We are Americans and have been living in the border town of Mexicali, the capital of Baja California since 2008. As far as we are concerned, Mexicali is a very peaceful city.

We chose Mexicali because it is next door to the US town of Calexico. It works for us, as we cross the border sometimes twice a month, to check our mail, do our shopping and eat at Denny’s, Golden Corral Restaurant, or Sizzler’s in El Centro.  There is also Imperial Valley Mall just outside of El Centro. There, we get food for our pets and other items. There are all the big box stores in this mall.

Mexicali has a population of over one million. It is a wide-spread city with low-rise buildings. In our earlier postings, we have driven to San Felipe, down to the wine valley, where you can find Mexico’s best wines! We have eaten at a great seafood restaurant in Ensenada, and driven up to Tecate as well, and made more than one trip to Los Algodones.

Mexicali is what we call the city of Healthcare Nirvana! I had my successful Tarlov cyst operation here in Mexicali for a fraction of the price that the US healthcare would charge me. Very soon, Mexicali will be in the process of building a major medical center as the plans are already drawn up

When we decided to live in Mexicali, we selected a great area, just 165 feet from the US border. It’s great for us!

Even though we are safe and secure in Mexicali, the US State Department has listed several Mexican cities not to visit.

These are Ciudad Juarez which is the border town to El Paso, Texas, Tijuana, the border town to San Diego, Nogales, the border town to Nogales, Arizona, Nuevo Laredo, near the city of Laredo Texas.

You do not want to visit the border town of Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

At the moment, drug cartels are fighting for this route of entry into Texas. Jim and I have always said, so long as America has a demand for drugs, Mexican drug cartels are there to supply them—it’s a multibillion dollar business-on both sides of the border.

If you are not into the drug business, then you are fine.

There are over 1.2 million American and Canadian citizens living peaceful lives in Mexico.

Good places to visit are Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Mérida and the Mayan ruins in Yucatan, San Miguel de Allende (which is crawling with Americans) and the colonial cities of Guanajuato, Queretaro, Zacatecas.

Guadalajara is a very large city and growing larger by the minute. Stick to the central city tourist areas and the leafy upscale neighborhoods like the Zona Rosa.

A popular side-trip is past fields of blue agave to the town of Tequila, where tequila distilleries can be visited and the wares sampled from such famous brands as Cuervo and Herradura.

The Oaxaca coast is great, including beautiful, well-developed Huatulco, and the little surfing mecca of Puerto Escondido (a great place).

Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo and the resorts that stretch between them are like a backyard for residents of the southwestern U.S. Thousands of Americans live there.

Mexico City, which is reputed to be dangerous, has a homicide rate of only nine for every 100,000 people, while Washington D.C. had a rate of more than 30 per 100,000-over three times higher.

Still, visitors to Mexico City should exercise the same precautions taken in any of the world’s big cities; sticking to busy, central areas and remaining aware of one’s surroundings. It’s very important to take only radio-issued taxis or taxis from official stands, and never the “libre” (independent) or Volkswagen cabs.

Don’t walk at night except short distances on busy streets. Mexico City is full of museums, art galleries and super restaurants. Most people include a visit nearby to the ruins of Teotihuacan, which are perfectly safe, with a visitor center and organized guides.

But back to Mexicali where we have never seen or experienced any violence in two and a half years of living here.

As far as we are concerned, we are very happy to live in Mexicali on our social security. We have discovered great restaurants to eat, and luckier—Mexican friends in Mexicali!

Jim and I had to run some errands in Calexico, California, and it was also an opportunity to show Matthew the town of Calexico.

We took off, at about noon, and while waiting in line to enter America a huge black  2009 Ford 250 Super Duty truck swerved and cut us off. Jim stepped on the brake to stop from crashing into it, as all three of us were jolted forwards.  Luckily our seatbelts were on.

The black truck had nearly clipped us, and, at the same time, and it nearly crashed into the car filled with kids in front of it.

I was furious!

“I am getting out to tell the driver off,” I told Jim and Matthew.

“MaryAnn, you’re not going to do that! You know that’s dangerous!” said Jim.

Matthew exclaimed, “Listen to Jim, MaryAnn; we don’t want to end up in a Mexican prison, like those two Americans who were shopping in Algodones! I’m not sure Mexicali is safe.”

“Is Mexicali safe?” I repeated. “Listen, that driver almost got us all into a crash! We are at the border crossing to America, what’s the worst that will happen to me for goodness sakes?”  I said.

Before anyone could stop me, I got out of our own truck, much to the protests of Jim and Matthew, and walked up to the fancy expensive black Ford truck.   I knocked on the driver’s window.  The window slid down, and sitting in the truck were two young Latino males, in their mid-twenties, with buzz cuts.

“Que pasó?” said the young driver, meaning “what happened.”

“You almost banged into our truck when you cut into our lane, dangerous, no?” I said.

“What you want lady?  You crazy, man,” said the young driver, as he pressed on the button to close the window.

The people around us were starring at me. No one was honking – all you heard was the humming of car engines.

I knocked on the window again.  The driver refused to roll it down, and gave me no eye-contact at all.

I walked back to our truck.

