Mexico - by Will

             When I went to Mexico, I didn't know exactly what to expect. But I did want to find out. On the day we left, we woke up early and grabbed all our bags before cleaning out the car and packing it full. When we left, we picked up our Uncle David and drove to the airport. From then on, it was almost always line after line. But when we did get on the plane, it was pretty calm.

                When we landed it was much warmer and to regulate temperature the plane vented the air slowly, creating a gas-chamber-like scene. We walked to a car rental place and waited for over an hour before heading to our hotel. The first night was in a small room with only one bed and couch. I spent the first night under a bedside table. But the next day we moved rooms and went into the pool that was at the hotel.

                After a swim, we went into town and saw a bunch of Mexican shops. I bought a apple flavored soda called Mundet for 17 pesos which is about .85 cents. When we got home we played some video games and I got to play Five Nights At Freddy's for the first time.

Got all 4's

               

 One day on the vacation we went to a place called Chichin Itza where there were a lot of shops and stall at which we could buy stuff.

                We swam at a cool place called Xel-Ha which was a huge water park with a bay we could swim in and a big water slide. We went snorkeling for the first time.

in this photo, Jon was blinking and drowning.

                We saw a ton of Iguanas

                And Jon bought Ichigo Kurasaki's Hollow mask

                Down on Fifth Avenue we walked around and saw some really interesting stores. And we ate somewhere that was delicious. And when we were least expecting it, our parents took a picture of me, Jon, and Xander.

                On the day before we left we went to a Cenote, or Mayan death pit, and saw a turtle!

                and on the same day we took a picture in front of some ruins at of our hotel

                On the day we left, we cleaned up the room we were staying in, took a Covid test, and drove back to the airport, dropping off the car, pulling our luggage along with us. When we were through customs, we got onto the first Airplane home before staying in a quick stay in a hotel room before the second and final plane ride.

                All in all, Mexico was a great vacation, and I would want to go there again.

Mexico Day 9 - The Journey Home

 

Today was our last day in Mexico and the start of our long journey home. Checkout was at 11am but our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 7pm so we had some time to kill. After our obligatory Covid test checkout was easy and we were able to leave our luggage and rental car at the hotel for the day. But it turns out that walking in the hot sun on an empty stomach is not a great idea and I pretty quickly started to feel sick. Our aim was the restaurant we'd gotten tacos from the other day, the one with a tree for a roof, but we were too early. It was too hot to start a search for good food so we ended up at the nearest restaurant with air conditioning. 

The walk into town

David and Christian at the restaurant

Christian's picture of the couch

This turned out to be a mistake. The food wasn't immediately awful, David's meal looked really good and their breakfast food was decent. I, desperate by this time for familiar food, ordered a burger which turned out to be pretty inedible. It looked beautiful but I was quickly concerned with the quality of the meat. Xander too had a burger but a chicken one which he seemed to enjoy. The restaurant let us stay there for a while and we enjoyed a break from the heat. 

David's breakfast

Christian's picture of his breakfast

We wandered slowly back in the direction of the hotel, toying with the idea of sitting by the pool for a bit before heading to the airport. We had promised the kids ice cream and found a place after a couple blocks. Xander wasn't feeling well but thought it was the heat (he was also wearing long pants) and a lack of water. So we got some water, ordered ice cream, and sat down in air conditioning. Xander though wasn't feeling any better and couldn't eat any ice cream at all. And as we continued our walk down the busy street I heard a retching and splash behind me. Poor Xander had thrown up all over the street! We pulled him over to some bushes and took care of him while he purged the meal he'd just eaten. James went to find water but a very nice man hurried out of one of the shops and handed me a bottle. Oh we were so thankful!

Sick Xander

Xander started to feel much better afterwards and we were able to get him back to the hotel. He showered off in the outside shower and put on a change of clothes and by the time he was done he was refreshed and back to normal. And by this time we were due at the airport so off we went. As we drove James and I talked about some of the things we've noticed on our trip and I thought this would be a good time to mention them in here. 

