Objective:

My trip to Vera Cruz encompasses several motives. First my favorite subjects in school were history and geography. When I discovered that Vera Cruz was the primary port of the West African slave trade to Mexico my thirst to experience it firsthand had to be quenched. The African Diaspora has fascinated me for many years and is one of the primary reasons I travel. Vera Cruz was to Mexico what Charleston was to the US, Santo Domingo was to the (Hispaniola) Dominican Republic, Cartagena was to Colombia, Montevideo was to Uruguay and Salvador Bahia was to Brazil. It is reported that over 200,000 African slaves passed through the port of Vera Cruz…yes there are black Mexicans.
Then there is the icing on the cake, yes participating in this thing of ours. Vera Cruz has a PFP scene however there is very little current information written about it. My intent will be to be as detailed as possible in order to aide other hobbyist in making the decision if they want to visit Vera Cruz.

Pre-Trip Preparation:

When I first started traveling I signed up with the Department of State Smart Traveler Enrollment Program which took less than 30 minutes. I figured with the potential for danger is better to be safe than sorry. Mexican Embassy Mexico City.
From Mexico:
Tel : ( 01-55 ) 5080-2000
From the U.S.:
Tel: 011-52-55-5080-2000

Currency:

The International Rate for the Mexican Peso MX 13.01851(Mexican Peso MXN-13 to US-1)I knew I would arrive late Vera Cruz and the banks and cambios would be closed so I got $400.00 worth of MXN at the bank rate of MXN-12 - US-1. I would later discover that was a smart decision because neither the taxis, hotels, restaurants or casas took US dollars.

Airport:

General Heriberto Jara International Airport or Veracruz International Airport is a small airport with only 6 gates. At Aduana-Inmigracion they stamp your passport and tell you to keep the bottom part of the immigration form because you need it when you salida. They search bags if you get a red light I got a green light so I got by without a search. As expected the cambio was closed and I am glad I had pesos for the taxi. You go to the taxi stand and pay a rate that is based on where you are going. The city is divided into zones and your taxi fare is based on what zone your destination is in. I paid 220MXN ($17.00) to take me to the Impala Hotel. Sorry gentleman there is NO negotiation on taxi fares at the airport.

Weather:

All 4 days were hot and humid 90 degrees during the day about 75 degrees at night. It should be noted that air conditioning is your friend in Vera Cruz. While walking on the Malecon in downtown Vera Cruz I enjoyed the breeze off the Gulf of Mexico.

Traffic:

Vera Cruz is a city of 1/2 million and traffic is horrendous! Not unlike most of Latin America traffic rules are viewed as suggestions and not mandatory. There are major intersections with no traffic lights or stop signs which leads to major traffic jams. Most streets do not have street signs and addresses do not have numbers. Direction is determined by major land marks.

Hotel:

I stayed at the Impala Hotel (CH Link). I was unable to book on line so I was going blind without a reservation. I arrive at the hotel and guess what? Not only is the hotel in the hood but nadie aqui hablan ingles. I do the best I can with my first grade Spanish and get a double for 450MXN ($35.00US). The air, television, hot water and wireless works but there is no room safe and no pool. I stayed on the ground floor Room 101 it was quite noisy as my room faced the street also my room was close to the lobby. The hotel is GF although I did not bring a girl back because I used cabanas.

Telephone:

Tercel Mobile gave me 7 days I GB data for 149MXN ($12.00) The service worked the first day but I had problems with the subsequent days I don't know if it was my geography or if the service simply was poor. I got bars but no service go figure?

Transportation:

• Taxi from airport varies to what part of town you are traveling 150MXN to 400MXN
• Taxistas want 100MXN -150MXN ($10.00-$12.00) per hour to drive during the day or night for your touring pleasure.
• Short rides depends on where you are going 25MXN-50MXN

Casas de la Citas:

The casa operations were business but the chicas were very amiable and sociable full of smiles. They all looked like they wanted to be there. Casas operation 7pm -5am. All require condom usage for sexo and chupar. The below listed tarifas are for 1 hour in or out there were no salidas.
• La Casa Azul (CH Link) located on Calle Alcozer: 1500MXN ($120.00)
• La Casa El Harem (CH Link) located on Calle Formano Certa: 1500MXN ($120.00)
• La Casa de Munecas (CH Link) located at Calle Santos Perez: 1600MXN ($126.00)
• La Casa Hot Ladies (CH Link) located at Calle Campero Eschutiente: 850MXN ($67.00)

Internet:

I tried to contact several internet chicas but was unsuccessful. When I tried via internet I got an automated response from the web site. I also tried calling but I was having serious problems with my Tercel cell service. The 2 sites I was looking at were like craigslist and Backpage with some very nice ads:
• Mileroticos (CH Link)
• Vivanuncios

Street Chicas:

The Malecon is the Boulevard in downtown (El Centro)Vera Cruz where you can see a series of piers and docks. The Malecon is used by locals to sell souvenirs and street food. As I walked the Malecon at night I saw mostly couples and families and portable shops. I took a stroll after midnight on a Friday night looking for talent but none was to be found. I ate some street food strolled and enjoyed the breeze coming of the Gulf of Mexico. On Saturday night I returned to El Centro but this time I walked the side streets and had a taxisita sow me around but all I saw was gorditas feas y los maricons y travesties.

Chicas Appearance:

Although Mexicanas are multi ethnic with European, Indian and African decent most of what I saw was the Indio look canela skin tone and black hair "sin culo." I did not see the ethnic diversity that is common in Colombia or Brazil.

