Journal

Friday, March 22 - Day 1

• Leave house at 6:45am, temperature is -25C, cloudy, dry. Limo gets stuck in driveway.
• Flight leaves at 9:20am EST, arrives 12:20pm CST in Cancun. Temperature is 25C, coldest day of the week, and very humid.
• Arrive at Caracol Village Resort at 2pm.
• Explore resort until dinner, encounter crabs dug into soil near streams crossed by wooden bridges.
• Resort's dinner buffet turns out to be pretty good. We won't lose much weight, if any, this trip.
• Resort's nightly entertainment isn't very entertaining, we leave early.
• Sit on the beach from 10 to 11pm, enjoying the beach and the surf under the nearly-full moon.

Saturday, March 23 - Day 2

• Get up at 5:40am to see sunrise, but the horizon is cloudy. This also happens the next 5 days.
• Take lots of pictures of the resort, then go for a swim. The resort's beach turns out to be quite rocky under the water. Walk north along the beach for a couple hours, before everyone else is up.
• When swimming north of the resort, Ross discovers several outlets to a freshwater river about 30m offshore.
• After breakfast, we sign up to take the free 10-minute shuttle south into the town, Playa del Carmen.
• We explore Playa del Carmen, and pick up some sandals for Ann. We both tire of walking before the shuttle is to return, so we agree to go to a timeshare presentation.
• We get whisked to Mayan Palace Cancun, about 5 minutes north of our resort for lunch and a presentation. It's pretty ritzy, including gold-plated faucets and 8 restaurants. Saying no to the salespeople is fun and easy, since we have no money or intention to invest. In return, we get some Tequila, some Kahlua, lunch, 2 T-shirts, and some ultra-cheap tickets to Tulum and Xel-ha for Tuesday.
• Tonight's entertainment at Caracol Village is a reprise of well-known pieces from popular Broadway musicals, fairly well done.
• We spend some time again at the beach in the evening.

Sunday, March 24 - Day 3

• We head for a walk on the beach south this time, again before practically anyone else is up.
• We take a 15 minute taxi ride to XCARET, an amusement/ecopark. Cost: 155 pesos (about C$30).
• We spend 8:30am to 7pm at the park, which was a very full day, including a swim down an underground river, a visit to an underground Mayan village, and attending an ancient Mayan ball game. In the ball game, only the hip can be used for hitting the ball, which must pass through the hole in a doughnut-shaped stone mounted on a wall. Very tricky indeed.
• The park is incredibly well planned. After we visited a number of places such as the Butterfly Pavillion, stained-glass house, the tortoise aquarium, and jaguar island, we went on the underground river swim. Then we found that the attractions had been built upon the river such that you swim by all the attractions when the river occasionally reaches the surface.
• Xcaret had over 40 different things to see and do, so many that they weren't all labelled on the park's map, allowing you to stumble on a lot of fun even by mistake. Definitely our favourite day in the Mayan Riviera. The aviary of rare exotic birds alone is worth the trip. We took over 200 of our 500 photos at Xcaret.
• After dinner, we collapse in bed for 10 hours, have breakfast, and go back to bed.

Monday, March 25 - Day 4

• For once, we sleep in most of the morning after the exhausting day at Xcaret.
• In the afternoon, we head back into Playa del Carmen for a more thorough exploration, and also get some sandals for Ross.
• Playa del Carmen is the site of the passenger ferry to Cozumel, which can just barely be seen on the horizon. Playa's beach is beautiful but busy. It is 'March break' for much of Mexico this week.
• Much of the evening is spent in the bar with friends. Tonight's entertainment at the resort is various dance routines from musicals such as Grease and Moulin Rouge. The last is particularly excellent, including a fabulous rendition of 'El Tango de Roxanne'

Tuesday, March 26 - Day 7

• We get picked up at 8:50am by Grey Line Tours for our Tulum/Xel-ha trip. We make a roundabout 2 hour trip that takes us to another ritzy resort north of us (Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar), and various places in to the south in Playa del Carment.
• Tulum is nice, but very, very hot, with no escape from the heat. We spend 90 minutes there, with lots of photos in hand, but are glad to be headed to the waters of Xel-ha. Tulum can be noted for nickel and diming tourists to the extreme. Even the toilets cost 2 pesos to use. A 2 minute optional trolley ride from parking lot to the front gate is 15 pesos.
• Xel-ha is a water-park that features a freshwater river that runs into a saltwater estuary, and claims to be the world's largest natural aquarium.
• Xel-ha was frustrating in that it took a number of stages and a lot of time (renting gear, renting a locker, changing, walking a mile or so to the river start, bagging our shoes, etc) before we could get in the water after Tulum.
• Once in the water however, Xel-ha was fabulous. Ann had her first snorkeling experience. Because the camera isn't waterproof, the only photos are at the end of the odyssey. We saw numerous fish species, especially near the edges of the river (which was effortless to float along and let the current do the work) as well as the estuary. Near the end, Ross was thrilled to spend 5 minutes within arm's length of an enormous 3 foot parrot fish. Ann was not so thrilled. Others on our tour saw all sorts of large fish, and even some rays.
• Tulum/Xel-ha was not as fun as Xcaret, but the fact we paid next to nothing, and had a humourous tour guide, Jose, made it all quite worthwhile.
• Seafood night at the resort, Ross' favourite. All right, but more sizzle than steak.

Wednesday, March 27 - Day 6

• A little weary from all our excursions, we decide to spend the last 2 full days on the resort.
• In the morning, we walked out the resort's 2km road to the main highway. It's quite a hot trip by the time we finish at 10:30am. Along the way, we spot some sort of salamander, and get pictures of the funny road signs.
• We spend the rest of the day in the shade. Ross plays water polo and water voleyball, and gets some nice burns on the forearms. A siesta is necessary in the late afternoon.
• The evening is mostly spent in the bar and restaurants with our new 'Mexican' friends.

Thursday, March 28 - Day 7

• Our second day on the resort also starts a little late. It seems taking it easy the previous day was hard work!
• A little reading was accomplished today, and the two of us spent an hour kayaking. Unfortunately, the shell had a lot of water in it, so our freeboard was reduced to just a couple inches, with frequent overflow. Sometimes it seemed like we would sink.
• The afternoon saw some more serious water polo, though we both avoided 'Tequila water voleyball'.
• The night's entertainment included native dancing from all parts of Mexico.

Friday, March 29 - Day 8

• Finally, on the 7th try, we witnessed a sunrise without extensive cloudcover. Great photos.
• The early rise allowed us to enjoy a bit of the morning before packing and checking out.
• Onto the bus at 9:45am, for a 40minute bus ride to the airport, and a 12:50pm flight.
• In the first of 3 searches of our bags, our extra camera batteries are confiscated. Ironically, batteries can be purchased in the shops after the security checkpoint before boarding.
• We leave Mexico in 32C weather, and arrive in Ottawa 4 hours later with a foot of snow and 4C temperature.
• The ride home in the limo is uneventful, and Amplitude and Gradient are happy to greet us, apparently in the need of much attention, or so they told us.