Playa del Carmen wildlife

Jon enjoyed the slide

Xander slides to the first floor

One of the things that has stood out to us here is the noticeable military presence. I'm not sure that it would be considered large, mostly we saw groups of three or four soldiers, but it was constant in Playa del Carmen. We'd see checkpoints of soldiers or convoys on the road too, but mostly it was three or four men driving ATVs down the beach, standing or walking down 5th Avenue, or driving what I'd call a military jeep. I'm sure the military jeeps have an actual name and aren't really jeeps, but they sort of look like a black open backed jeep with a large gun mounted on the roll bar. 

Seeing them so often and so heavily armed was weird and definitely reminded me that this area is not safe. I might barely have noticed lightly armed soldiers but it was strange to see a large mounted and manned gun on the top of a car driving down a road crowded with tourists. The ATV and patrolling soldiers also had rifles and while they weren't on *every* corner you couldn't go more than a few blocks without seeing a group of them. The reason was because in January, November, and October different tourists had been shot in various gang and drug related shoot outs. Now that I'm thinking about it, most of the soldiers we saw patrolling were only in the tourist areas. The only time we saw them on the parallel streets was when they were driving to 5th Avenue. 

Some of the houses were built over what looked like caves

Another thing about our travels was that everything here tastes weird. Sure there is different kinds of food but I don't mean that. I mean things like chips or drinks or snacks, common brands that we see at home taste different here. Doritos that we've had in Canada and Iceland tasted just the same, here they have a completely different cheese flavoring. The Cheetos were really weird, they had a red powder flavoring. There were other examples too, although we also tried more local snacks. But it was curious that brands that are consistent internationally are particularly different here. I wonder if that is just for Mexico or true in South America as well? I definitely felt the lack of any familiar taste by the end of our trip.

We really liked these decorated pumpkin lights

I've spoken already about the culture of selling things and bargaining. That did make it hard for us to shop because you couldn't even glance at a display without someone immediately coming to talk to you. Often you couldn't even walk quickly by without being accosted. As a New England girl I found this incredibly stressful because I hate to be approached when I'm browsing. At first I wondered if this was cultural, if a Mexican tourist coming to Zeb's in Conway or Black's Paper Shop in Wolfeboro would be put off by browsing for souvenirs alone. But I think this might just be a tourist phenomenon because when we shopped on more local streets and in local stores there wasn't any of that. 

A tourist shop

One thing I do love about traveling is visiting the local stores. We found a nearby grocery (which had better prices and more stuff than the nearby Walmart) that was excellent. A couple of times James would go in the mornings and buy huge bags of various freshly made pastries for breakfast. We also preferred to walk away from 5th Avenue. The next street over was less crowded but still had lots of good places to eat and some nice stores. The street after that and the connecting streets were definitely more local and I wish we'd been able to find those taco stands we saw the second day here.

Mayan ruins

Anyway, eventually we made it to the airport and the car return and the check in process was MUCH easier than everything was on our arrival. Our flight was delayed by an hour but that was ok because it gave us a chance to have a very good meal at Wolfgang Puck's. Our trip home was rough though. We had an overnight layover in Miami and stayed in the airport at a ridiculously over-priced airport hotel. David took the pullout couch, James and I had the bed, and the kids all camped out on the floor. It was worth it though, we got three (almost 4?) hours of sleep and that was a lot more than we would have had in the bright airport. Our airline and gate were just steps from the hotel but at 4am we still slept too late because there was an insane and unmoving line to check in. Thankfully we made it on to the flight but I was very worried we might miss it!

Xander and Christian at the airport

Sunrise in a sea of clouds

And now we are home. My dad picked us up in Boston and it was wonderful to be home in the cool air and to see the snow on the ground. It was a fantastic trip and I loved it, but I am always happy to come home. 

Mexico Day 8 - Cenote

 We had another amazing day! The last thing on our trip bucket list was to visit a cenote and there are plenty here. So many that it was actually really hard to find one! Cenotes are sunken pools in the limestone rock, some of them are completely open like the one in Chichen Itza, some of them are completely closed and can usually be accessed only by diving, and some of them are semi open which is the type we wanted to see. 

