June 2009

[Dan-0]

Hola a todos! It’s great to be back in Mexico, swine flu and all! I have a new camera, which I’m still learning to use, and I swear I’m going to learn how to use MS Movie Maker. But, bear with me. I will try to update this TR every few days.

We’re a family of four- me, my wife, and two kids: son, 16 and daughter, 9. My wife’s from Q.R., but she has lived in the U.S. for 12 years. Most of her family’s still in Mexico, so, for the past 12 years or so, we have been coming to Q.R. a couple of times a year to visit her family and also to explore the peninsula as much as time and our budget allows. Her Dad lives in Cancun and her Mom lives in Chetumal, where we have a little house, so we divide our time between those two places with trips to various other places in the area, including Playa. The kids are bilingual and they take to Mexico like fish to water and I think they actually look forward to our trips more than we do.

The trip got off to a little bit of a rocky start when we arrived in Cancun from Atlanta at around noon on Sat., May 30th. Delta lost two of our three checked suitcases. In fact, they seemed to have lost the luggage of practically everybody on the whole flight, as witnessed by the line at customer service in the Baggage Claim area.. So, we had to wait in line for about an hour or so until they figured out what was going on and we realized our luggage wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. Thankfully, they did deliver our luggage to our place- about eight hours later. I’m not sure how they managed to lose our luggage, especially since it was a direct flight and we arrived more than two hours early, but all’s well that ends well, I guess. Judging by the amount of passengers on the plane, I would say tourism to the area is starting to recover.

My father-in-law (FIL) picked us up at the airport and, just like our last visit, immediately took us to lunch at a little beer-n-botanas restaurant in downtown Cancun called Marimar. They had buckets of Sol which came with caldo de pescado and plates of botanas. The food was great and the beer was cold; I ate two bowls of caldo and quaffed two Sols.



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Cancun- La Isla Mall

We’re not big fans of Cancun, so we only stayed a couple of nights there and I didn’t take many photos. But, Sunday night, we headed to the Hotel Zone to see what’s new and take the kids to La Isla mall. It seems the swine flu scare has been awful for Cancun. We noticed quite a few hotels were closed and we were told that a lot of tourism workers have been laid off. And there weren’t many people in the streets, the bars, or even in the mall, even though it’s low season. Planet Hollywood was advertising a 50% discount on their sign, so I guess that tells you how slow things are in Cancun right now.

[Dan-0]

The plan was to spend a couple of night with my FIL’s house in Cancun. He is working at a technical school in a little pueblo about ½ hour from Cancun called Leona Vicario. At this school, students prepare for jobs in the tourism industry like chef, waiter, etc. Saturday night, the school was having a ceremony in the town plaza and my FIL insisted we attend, even though we were tired from the trip and unable to change our clothes to appropriate attire due to our lost luggage. The event was a show of Yucatan-style dancing and music followed by a dinner. The students did everything, including preparing and serving the meal, to show off the skills they’ve learned while in school. And I’m glad we went, because the program was great and the food was delicious.

Here’s a little video from the event

YouTube - Clausura Leona Vicario

The town square was empty when we arrived



The stage where the program was held


Seating area for the audience


The dancers entering the stage- the women wore different dresses that represent the three states of the Yucatan. The red one is for Q.R.






This is the traditional dress of Yucatan



This girl danced, spun, and strutted all over the stage with a cocktail tray balanced on her head: impressive!


These are traditional dresses of Campeche. During the Campeche segment, at one point, the girls came out into the audience to work the crowd and pump everybody up


Being the only gringo in attendance, and being dumb enough to be seated on the front row, I started to get a little nervous… the girl in the blue dress was dancing toward me, and, sure enough, she danced over to me and put her hands out inviting me to join her. I am not a dancer, but what could I do? So, I was dragged up in front of everybody to dance the “Pregonero Campechano” in front of the whole pueblo. It wasn’t pretty, but I think the locals did get a kick out of it! Sorry, no pics!

[Dan-0]

After the program, there was a banquet. The students acted as chefs and waiters and served the meal in courses as if it were a first-class restaurant. They really did a good job, I was impressed.





The leaders of each team (chefs, waiters, hostesses) thank those in attendance

[Dan-0]

After staying Sat.-Sun. nights in Cancun, we headed south to Chetumal. We stopped at Lol Ha in Akumal for lunch.

We missed Akumal’s 50th Anniversary celebration by one day

[PlayaLove]

Love all your pictures and report looking forward to hearing more.

[Libby]

Yay! It's a Dan-0 trip report! Thanks for sharing with us again!

I've never seen the Quintana Roo dress before. I didn't even know there was one! I love the Yucatan embroidered dresses and their dances. I hope to one day see the Q. Roo dance.

And now I am very very hungry! That caldo and botanas in Cancun looked SO good! How was lunch at Lol-Ha?

