BajaNomad - Guerrero Negro Bug Spray Goes Organic!

Guerrero Negro Bug Spray Goes Organic!

RnR - 12-3-2011 at 07:17 AM

For What it's Worth ....

There was a very official looking individual standing with the bug spray money collector/receipt dispenser person when we passed through the station about a month ago. It was a nice day, no traffic, and the official was talkative.

I asked him what chemical was being used in the spray. To my surprise, he said "extracto de canela organico". Or, organic extract of cinnamon!

He then launched into a discussion of how effective it is, where it's produced on the mainland, how safe it is, they don't need to wear masks at the station any more, etc. He then wiped a rag near the spray bar and brought it over for a sniff/sample. Guess what? A very faint odor of cinnamon.

So, maybe we're not being poisioned any more but it still costs $20 pesos to go south.

woody with a view - 12-3-2011 at 07:20 AM

who needs deodorant? :lol:

larryC - 12-3-2011 at 07:29 AM

I also went through about a month ago. Not sure if it was the same guy but someone tried to charge me 20 p. I said "no quierro" and he said "then roll up your windows and go" so I did, no charge.

mcfez - 12-3-2011 at 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RnR
For What it's Worth ....

There was a very official looking individual standing with the bug spray money collector/receipt dispenser person when we passed through the station about a month ago. It was a nice day, no traffic, and the official was talkative.

I asked him what chemical was being used in the spray. To my surprise, he said "extracto de canela organico". Or, organic extract of cinnamon!

He then launched into a discussion of how effective it is, where it's produced on the mainland, how safe it is, they don't need to wear masks at the station any more, etc. He then wiped a rag near the spray bar and brought it over for a sniff/sample. Guess what? A very faint odor of cinnamon.

So, maybe we're not being poisioned any more but it still costs $20 pesos to go south.

Very good for the environment. Good post. Txs.
To further your reading on organics ..........

http://www.firstrays.com/remedies.htm

zforbes - 12-3-2011 at 09:52 AM

I haven't had to pay anything to cross through there recently (no attendant), but not so long ago, they tried to charge me 20 pesos instead of 10. To convince me that it really was a change to 20 pesos, the attendant showed me the back of the ticket that lists 20 pesos. I blew him off -- 10 pesos or nothing. It turns out, if you examine the back of the ticket...there are two rates listed for different types of vehicles. His clever finger placement managed to cover up the 10 peso charge that was due from me. So if you are driving a regular vehicle...well, make your own decision about how you might want to handle the 10 peso extortion. It ain't a lot of money...but!

castaway$ - 12-3-2011 at 10:43 AM

Cinnamon is one of the ingredients the hippies spray on there pot plants to get rid of bugs up here in So. Oregon, at least thats what I have been told

Rumrunner - 12-3-2011 at 10:53 AM

Hmm, and I thought is was just plumbed to the urinals.

RnR - 12-3-2011 at 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by castaway$
Cinnamon is one of the ingredients the hippies spray on there pot plants to get rid of bugs up here in So. Oregon, at least thats what I have been told

Time to buy stock in cinnamon plantations if Mexico's growers start using it on their plants. :light:

[Edited on 12-3-2011 by RnR]

BajaRat - 12-3-2011 at 07:26 PM

That"s it! I'm no longer sticking my head out the window. :fire:

rhintransit - 12-3-2011 at 08:55 PM

good grief. 10 pesos, 20 pesos. so what?
I came through last weekend, went through the drill. paid my 20 pesos to one guy, then immigration came out and handed me a receipt (which listed 20 pesos as the correct price), asked to check my visa, looked at my FM2 and told me to roll up my window for the spray. big deal, guys, now you can't even complain about the toxic fumes.

BUT the real questions is-

CasaManzana - 12-3-2011 at 10:43 PM

...do my tires really need a spice spray to be happy? WTF! How Mexican to think they can get away with this stuff..and they are. Go figure

paranewbi - 12-4-2011 at 07:04 AM

In 1976 I crossed the Northern Nicaraguan border after dark. As we approached a soldier in the total darkness and while clinging to the open driver window, rode with us as a guide into the border station...completely void of light. He motioned us to follow him and as we crossed a tiled entry area in front of the building, we slid and slipped across the surface as if it was covered in ice.
The constant buzzing around our heads and impacts of unkown flying things were revealed when he opened a door and grabbed us by the clothing, dragging us into a darkened room and then flipped on what was an office room light. It immediately sounded as if there was rain pounding against the exterior window but it turned out to be thousands of flying bugs of all differant kinds.
After the immigration process was completed by the half dozen officers in the room, the light went off, the door was opened, and after we exited the light came back on long enough to help us find our van in the dark out front and get inside. The whole time we had to bend down about 3 feet off the ground and crouch walk below the line of bug flight as if in a smoke filled room. The tile was slippery from all the carcasses of bugs turned to slime from walking on them!
We fired up our VW bus and moved a few feet forward to where a rope was strung across the dirt road. A guy came to us with full hoody on revealing only his eyes, fired up a gas device strapped to his back and completely enveloped our van in a white cloud of smoke...BUG SPRAY! We paid a small sum and were given a fumigation ticket!
I could never understand what was on our van that was not in the bug filled swamp land we were traversing.
This is what comes to me when I cross the GN fumigation line...off and on enforcement, massive land exposure to any insect, and what of the bug stuck in all the crap tied down on the top of my van?
AND, it seems to me, how do I know that cinnamon perfume is not just a cover up for something that can kill anything but me?

