My Dad loved to go deep-sea fishing. In the late 1950's he would fly his private plane to Cancun. The development of Cancun the resort started around 1970. When my
Dad was going there was nothing there but a coconut plantation. The people that worked the plantation lived on the Isla Mujeres , an island about 10 miles off the coast of Cancun. There was a dirt runway where he landed his plane and then he would charter one of the local fishing boats.
Around 1992, we won a five-day trip to Cancun. My wife and I could not both leave our business, so my son and I went. When my Dad heard that we were going, he asked me to try to find the guy that used to take them on his fishing boat. His name was Pecho Megallion and his teenage son was also namedPecho. My Dad supplied me with a black and white poloroid photo of Pecho and his son on thier boat.
We arrived at Cancun and started enjoying all the activities that were preplanned for us. The third day, we were to take the ferrie out to Isla Mujeres. Lots of tourist would go out to the island to go snorkleing. We went, but the water was too rough and we got tired. We still had some time before we had to catch the ferry back to Cancun, so we decided to see if we could find Pecho. It became immediatly obvious that everyone on the Island knew Pecho. However, no one knew for sure where he was at that moment. He must have been related to half the island. One cousin took us to a resturnat that belonged to a uncle. They had seen Pecho earlier, but didn't know about now. We followed this cousin all over town , going from store to store. We were in a fish market when the ferry blew its whistle to call everyone back. We started back towards the ferry and the cousin walked with us.
We were going to board the ferry when the cousin called out to us that Pecho was right there. We looked , and there was a anchent fishing boat with a man working on top. We understood that the man was Pecho. The ferry still was waiting for other passangers, so we went down and walked over to where Pechos boat was tied up. He came up to us a bit uneasy as he had no idea why we were looking for him. I held out the black and white photo to. He studied it for a while and then he said, "Dios Mio, Como Son joven" or "My God, how young I was". My spanish is pretty good and I tried to explain about my Dad fishing with him and his father. He feigned understanding.. not sure if he did. The ferry blew the final whitle , so my son quickly took a photo of me with Pecho and then we left.
When we got back home, I made a copy of the old photo and the new and sent them to Pecho. I don't know if he received them.
©2009
We arrived at Cancun and started enjoying all the activities that were preplanned for us. The third day, we were to take the ferrie out to Isla Mujeres. Lots of tourist would go out to the island to go snorkleing. We went, but the water was too rough and we got tired. We still had some time before we had to catch the ferry back to Cancun, so we decided to see if we could find Pecho. It became immediatly obvious that everyone on the Island knew Pecho. However, no one knew for sure where he was at that moment. He must have been related to half the island. One cousin took us to a resturnat that belonged to a uncle. They had seen Pecho earlier, but didn't know about now. We followed this cousin all over town , going from store to store. We were in a fish market when the ferry blew its whistle to call everyone back. We started back towards the ferry and the cousin walked with us.
We were going to board the ferry when the cousin called out to us that Pecho was right there. We looked , and there was a anchent fishing boat with a man working on top. We understood that the man was Pecho. The ferry still was waiting for other passangers, so we went down and walked over to where Pechos boat was tied up. He came up to us a bit uneasy as he had no idea why we were looking for him. I held out the black and white photo to. He studied it for a while and then he said, "Dios Mio, Como Son joven" or "My God, how young I was". My spanish is pretty good and I tried to explain about my Dad fishing with him and his father. He feigned understanding.. not sure if he did. The ferry blew the final whitle , so my son quickly took a photo of me with Pecho and then we left.
When we got back home, I made a copy of the old photo and the new and sent them to Pecho. I don't know if he received them.
©2009
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