's insurance arrange the flight reseravations for the wife back to the states and for a driver to return the RV. In the meantime the wagonmaster's wife essentially winterized the RV because it was going to Minnesota. We all bought what food and pesos they had. The tailgunner stayed behind when our caravan departed and took the wife to the closest airport and put her on her airplane.
Our third incident happened yesterday. Fourteen of us went out whale watching in a 26' open boat. Returning to the dock at about 25 knots we hit a huge bouy. We were all thrown forward. I probably had the most minor injuries, just some bruises. My wife got a broken finger and some major bruises. Others had broken bones and one got a slight concussion and a nasty cut on his head. Our wagonmaster met us in the emergency room and took care of all of the paperwork and expenses. He then made arrangements to transport us all from the hospital back to our RV's.
It certainly helped that both the wagonmaster and his wife are retired California Highway Patrol officers and both speak Spanish.