Both Jim and Matthew were shell-shocked at what I did.

“Get into the truck, MaryAnn,” yelled Jim.

“What did the driver say? I hope he understood that you were concerned about his driving?” said Matthew.

“I know those types. They have buzz cuts to look anonymous, probably down here for no good reason. They might even have a carload of money to take back to the U.S. No way they are going to make any trouble, here,” I said.

Guess what!

In no time, the Mexican police showed up. First, there was a lone motorcycle cop, who went to the back of the line of cars waiting to cross the border. He was stopping to talk to each driver, after which some of them left the line. Jim, Matthew, and I were mystified as to what the cop was saying.

Next, two police squad cars with lights and sirens came racing up the road.

What was going on?

This was topped off when a Mexican military Hummer with a mounted machine gunner appeared.

Was there going to be a shoot out?

“Oh Lord, look what you have done MaryAnn,” said Jim. “Someone must have seen you getting out of the truck and talking to the driver!”

“What are they going to do to us?” said a very worried Matthew (taking off his white gloves).

The cop on the motorcycle finally reached us. Before he could say anything, Jim explained, “El camión delante de nosotros casi se estrelló en nosotros.” (The truck in front of us nearly crashed into us.)

“Mi esposa del cuello herido, fue a hablar con ellos,” Jim continued. (My wife’s neck hurt, she went to talk to them.)

The motorcycle cop had no interest in what Jim had to say, and said, “Si espera en esta garita, le tomará dos horas para cruzar.” (If you wait this border crossing, it will take you two hours to cross.) “Puede conducir a la otra garita, no esperar.“  (You can drive to the other border crossing, no wait.)

“Gracias,” said a very relieved Jim.

The cop rode up to the black truck in front of us, and spoke to the young men. Immediately, the young punks turned off presumably headed for the other border crossing.

Mexicali has two border crossings – one is in the old town center and the other about six miles east in the country.

We stayed in our line.

“Well, that reaction from the Mexican Police was interesting,” I said.

“MaryAnn, I bet you brought that on. The Mexican police must have cameras all over the place,” said Jim.

“I guess Mexico is running out of safe border entries, and wants to keep the Mexicali border to America as safe as possible, huh?” I said.

Matthew chimed in, “I’m not surprised, after the Algodones incident! Those poor men!”

Jim understood that we were OK, but warned, “MaryAnn, you have to keep your temper under control. You could have gotten us all thrown into a Mexican jail.”

“Not on a bet; the Mexicali police were probably sending people to the other border crossing to defuse any possible incident,” I answered. “There was no way those two thugs were going to make trouble. Did you see their California plates? How could those two thugs afford that car without being part of a gang?”

“What do you mean gang? Is it safe in Mexicali?” said Matthew, his voice quivering.

“Matthew, did you see them with their buzz cuts, mid-twenties, driving a real expensive truck?”  So stop worrying, the two of you, they’re not going to be carrying any weapons! Relax for goodness sakes!” I said.

“That’s the last time you do this, MaryAnn, Yup, last time!’ said Jim

We arrived in Calexico in about 20 minutes!

Is it safe in Mexicali?

Yes.

This post is prompted by a comment sent in by one of our readers. He is coming to Mexicali on business, and wonders if he will be safe.

That’s a very fair question. My short answer is “yes.”

Jim and I could only afford to move to a border town. The trip deeper into Mexico was well beyond our means. Mexicali, where we live, is a border town, and our house is just 176 feet south of the big steel fence which divides Mexico from the U.S.

Before moving to Mexicali, we checked out some other towns, either on the border, or nearby. Going from east to west, these included Agua Prieta, Naco, Nogales, Sonoita, Mexicali, and Rosarito Beach.

In Agua Prieta, near Douglas, Arizona, we did not see any suitable places to live. We stayed in the Hacienda Motel. As soon as night fell, large black SUVs filled up the parking lot. There was a lot of noisy coming and going, with the headlights flashing into our room, and voices talking in Spanish. At one point Jim actually stepped out (in his boxer shorts) to take a look. When he came back into the room, he said, “Great rims on those SUVs, yup.” Later, around midnight we heard gunshots and sirens – went on for some time. By dawn, everything stopped – the SUVs were gone, and you wouldn’t notice anything strange about the Hacienda Motel – except that everyone there avoided eye contact.

To the east of Agua Prieta, Naco and Sonoita had only very small towns across the border in the U.S.

The Pacific coast towns, such as Rosarito Beach, have beautiful Southern California weather in the summer, and are bit milder than Mexicali in the winter. Rosarito Beach was a bit congested and touristy. In addition, a motorcycle cop stopped us, saying we went through a stop sign – which we didn’t. We had to settle up with an eighty buck bribe with that guy.

THEN, on the way back to San Diego, going through Tijuana, the police had sealed off the ramp that leads up to the U.S. border checkpoint. We had to circle all through Tijuana to get back to the ramp again, and it was still sealed off with yellow tape. Jim pulled over to ask the police what was going on. Immediately, the policeman said, “No seat belt – that’s a fine – you will have to follow me to the police station.” Jim said that he had taken off the seat belt only after we came to a full stop.

