Beginners Guide to Los Algodones: Dental Pharmacy Liquor!

 As many fulltime RV'ers know, Los Algodones Mexico is the place to go to for dental. This was the fourth or fifth time we have been down here for dental work. For those of you curious, the process goes something like this: 

For first timers this process can be intimidating. Especially if it is your first time walking across the border. Which is amazingly simple: you simply just walk across the border. There is a check station about 30 yards into Mexico, a Xray machine you must put backpack or purse through as well as a metal detector you have to walk through. 

 After arriving at our appointed time at Sani Dental, we met with an intake counselor who verified our information and detailed our dental needs. From there you are escorted to the Xray room where they  Xray your teeth, and no, they do not have those old Xray machines where you put the film in your mouth. They have those machines that travel around your head while your chin sits on a pedestal. 

You then meet with a dentist who examines your mouth and goes over your Xrays. In my case they talked over the options for the tooth that I had broken several months ago. It is in the top far back on the left side. There was not enough tooth to put a crown on, so the only option was to extract it or install an implant. I opted for the implant route. After signing an agreed upon treatment plan, my next appointment was with the cashier who went over the charges and took payment. They take cash or credit cards. The total for my appointment was just a little over $1,000 which included a cleaning, the extraction, bone grafting and a surgical membrane.

After paying, it was back to the waiting room. My name was soon called and an hour later I was done. The grafting needs to heal and I am to come back at a later date (anywhere from 6 months to 2 years) for the implant itself. This was the first time we both had dentists that spoke English, the other times the Assistant spoke English, but the dentist did not. 

Barb had a similar experience, but her treatment plan included one root canal ($340), one crown ($230) and one implant for a total of $2,000. I did a quick internet search and this $2,000 is about 1/4 of what this treatment would cost in the states. She had to go back three different days for a temporary and finally permanent crown. Her treatment required three visits, they generally try to do them on consecutive days, if you think you will need a crown, try to make you appointment early in the week. That way you will be done before the weekend. 

Where did we stay? We normally stay at the Quechan Casino about 5 miles up the road from the border. They allow free camping in their parking lot, no hookups, just a spot in the parking lot. You then drive yourself down to the border where there is a parking lot on the U.S. side. $10/day for cars and trucks, $16/day for anything larger. We opted to stay at a recently reopened campground less than a 1/2 mile from the border itself, Sleepy Hollow RV Park. A full hookup site was $200 for the week. This was a good solution for us as the temperatures were up into the 80 and we could run the AC for the dogs. There are hotels down in Mexico you can stay, but we have never stayed there.

For those of you who might be coming to Los Algodones for the first time, prepare to be inundated by beggers and vendors. It is a great place to buy purses, belts, hats, t-shirts and the like. Vendors line the sidewalks trying to get you to stop and look at their good. This short video shows you what you can expect when you walk across the border. 

We have learned just to keep walking and ignore them. On the rare occasion we are interested in something, we typically talk them down to 50% of their initial asking price.  We have only been to Sani Dental, and the Purple Pharmacy so cannot speak for the others. Speaking of pharmacies, we loaded up on some of our pharmacy needs for the next year or so. Ibuprophen, Z packs, Amoxicillin, Benadryl and of course a bunch of those little blue pills Dino asked me to pick up for him.

Some liquor is cheaper down there. Mainly tequila, Kahlua and other Mexican made liquors. You are allowed to bring back one liter back with you without paying duty. Oh, and if you are a baker, vanilla is really cheap down there!

There are plenty of places to eat down there as well and their mango margaritas are delicious!

What else did we do this week? The highlights of the week were meeting up with a couple of blogger/RV friends. One was a new meetup, and one was with a couple we first met three years ago. On our way down here, Barb had set up an overnight stay at Vulture Peak Brewing Co in Wickenburg which just happens to be the winter residence for fellow bloggers Mike and Janna. We have been reading each other's blogs for years. We had been close to meeting several times over the years but one thing or another got in the way. This time we made it happen! We met them at the brewery where we had a beer and then we went to a restaurant called Qorri's where we had probably the best pizza we have had in years! 

After spending an hour or do visiting with Mike and Janna, they dropped us back off at our rig and said our goodbyes. What a great couple, we are so glad we took the time to meet them and hope it is not the last time. I did screw up though as Wickenburg is also the home of another blogging couple we have wanted to meet for years. Suzi and Dave from Beluga's Excellent Adventures also live there. Somehow, I had it in my head they lived down Tucson and missed meeting them! Totally bummed. 

Our next meet up was with fellow RV'ers/bloggers Gay and Joe. We first met them three years ago in Tucson. Again, a great couple with like-minded interests and views of life. We met them at El Charro and then followed them back to their campground where we let Lucy and hung out for a couple more hours. 

That is a wrap for this leg of our journey, next week we have a lot of visits planned. I think we are seeing people every day except one! Now it is time to hit the road and head east, next stop Casa Grande!