With South Africa playing Mexico in their first game at the FIFA World Cup this year, considering an extended trip to the Aztec Empire is worthwhile, reckons Clifford Roberts.
Image from the June – July 2026 print edition of GETAWAY.
Our guide, Roberto Mahel, had hunched over, straining to look past the bus driver at the gravel track ahead, which was overgrown with bushes. ‘It’s going to get bumpy. We call it the Mexican kidnap experience,’ he quipped. The back of the bus emitted a few uncomfortable guffaws. Marketing brochures call it ‘the Riviera’, but it was still Mexico.
His dark sense of humour reminded me of ours in South Africa. I’d come to the federal republic’s west coast for a taste of its food, but also its people, art and culture, and had just devoured Barbara Kingsolver’s 2009 novel, The Lacuna.
She writes, ‘Mexico admits you through an arched stone orifice into the tree-filled courtyard of its heart, where a dog pisses against a wall, and a waiter hustles through a curtain of jasmine to bring a bowl of tortilla soup, steaming with cilantro and lime. Cats stalk lizards among the clay pots around the fountain, doves settle into the flowering vines and coo their prayers, thankful for the existence of lizards. The potted plants silently exhale, outgrowing their clay pots. Like Mexico’s children, they stand pinched and patient in last year’s too-small shoes.’
My first introduction to the country had come early, my mind full of characters from the countless Westerns of my youth. Something woke me pre-dawn as our ship floated gently into its berth at Puerto Vallarta. I sat on the balcony, watching the orange glow of sunrise slowly swell to extinguish the lights of streetlamps, cars and the homes of other early-morning risers. The musky warmth signalled our tropical location, along with curious Frigatebirds that swooped overhead, and the way the dense green of the surrounding hills bled into the town.
Now, Roberto was taking me into this lushness, down that potholed road for a lesson in quintessential Mexican sauce. ‘The salsa scale of heat goes from one, which is basically ketchup, to 10 or take-me-to-hospital-hot,’ he boomed. He inexplicably wore a velvet Santa cap, which, somehow, given that tequila tasting was on the cards for later in the day, seemed appropriate for the mood. It’s not hard to see the attraction of the coastal settlements of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, a little further north, and Cabo San Lucas, the town that arose from its popularity with tourists and expats.
Little shops selling colourful trinkets, hats and seaside holiday paraphernalia abound in the eclectic margin beyond a still ocean, palm trees and long, sandy beaches. Characterising the cobbled streets of old Mazatlán is Franco-Spanish Mexican architecture housing nightclubs, cafes, bars, and restaurants that serve tourist staples like tacos, tequila and Cerveza Pacífico Clara. Catholicism being the dominant denomination, colonial-era churches are among the attractions, surrounded by shoe-polishers and juice stands on shaded town squares. Almost ubiquitous are colourful flags and decorations – an apparent antidote in these parts to evil spirits.
Getting away to the countryside provided me with a glimpse of a more authentic Mexico. The heat and scrub and hamlets with their farm animals and beaten sedans and bakkies reminded me of parts of Limpopo. In a roadside quarry outside Malpica, under a blistering sun, I met brickmakers Hugo Gonzales and his 87-year-old father, also named Hugo, who fashion each block by hand out of sand, cow manure, sawdust and water and bake it in a small oven.
‘When I was little, my father used to give me a lift on his bike on his way to work,’ Hugo Jr. said. ‘Now it’s my turn.’ Hugo Sr. was diagnosed with cancer some time back, but he didn’t want to stay at home, his son told me. ‘So now we’re back together making bricks.’
Similar encounters followed: a tile-maker working in a shed behind his house, using a press technique that the Spanish brought with them in the 16th century; and similarly, a bakery with a small courtyard loomed over by its bulbous wood-fire oven, which reminded me of the slug-like Jabba the Hutt of Star Wars fame.
I was grateful for the cool, dark interior of our lunch stop in the older part of Concordia town, at the historic El Granero. The restaurant has been in operation since 1881 – the same year, as Wikipedia informs me, the Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight took place in El Paso, Texas. What a time to be alive! My soda water arrived with a side of salt and lime. The suero (serum) is a popular refresher, and I needed it.
Days later, in Cabo San Lucas, I was suddenly missing that drink. My speeding UTV was spewing beach sand that got past my bandana and into my mouth. Cabo, as the locals know it, sits at the tip of the sliver of land extending southwards from Tijuana, forming the Gulf of California. For all the experiences, it’s a train station of activity that bleeds into the harbour, throttled by yachts and charter boats.
Back on deck, I chose to order a margarita for old times’ sake. Ultimately, I found that Mexico – like any place – is far more than the sum of its postcards. Stop at what you think you know about the place, and you only scratch the surface. It is in the quiet, dusty plazas of its small towns, the layered complexities of a regional mole (a traditional sauce), and the warmth of its people that the country truly opens up.
Getting There
Puerta Vallarta is a popular stop for cruise lines, including Norwegian Cruise Line, which offers a seven-day cruise from Los Angeles. Visitors commonly get to Puerto Vallarta by flying to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, which is served by international airlines. At the time of print, South Africans require a visa to enter Mexico. Holders of a US visa are exempt.
Good to Know
Mexico has a thriving tourism industry. For the best experiences, avoid shopping or dining on the high street. The exchange rate between the Mexican peso and South African rand, at the time of print, was virtually one-to-one. As with South Africa and many other countries, Mexico has its challenges. Familiarise yourself with which areas are safe to visit before you go, or use a guide. For information, visit visitmexico.com.
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