The officer repeated, “Follow me to the station.”

At this point, Jim, by now an old pro at bribery, said, “OK, Sir, what’ll it take to pay the fine now?”

“One hundred dollars.”

“OK,” said Jim, and for that, can you remove the tape so I can go up the ramp and get back to the States?”

“Sure.”

Jim took two fifties from his wallet and handed them to the officer, who, without saying a word, walked over to the ramp and removed the tape. We were back on our way to the States, and Jim didn’t start cussing until we were in San Diego.

For us, Mexicali turned out to be the best. Across the border is Calexico, a small town, but with all the shopping, and support (such as flu shots) that you could want. The downside to Mexicali is the weather. It is blistering hot in summer and a little cool in the winter.

From what we understand, there is a turf war between drug cartels going on in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and even down to Ensenada. We understand the turf war was caused by the arrest of some leading members of the Arellano Felix gang who controlled the area. Now, another gang is attempting to move into the vacuum, and take over the territory. Jim and I would not feel safe in Rosarito Beach or Tijuana.

Tijuana has a very long border fence, which is probably a help for illegal crossings into the U.S.

Mexicali, on the other hand, has a short border fence – only a couple of miles long – and easy to monitor.

On the other side of the border fence from us, there is constant patrolling by the U.S. Border Patrol cars, helicopters (we hear them everyday), and aircraft. Things are very calm in Mexicali, and we feel completely safe. I don’t think we look worth kidnapping.

We lived for a while in Phoenix, Arizona, which now has the distinction of being the kidnapping capital of the U.S., with one kidnapping reported every day – and how many go unreported?

The main center of the drug trade is not at the border, as some might think, but in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, where “El Chapo” rules. The beauty queen, Miss Sinaloa 2008, Laura Zuniga 23, and her boyfriend were arrested on Dec. 23rd at a checkpoint outside of Guadalajara. Miss Sinaloa was riding in one of two trucks, where soldiers found a large stash of weapons, including two AR-15 assault rifles, 38 specials, 9mm handguns, nine magazines, 633 cartridges and $53,300 in U.S. currency.

Allegedly, Miss Sinaloa claimed that the cash was for her shopping. Small change for the drug cartels, which bring in a total of $53 billion a year, and who can afford to pay top Mexican Government officials $500,000 a month for information.

The Sinaloa Cartel is the one of the largest drug trafficking cartels in Mexico. The cartel’s leader, “El Chapo” is one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals. The U.S. has a $5 million reward for his capture – but no one is interested. Many of El Chapo’s “soldiers” were trained in advance weaponry by the U.S. Army – in an attempt to beef up the Mexican army. Why stay in the Mexican army, when you can work for El Chapo? The pay is a lot better – some say ten times better.

Many Mexicans, however, idolize the drug lords. There are songs written about them, and colorful names, such as The Queen of the Pacific, The Empress, and, of course,  El Chapo (shorty).

Sinaloa has a beautiful coastline, and Mazatlan, which is in Sinaloa, is a favored spot where American retirees live and play golf. Jim and I would never set foot in Mazatlan or Sinaloa.

Mexicali is peaceful place, with a lot of police trucks patrolling around. Many of the cars have California license plates, and you can pay in dollars as well as in pesos.

So long as Jim and I stay out of the turf wars, we are going to be A-OK in Mexicali.

Mexicali is a border town, just right next to Calexico, California.  As such, it’s a great place for smugglers to build underground tunnels to Calexico.

To do that, the houses where the tunnel originates in Mexicali have to be just directly across from Calexico. This makes it relatively easy for the tunnels to be dug, and for the enterprising smugglers to come up right into the living room of a friendly Calexico home.

Just recently, Mexican police, acting on a tip, arrested eight men (one from Los Angeles) digging a sophisticated tunnel that nearly reached into U.S. territory. The tunnel’s entrance was in a neatly kept, modest fenced home in downtown Mexicali. The men digging the tunnel were caught off guard and were arrested in their shorts, work boots and dirt-stained shirts.

The suspects told authorities that a man would visit the house monthly to pay them, but that he hid his identity with a ski mask. Wonder how he walked from his car to the house with that thing on?

The tunnel had a rail-and-cart system to ferry material and dirt, ventilation, lighting, and an electric lift to transport items up and down the shaft.  The tunnel was obviously well financed and expertly constructed – a real piece of work. Its destination appeared to be a residential neighborhood across the border in Calexico, as the tunnel stretched 150 yards, ending within feet of the California border.

Just for the heck of it, Jim and I drove by the house where the tunnel began. Some other people were driving by to take a look-see, as well.

Well, the house sure didn’t look like much, but in Mexicali you grab your excitement when you can.

Were we afraid to take a look? No – so long as we keep out of the tunnel business ourselves, we are going to be just fine, both with the police – and, more importantly, with the smugglers.

Finally, is Mexicali dangerous? Not at all. Just read that in Phoenix, this year, a CBS News investigation discovered that there have been 266 reported kidnappings and 300 home invasions this year alone. Sources say the real figures could run as much as three times higher because so many go unreported.

Jim and I’ll take Mexicali any day.