If you are a camper and you enjoy a challenge, camping in Mexico could be just the challenge you are looking for. It is a country of mystery and intrigue, but is you have never camped before, leave visiting Mexico until you have a little experience. The last thing you need when on a camping vacation, is to find yourself in the Chihuahuan Desert, believing you can stop at the next Chevron for bottled water, it aint going to happen. The only thing you may find is a muddy puddle, or a Gila Monster if you are lucky.
Planning is essential, and the trip to successful camping is to take everything you need, but not too much! Because regardless of how careful your planning you have to be adventurous, because and incident free trip is rare.
The most fantastic camping opportunities are likely to appear out of nowhere, and this is the beauty of camping. Memories are made of this, but be aware that you have to have a lot of nerve to pull it off, Mexico is not for shrinking violets, so if you are made of sterner stuff, you will be just fine.
You have to be prepared to camp and dress for any conditions, and one night you could be in the searing dessert and the next in snowy, pine forested mountains. One good thing is that dessert night conditions are cold, so you will have clothing for both these eventualities. You may even experience tropical storms!
Flexibility is key to your enjoyment of this experience, unpredictability has to embraced, and carefully laid plans, change at the very last minute. Because of the extremes, even the best lad plans go astray and you have to be able to adapt to this.
Use camping checklists, you will find these online, they will help you ensure you have everything you need in its most compact form. Shop for your luxuries in the US, while shopping in unfamiliar stores in unfamiliar Mexican towns is fun, if you are a woman and you want a Hershey bar now, you will be in for a long wait. Nachos can never replace your favorite chocolate bar.
Never drink tap water, unless you have boiled it or purified it, bottled water is always the safest. Camping with dysentery is no fun; take it from me, the idiot who ate fresh oysters from Brazilian waters. We all have to do our bit to protect the environment. Make sure you take toilet paper that is biodegradable.
Make sure you have an emergency medical kit, you need it to be compact, yet comprehensive, find a checklist for this online too. You never know when something as small as a headache will happen, or an emergency like your husband sliding down an arroyo and grazing his hands and knees, and giving you a headache.