mcfez - 12-4-2011 at 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by paranewbi
In 1976 I crossed the Northern Nicaraguan border after dark. As we approached a soldier in the total darkness and while clinging to the open driver window, rode with us as a guide into the border station...completely void of light. He motioned us to follow him and as we crossed a tiled entry area in front of the building, we slid and slipped across the surface as if it was covered in ice.
The constant buzzing around our heads and impacts of unkown flying things were revealed when he opened a door and grabbed us by the clothing, dragging us into a darkened room and then flipped on what was an office room light. It immediately sounded as if there was rain pounding against the exterior window but it turned out to be thousands of flying bugs of all differant kinds.
After the immigration process was completed by the half dozen officers in the room, the light went off, the door was opened, and after we exited the light came back on long enough to help us find our van in the dark out front and get inside. The whole time we had to bend down about 3 feet off the ground and crouch walk below the line of bug flight as if in a smoke filled room. The tile was slippery from all the carcasses of bugs turned to slime from walking on them!
We fired up our VW bus and moved a few feet forward to where a rope was strung across the dirt road. A guy came to us with full hoody on revealing only his eyes, fired up a gas device strapped to his back and completely enveloped our van in a white cloud of smoke...BUG SPRAY! We paid a small sum and were given a fumigation ticket!
I could never understand what was on our van that was not in the bug filled swamp land we were traversing.
This is what comes to me when I cross the GN fumigation line...off and on enforcement, massive land exposure to any insect, and what of the bug stuck in all the crap tied down on the top of my van?
AND, it seems to me, how do I know that cinnamon perfume is not just a cover up for something that can kill anything but me?

GREAT story to read, txs!

BajaRat - 12-4-2011 at 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by paranewbi

AND, it seems to me, how do I know that cinnamon perfume is not just a cover up for something that can kill anything but me?

First thing that crossed my mind. I think I'm going to park and ask if I can see the product container to put an end to it in my mind. Not to worry we travel in Mexico legally.
10 or 20 Pesos? God I hope yall are tipping your gas station attendants and servers without such reluctance :rolleyes:

Bugman - 12-4-2011 at 02:31 PM

The cinnamon spray is not effective and frankly the whole idea spraying vehicles heading south is downright stupid. There are hardly any pests in the north that are not already in the south anyway. Also, the odds of anything surviving 500 miles under a car on the way to Guerrero Negro is pretty slim. Heck, the journey is way more effective than the dumb air freshener they are going to spray. This is nothing more than job creation to soak a few more pesos from the tourists and whoever else is forced to pay it. But then again, it is cheap so for most of us it is just a minor annoyance on the way south that I don't get too upset over paying. It does feel good to complain about it though!

Bajatripper - 12-5-2011 at 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bugman
This is nothing more than job creation to soak a few more pesos from the tourists and whoever else is forced to pay it. But then again, it is cheap so for most of us it is just a minor annoyance on the way south that I don't get too upset over paying. It does feel good to complain about it though!

Pretty much my thinking on this, too. And, like you, I don't get worked up about it.

Placing it in perspective: while visiting the Palenque archaeological site two summers ago, we had to pay a fee of 50 pesos per person (or so) just to use the road to get to the archaelogical site since the road passed through a protected forest (or some justification like that). What I noticed was that the road tax was only charged to out-of-state plates going through. Once at the site, we had to pay an entry fee to see the ruins, plus fees for cameras and video cameras that we had.

While I enjoyed the archaeology of the Yucatan peninsula, I much prefer to pay the 10 or 20 pesos for access to BCS.

paranewbi - 12-6-2011 at 04:44 AM

Bugman...I think your onto something with the job creation program. Once in Mazatlan I approached a 'T' in the road that had a center midian in the shape of a triangle, pretty good sized to. Must have been at least 10 guys with machettes cutting the grass by hand. Would have took 5 minutes with a lawn mower but then it does keep the riots down.
Bajatripper...if you had walked the path up the road to palenque you would have found the local vendors beckoning your attention from the bushes on the right hand side (by the hidden cow field). An arm extends out of the bushes with a small baggie of mushrooms! Not to far up from the RV / camping park on the left, a mile before the rise, just beyond where the guy fires up his moto-glider for the air tours, clear baggies with undried content right off the 'farm' (poo), which I know nothing about

what were we talking about?

zforbes - 12-6-2011 at 07:07 AM

Hey Rat...looks like you are a neighbor and I'd like to say hello...For what it's worth, I do tip, and generously, for services rendered. And 10 or 20 pesos is small potatoes. I just found it mildly annoying to be told a fee that was not correct (at least at that time; maybe it has changed)...and as Bugman pointed out, it feels good to complain about it.

