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Manitoba couple has vacation from hell
Topic Started: Mar 2 2010, 09:46 AM (42 Views)
xray
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March 1, 2010

Posted Image
Petersfield residents Tia (left) and Paul Carey
were robbed at gunpoint while on vacation in Mexico
last week. (BRIAN DONOGH, Winnipeg Sun)


Manitoba couple has vacation from hell

By CHRIS KITCHING, QMI Agency

What was supposed to be a week-long anniversary celebration dissolved into a vacation from hell when a Manitoba couple and other tourists were robbed at gunpoint in Mexico.

For several terrifying minutes, Paul and Tia Carey didn’t know if they would survive the ordeal, which occurred during a horseback riding tour near Puerto Vallarta, a Pacific Ocean resort city, on Feb. 23.

Two men, one armed with a “machine gun” and the other a large knife, held two dozen tourists — including young kids — for 30 minutes, stealing cash, digital cameras and jewelry, Paul Carey said.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” he said Monday. “I’m proud and happy to be Canadian. I’ll be staying on this soil for a little while because I’m safe here.”

Unscathed and back at their Petersfield-area home north of Winnipeg, the Careys are questioning the safety of tourists in Mexico and warning others who plan to venture there.

“The message we have for them is to be aware and be careful,” Paul Carey said.

The couple suggests people leave expensive belongings at home, hide signs of affluence and carry small amounts of cash.

The Careys are frequent visitors to Mexico and had no previous problems, but say they have no plans to return.

Paul Carey said the group was returning to a ranch from a waterfall when it was intercepted in a secluded area by the armed men, who ordered a guide on to the ground and shouted mostly in Spanish.

“One kept yelling, ‘No move, no problem,’ ” he said.

The robbery occurred on a narrow path on the edge of a cliff. The group’s horses were spooked and the Careys feared they would plunge to the rocky bottom.

Paul Carey said the men were upset because he didn’t have anything to give them.

That’s when one pulled out a knife and smacked his horse with a bag containing the stolen belongings, he said.

Eventually the group was freed. The tourists were ordered off their horses, which were set loose, and told to walk back to the waterfall and wait an hour before making the 75-minute walk back to the ranch through the jungle, rocky terrain and rushing streams, the Careys said.

At the ranch, no one seemed concerned and refunds were refused, they said.

Police officers weren’t taking the matter seriously, the couple said.

Paul Carey said ranch staff told him several robberies have occurred.

A second group was waiting to depart but the couple’s group warned of the robbery.

“They refused to go,” Tia Carey said.

The hold-up seemed well planned, said Paul Carey, who fears it may have been an inside job, given the tales of corruption and poverty in Mexico.

The owner of Rancho Capomo Ecological Excursions couldn’t be reached for comment.
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I do believe Mexico continues to be one of the most popular holiday destinations for Canadians. AND it continues to amaze me! Duh..

I like to feel somewhat safe when I go on holiday, especially to a foreign country. With the way things are in Mexico (and it's not likely to get better anytime soon), I will never spend a nickel on a holiday there.


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Beancounter

On a cruise in 2003 we had visited Cozumel with no problems.
Fast forward to 2009.

In January 2009 we did the Panama Canal cruise, with several stops in Mexico.
Knowing about the Ianeiro's and few others I was a bit apprehensive about booking shore excursions. On the other hand I figured that tour companies associated with the cruise line would probably be OK. So we booked shore excursions at Cabo San Lucas, (Fabulous!) and Acapulco, where we saw the cliff divers. (Unbelievable but they did it)

Would we travel with our motor home in Mexico? NO WAY.
Would we book shore excursions on a cruise? (Nov '10, already booked) Yes.
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xray
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The stories keep coming in.....

_________________________________________________________________________________

March 6, 2010

Canadian shot vacationing in Mexico

By KATIE SCHNEIDER, QMI Agency

CALGARY -- Vacationing with his wife at an RV park in Mexico turned into a frightening ordeal for a Calgary man who was shot when two attackers tried to force their way into the couple’s motorhome.

And now Sharon Guay, 53, is calling her husband Yves, 52, who is recovering in hospital, her hero for saving her life Thursday when the terrifying attack unfolded at the park in Mazatlan they have enjoyed vacationing for six years.

Sharon was turning off the lights in the motorhome after finishing watching TV about 11 p.m. when she heard a knock on the door.

Thinking it was her neighbour who needed help, she woke up her husband, peered through the window and saw what they believed were policeman outside.

“I saw two men dressed in dark coveralls and they had a crest on their chest and one started waving at him,” Sharon said from Mazatlan.

“They kind of looked like police, so he opened the door and as soon as he opened the door the first guy screamed.

“I thought it was Yves screaming, like he had been stabbed.”

Then as the man tried to force his way in, Yves jumped him and both fell to the ground outside the RV.

But even as the second man pointed a gun at his head, Yves lunged at him, too, and at that moment was shot in the right leg.

“I was in the motorhome screaming because I didn’t know if he was dead or alive,” Sharon said.

She started honking the vehicle’s horn for help until a neighbour arrived.

Now as her husband recovers from surgery, Sharon credits her husband for preventing the dangerous situation from escalating.

“If he hadn’t had jumped them, they would have shot us both,” she said.

“He saved my life — he is so brave.”

She is also left wondering why the couple, who have been married 28 years, were targeted in what officials called an attempted robbery.

She said she can hardy wait to leave Mexico and may never go back.

“It was so terrifying I don’t want to come back right now,” she said.

Meantime, the Public Security Agency and state Ministry of Tourism extended their deepest regrets to the Guays and their family and Mazatlan’s State Attorney has appointed a special prosecutor to the case.
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Beans, I know you feel safe on your excursions there (as many others do as well), and I hope you continue to enjoy your holidays there.

As for my wife and I... we'll choose other destinations to visit.

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Beancounter

Yes, we have taken shore excursions when we are in Mexican port cities with a cruise ship. To be exact: Cozumel (an island), plus Cabo San Lucas and Acapulco on the Baha peninsula. That is with a group, in daylight, to tourist attractions.

This was at night, at an RV park. Rest assured we would not go there with our motor home! A couple of years ago, at one of our RoadTrek rallies, a couple we know quite well, told the whole crowd about their camping trips in Mexico. After I told them: "We enjoyed your lecture, but you have convinced us not venture South of the U.S. border with our RoadTrek." Actually, I am going to clip and paste your story and send it to them.
Edited by Beancounter, Mar 7 2010, 02:52 PM.
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xray
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Beancounter
Mar 7 2010, 02:48 PM
" Actually, I am going to clip and paste your story and send it to them.
Let us know if you hear back from them. I'll be amazed if they take it seriously.
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Beancounter

They thanked me for their concern for them. And they did not go to Mexico this year because the husband had a knee operation in January.
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