As things slowly return to some kind of normality after Hurricane Dean tore it’s way through Mexico I received an email from an acquaintance I met in Bacalar. We only spent a brief time in each others company but we had quite a lot in common and talked non stop, mainly about our one main love . . . food.
Bob a.k.a ‘the barefoot chef’ is whipping up quite a reputation in the Bacalar region where he resides. He provides meals for hotels in the area catering for the tourist palate, especially those on the South Beach diet.
Luckily Bob and his homestead survived the raging winds and it appears that Casita Carolina, the little hotel next door, where we rented one of the palapa cabanas in the grounds, came off a little better than was first expected.

Bob writes:

Sorry that I have not written sooner. We have been a little busy as you can imagine and the internet service is still limited, which is why I am bundling this Email….
As you probably know by now, everyone surrvived…..That´s the good news. The not good news is that about 1000 families lost their homes ( mostly in the barrios across the hiway )
Caroline´s hotel made it through with only the loss of 3 palapa roofs and the little palapa in Frank´s side was pretty much leveled when a couple of palm trees came down on it….Almost all of the trees on her property were destroyed…..
Things are just now starting to get back to normal. The electric and water came back on a few days ago, cell phones are working again and most of the stores have re opened….The huge clean up continues.
Hats off to the Mexican authorities. They were mobilized within 3 hours of the storm passing.Crews of electric workers and crews with chain saws to open the main streets and roads. Water trucks and helicopters with food arrived shortly after
SPEAKING OF FOOD……….
After a couple of days without electricity my fridge of course started to unthaw and I had to use up the stuff….So a new recipe was born.

BOB´S HURRICANE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
The contents of 1 slightly thawed fridge
( include meats, veggies, and the unmarked container
that is either stewed tomatoes or maybe spaghetti sauce)

Water

Your choice of whatever herbs, spices and condiments surrvived

METHOD:
Slice, dice, chop or julienne all the stuff
( Be creative with this step )
Place all the stuff in a big pot. Add water to just cover stuff
Add salt, pepper and what ever else that that seems like a good idea.
Simmer untill done.
Adjust seasonings and serve

TO SERVE:
Ladle into bowls, clean plastic yogurt containers or whatever else you can find
Serve to hungry people passing by…

Love ya all,
Be in touch
The Barefoot Chef

Hi Everyone,
I thought I’d give you a quick update after Hurricane Dean. Please share this with any other family or friends you know may be concerned about our safety.
Bacalar took the brunt of the Category 5 hurricane early Tues. morning (1-7 a.m. was the most dramatic). It was a long night but our town survived 180 mile an hour winds and gusts somewhere around 200 mph. We lost no lives in any of the communities nearby and there was only 1 death related to the storm in Southern Quintana Roo.
We feel very fortunate to have a house, food and drinking water. Our town is devastated, there are 1,000 families without homes, and we are all pitching in to do what we can for our community of 10,000. In the surrounding towns there are many, many homeless people due to the lightweight construction of their houses – most had lamina or grass roofs and stick type walls (palapas). The beach town of Majahual was wiped out due to ocean tides, am waiting for reports from the beach area of Xcalack.
The Mexican govt. is wonderfully responsive in these situations. Although we may not have power for another 5 days, they are already rebuilding houses, bringing food and water to the neighborhoods, we have every bit of support they have at their disposal.

Well folks, there you have it. It was a WILD RIDE…..
Hugs,

This was a message from our friend in Bacalar, but she is also asking us to send clothing, blankets etc and MONEY to help re build. Many of the people do not have our advantages, help if you can please. thanks.

You can send money directly to Bacalar, send me an e mail and I can let you have the email address in Bacalar to send the money to via paypal…..also we have an address to send clothing and blankets etc
The area was hit very hard . 1000 homes were flattened.
PLEASE HELP

mselainehunter@yahoo.ca

Elaine Hunter

As the clean-up begins in Mexico after hurricane Dean’s unwelcome visit, Casita Carolina, a picturesque little hotel on the edge of laguna Bacalar is counting the cost.

Although downgraded to category 1 by the time it came inland, Hurricane Dean managed to wreak havoc along the Yucatan coast earlier this week, affecting many of the places that we enjoyed as we travelled though in May this year.

Following is an excerpt from an email sent just after the event, forwarded to me by a friend that I met at CasitaCarolina when we used the hotel as a base for our visit to the famous Cenote Azul.

Quote:
“We have no electricty or water. Many of the roads are still being cleared.
Franks house is flooded. The skylight blew open and must be close to to two feet of water in there. The front doors also blew out.

The Rustico Palapa has two palm trees on top of it. Most of the trees are down. The one tall palm by the dock is still standing.
The palapas roof was torn away. Lots of rain damage. The casa chica was somewhat flooded and the porch roof is patchy.
The small kayak palapa is gone……The dock stood up mind you leaning to the left a bit.

The internet place is running on generator so only have two hours a day.
Across the road was hit extremly hard.They are saying over two thousand houses are gone. Pedro is telling me they have little food or water but the army is arriving with supplies so should get better.”