Tarifas:

• Street: 550MXN ($43.00)
• Casas: 850MXN ($67.00) - 1600MXN ($126.00)
• Internet: 600MXN ($50.00)- 1500MXN($120.00)

Tourism:

One of my agendas for my Vera Cruz trip was to experience the culture of Afro-Mexicanos like I have seen Afro-Colombianos in Cartagena and Afro-Brazilians in Salvador Bahia Brazil. Vera Cruz is no Cartagena or Salvador Bahia I may have seen 1or 2 people of African descent and the culture is primarily Mexican with a little Cuban flavor added. I later discovered that many of the Mexicans of African descent settled in Yanga south west of Vera Cruz.
I traveled to the town of Yanga and discovered that what Mexicans of African descent that were there assimilated into the Mexican culture and they had no noticeable presence. Mission accomplished now I can scratch Vera Cruz Mexico off my "bucket list" and on to the next...

Conclusion:

It was reported to me that there is some good street action downtown El Centro the Malcon area but I did not see anything I would pay for. The internet sites Mileroticos Vivanuncios were very inviting but I did not partake. Most of the casas had talent on the average of "8" however I have been spoiled by Sosua paying $35.00 for an hour as opposed to $120.00 an hour in Vera Cruz.
Vera Cruz has been on my bucket list because of its historical and cultural significance to people of African descent so I am glad that I closed that door and satisfied my curiosity however it does not make for a good PFP destination and I would not return solely for that purpose.

Vera Cruz is not for the faint of heart. The traveler needs to be vigilant and aware of the potential dangers from corrupt police to drug trafficking, kidnapping and street crime. If you can't speak a little Spanish you will be sucking wind.

Upcoming Trips:

• September - Cali, Colombia
• November- Cabarete-Sosua, Dominican Republic
• December- La Romana- Punta Cana &Bavaro, Dominican Republic

El Centro:

Within minutes you can walk from the Malecon to the part of down town where there are several plazas. These plazas come alive at night with live music food and dancing. This area is a gathering place for couples and families sprinkled with a few ladies of the night. If you like Marachi you got it and if you like Salsa you have that also. I enjoyed the street food the sites and the entire energy.

Personal Observation:

I approached this trip with much trepidation as Mexico has a horrible reputation. Fear is a good thing when it is balanced with wisdom. In this trip as in my San Salvador trip I subsequently discovered that my F.E.A.R. was false evidence appearing real. It is not that Vera Cruz does not have much to fear but I had to overcome that fear for if I didn't I would go to my grave saying to myself "if I woulda coulda!" This message is for myself all others have to decide if Vera Cruz is worth the risk, for me it definitely was!

You probably stand a better chance of finding a black Mexican chick in TJ, you see them there from time to time. In fact, the first black gal this white boy ever did was in the old Chicago Club years ago. Forgot to ask if she traced her roots back to Mexican slave days.

The prices you're reporting for the casas are surprising. Veracruz certainly isn't attracting so-called "sex tourism" or probably much tourism from foreigners with money at all. Am I wrong about that? Did you encounter many foreign tourists visiting the historical sites? I knew there was chica availability in the city but wrongly assumed chicas not picked up on the street would be priced lower than TJ and the prices you're reporting are exactly standard TJ 1 hour pricing.

The word of mouth I've heard about the Veracruz street action is "you won't be interested - friendly but NOT lookers". I like the way you constructed your report but you didn't really have a take on the hotness factor of the chicas you experienced and observed. Also curious if you talked to enough of them and maybe hombres immersed in the local scene to know where these chicas originated? Jarochas are very well represented among the chicas working in TJ, especially the SGs. I would not expect many locals to work in their home town. I would almost expect to encounter central american chicas in higher numbers than mexicanas working the casas and streets of this city even knowing that crackdowns on foreign working chicas are frequent occurrences in TJ - but maybe not so much in Veracruz? I'm asking if you know. I don't - just wondering out loud.

Historically speaking, isn't this the harbor where Hernan Cortes washed up with the Conquistadors and began the quest to conquer the Aztecs. Had any Europeans walked on Mexican earth before the arrival of Cortes in this location?

And to be trivially informative and not merely trivial, yeah I'm 100% certain that the name of this city is spelled as one word.

Thanks for an interesting report about a destination which gets almost no attention on P4P sites.

In general the casas were empty when I visited the prices maybe?...lol. The casa chicas I talked to were all from Vera Cruz. I saw plenty of "7"s and a few "8"s but in general the talent pool was not that attractive to me. I saw no street chicas that were desirable but I did see some bonitas down town that did not appear to be working. Please keep in mind I prefer Colombianas first and Dominicanas second so I am quite biased.

I saw some Asians that were obviously tourist and others that I suspect were from other parts of Mexico and Latin America. Your point about Cortes is correct.

Speaking of Taxis:

All the taxis are red and white with the exception of the airport taxis that are all white. Taxistas sometimes make good guides. My first casa run a hired a taxista by the hour 150MXN. He took me to all the casas I posted about in about 2 hours. Later he took me from the casa where I made my pick to the cabana and waited outside after which we returned the chica to the casa and I went to the hotel. My second time I negotiated 100MXN and hour and the taxista took it but this time after dropping me and my chica off at the hotel he didn't wait for me. I was clear with him saying " quiero tu espere ya regreso." Well we come outside when we are done and there is a red and white taxi sitting there which I think is my taxista. NOT! Apparently my taxista took off to make some more money while on my clock I waited a few minutes and told the new taxista "vamos!" I looked for the original taxista in subsequent days but I couldn't find him oh well "asi es la vida!"