Not sure who you are in the regular world, but I imagine we will become acquainted...BA is a small community.

David K - 12-6-2011 at 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

There's hope for you still! Taxes that you don't like!!! This is progress!!

:lol:

Just having fun with you Steve!

Bajatripper - 12-6-2011 at 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

There's hope for you still! Taxes that you don't like!!! This is progress!!

:lol:

Just having fun with you Steve!

And where, David, did I say I minded paying those taxes? I said I prefer paying the "road tax" for access to Baja, but that's because I love Baja and only like Palenque. But I ALWAYS enjoy paying taxes. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!

Just funnin' with you, David. Actually, I hate paying taxes as much as the next person, but look at them as a necessary evil, the price of maintaining a civil society. Having lived or traveled in places where taxes are low and seeing what the results are, I much prefer paying taxes and enjoying the benefits they pay for--not the least of which is peace of mind. Aside from paying for the infrastructure that made our nation great (there's no such thing as a self-made millionaire; every one of them did it with taxpayer assistance), I think one of the most important aspects of taxes is paying for the social safety net. When people get desperate because they and their children are hungry or living in the street, they have little recourse but to turn to illegal means to obtain life's necessities. I, for one, would rather pay taxes to the government than pay taxes through hold ups, armed robbery, larceny, having people break into my car, etc. etc.

If you don't think paying taxes is worth it, you should try living in a place like the Philippines for a while and see how much piece of mind you enjoy while there.

In short, many Americans like to brag about the greatness of our nation, yet don't want to pay to keep it great. Having the world's most powerful military doesn't make a nation great. What does is how well it cares for its most vulnerable members.

But I digress, back to Baja...you coming down this way this winter?

David K - 12-6-2011 at 02:49 PM

I wish I could come down for New Years... and stay! Can I get work in Baja? There isn't much left here anymore! If I can sell more books, I can fill my gas tank! :tumble:

A lot of people paying a little in taxes is what works... Just a few people paying a lot of tax is a failure in progress... Half the people now are paying no income tax (because they are not working, or because the tax system 'rewards' lower output and punishes success).

We want to work, but the people who have hired us in the past either don't have the funds or are fearful of the future and are conserving spending for their own security... and I can't blame them.

wessongroup - 12-6-2011 at 03:22 PM

Good point tripper ... feel the same... and my tips ... 5 dollars for pumping gas... the guy made 100 peso a day working for Pemex... in Primo Tapia .. ... hell would tip the toll booth attendants too ... keep the change... :biggrin:

Nothing better than a good tip ... for those of us who have worked for same...

Bajatripper - 12-6-2011 at 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
I wish I could come down for New Years... and stay! Can I get work in Baja? There isn't much left here anymore! If I can sell more books, I can fill my gas tank! :tumble:

When it's all said and done, let's remember that in the years after WWII, the tax rate was 90% for the wealthiest Americans (and they STILL found it worthwhile to keep producing) and America had its most prosperous period in its history in terms of employment, salaries and such (of course, there was that nasty issue about the Civil Rights movement, but that's another story).

Now, people whine because the richest among us have to pay 39% as the nation struggles to recover from one of its biggest economic crisis in its history.

While I understand why a filthy rich person would oppose taxing the rich, what I've never understood is how someone like you, David, who is obviously struggling to get by, would object. You probably won't ever make more than the magic number of $250,000 (nor will I), so why worry about what the ultra rich pay? I just don't get that.

You folks are what keep the conversation about taxes from being where it should be: that those with the most--another way of saying "who have benefitted the most from our system" should pay a correspondingly greater share of what it takes to keep the country going. You don't expect to pay the same price for a coach seat as for first class on an airline, so why should you pay the same in taxes? You and I aren't benefitting from our infrastructure in the same manner as, say, a Bill Gates, who depends on our infrastructure to conduct his business in ways that we never will. Why should we pay the same rate of our income. Or, a better example are the companies that pay little or NO taxes while reaping those benefits.

So perhaps a trip down Baja is still in order if you sell some more books on Baja? That's great news.

Bajatripper - 12-6-2011 at 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wessongroup
Good point tripper ... feel the same... and my tips ... 5 dollars for pumping gas... the guy made 100 peso a day working for Pemex... in Primo Tapia .. ... hell would tip the toll booth attendants too ... keep the change... :biggrin:

Nothing better than a good tip ... for those of us who have worked for same...

You and I are on the same wave length, empathy for those with less. Keeps that positive Karma flowing smoothly.