Looking down into the cenote

We had a bit of trouble finding the right one but finally we ended up at Gran Cenote in Tulum, about an hour away. The entrance fee was high and the process stupidly inefficient but the snorkels and googles were free and the grounds and bathroom well kept. As for the cenote itself... it was amazing! 

The tall sides of the cenote

Christian climbing down into the cenote

James enjoying the water

The large open part of the cenote had a dock and a protected turtle area and a narrow curve of water which went from one end to the other. We entered on the left side where a floating rope in the water led into darkness. We followed and found ourselves in a cave! Little fish swam all around us, so used to humans that you could catch them in your hands. Bats squeaked and fluttered overhead, going in and out of holes in the ceiling. Stalactites hung down, piercing the water. 

David and Bethany at the cave entrance

Looking out of the cave entrance

Will in the cave. I wish he was in focus! I love his smile.
There were bats flying all around him too but the camera wasn't fast enough.

Little fish in the cave

Will is ready for snorkeling

A few columns reached all the way down to the cave floor and the view underwater was even more amazing than the view above. It was so cool! I loved the sea cave in Xel-Ha but this was bigger, a LOT deeper, and really incredible. 

The cave entrance

Lots of little fish in the cave

We spent a lot of time in the cave before we began to explore the rest of the cenote. The boys discovered you could jump off the dock and enjoyed themselves there while we swam with the fish and turtles. One turtle seemed to like James and chased him all around the pool. Maybe he just wanted a picture?

This turtle really wants to meet James

Turtle in the cenote

Sunning turtles

David and James

The narrow curve of water by the wall of the cenote didn't seem that exciting, until we looked down. Under the water it stretched out into a deep underground cavern which you could see quite well. I don't know how far back it went but it was very cool and only a little intimidating. 

                                                                The underground cavern

The narrow bit of the cenote

Christian dives to look at the underwater cave

On the righthand side we found another smaller cave, this one open at both ends. There was more light here and lots of bats. It wasn't as deep as the first one though and paled in comparison, I wish we'd found it first. 

                                                                                Bats

The entrance to the smaller cave

The smaller cave from the other side

                                                    The view above and below the water

The boys tired of the sights first and climbed out to relax on the grass above us while David and I went back to the first cave. James took some pictures and then took another lap around the cenote. We didn't stay too long but we had enough time to fully explore and appreciate the beauty of the cenote. 

Playing Coconut Catch

They collected this coconut and invented a new game

Xander jumping off the dock

Christian jumping off the dock

Once we were home everyone wanted to relax for a bit and since I was still in my bathing suit I took my book down to the beach to read. I started out on one of the many chairs the resort provides but soon decided it would be better to read on the sand where the waves could splash my feet. Do I even need to say that a particularly big wave came and splashed me and my book? Of course it did but it was still worth it. After that I kept a better eye out and raised my book over my head when needed. 

Boys at the cenote

After a while James came out and joined me and the two of us spent time swimming in the ocean. The beach is weird here. There is a sudden drop at the shoreline so the water two feet in is pretty deep. But a couple feet later the sand starts to rise and there is a really wide sand bar. So even when you walk far out you might still be only up to your waist and it is actually hard to find deep water. And shallow or not I never like to go too far from shore in the ocean. 

James in the cenote

By the time we waded out we found the boys and David at the pool. We joined them and the seven of us played tag in the water for over an hour. A friend joined our game and we had the whole pool to ourselves. The pool area seems crowded during the day but late afternoon/early evening everyone goes in, probably because by then the pool is in the shade. But that's perfect for us because we haven't burned yet and I really don't want to on the last day!

Christian's picture of Xander

We thought about going into town tonight but everyone is tired. So David cooked tuna and cheese sandwiches for us while we relaxed. Dinner was very good and David and I ate and talked on his balcony. It was really wonderful to get a chance to talk to him. Being together all week you'd think it would happen more often but quiet moments don't always present themselves. Now he and James are off talking but I have to crash. I am utterly exhausted and tomorrow is going to be a VERY long day.