[Dan-0]

Originally Posted by Libby

And now I am very very hungry! That caldo and botanas in Cancun looked SO good! How was lunch at Lol-Ha?

Thanks, Libby. The food was at Lol Ha very good, IMHO. I had some kind of soup with a Maya name I can't pronounce. Of course, it's expensive (soups start at about 69 pesos) but it's worth paying the tourist-inflated prices considering eating at the restaurant gives you snorkel and swimming priveleges in the lagoon.

[shoediva]

Great report and pics so far.

[Dan-0]

Chetumal’s not a tourist city and it has very few expats. But it’s the capital of the state of Q.R. and a very pleasant city with a beautiful boardwalk that runs beside the Bay of Chetumal. The color of the water seems to change depending on the weather and other factors, I’ve seen it range from dark blue like the Gulf of Mexico to bright, turquoise green similar the Carribean. Here are some photos of the Bahia Boulevard. For some more photos and info on Chetumal, see John & Libby’s Weekend in Chetumal TR.



My daughter and me






This sidewalk runs for miles down the boardwalk and is popular with walkers & joggers



The Municipal Pier




View from the Municipal Pier facing the Bahia Boulevard & Parque de La Esplanada


The Capitol Building of Q.R. is in the background


The end of the Pier- you can drive out on the Pier and the yellow protectors are to keep people from driving off


The State Congressional Building

[MsRubio]

Great pics Dan! Lol Ha looks like a great place to stop for a bite to eat!

[Dan-0]

Inspired by our stop there earlier in the week, we decided to return to Akumal and spend the weekend. We loaded up the van with our family plus my MIL and BIL and headed out. It was the first time I had stayed there, and it was a nice, quiet weekend spent hanging out at the pool, walking on the beach, and snorkeling. It’s a very quiet place, and there’s not much nightlife, but I really enjoyed it. We stayed at Hotel Club Akumal Caribe, in the bungalows. The bungalows were spacious with good a/c, comfortable beds, and plenty of privacy. And they gave us a nice, discounted rate for them- about 840 pesos. It felt like we had practically the whole resort to ourselves. There was a wedding party from Texas there, but I didn’t really see them out very much except for their reception party on Sat. night. At night, we walked along the beach and there wasn’t another soul in sight. I didn’t take a lot of pics., but here are some.

Entrance to the resort



Souvenir shop at the entrance


Bungalows



Area behind the spa


The beach



Morning on the beach


Dusk


Condos


The pool right next to the condos


The bay



The kids didn’t want to get out of the pool and go to the beach, as usual

[pour favor]

Great pictures! Looks like you figured out the camera. I think we are going to have to take a weekend soon and check out Chetumal. It looks really nice!

[susango]

Great report. I'm looking forward to more! We were in Akumal on Friday, June 5th for the day. It would've been really funny if we had been there at the same time and we saw you. I probably just would've thought you and your family looked familiar. We hadn't been to Akuma since May 1998. We took the collectivo to/from Akumal and experienced our first motor vehicle accident on the way there on Avenida Juarez. The policia witnessed it. No one was hurt and it was not our driver's fault. We were there about 30 minutes before we were on our way.

[lovbuds]

Once again, I am so enjoying your trip report Dan-O... You have a beautiful family..thanks for sharing it all with us. Your pictures are awesome! Can't wait for more! There is more isn't there ...

[Dan-0]

Kohunlich is a Maya archaelogical site located 65 km west of Chetumal on Highway 186, and 9 km south of the road. It’s most famous for it’s ornate, well-preserved masks of Mayan Gods. It’s still largely unexcavated and, because of its location, doesn’t get a lot of tourists. Other than the workers and excavation crew, we were the only ones there when we went Tuesday morning. We got there early to beat the midday sun, and we were glad we did, because it did start to get really hot about noon. Here are some photos from the day we spent there:




Great views from the Temple of the Masks




The Acropolis




This is what the site is really famous for:



The kids and me give the masks some perspective


The masks are covered by palapas- to protect them from the sun, I guess

[Dan-0]

Laguna Milagros is located 14 km north of Chetumal on Hwy. 307 in a little village called Huay Pix. It’s a beautiful, clean lake that is good for swimming, snorkeling, and all sorts of water sports. We were told that they were going to have a national rowing tournament there this weekend. (June 12-13).

We had lunch at Gringo Dave’s, a cool, funky bar & restaurant on the lake. We met Dave and chatted with him for a while. He's a fellow from Pittsburgh who owns this place in Laguna Milagros and also another similar place in Puerto Aventuras. Here are some photos from our trip there yesterday.

Views of the lake













For lunch, we had the parrillada- an assortment of meats and seafood


The hammocks by the lake

[lovbuds]

That's just priceless...

[susango]

I love how you have the ruins to yourselves and the color of the lake is gorgeous. Gringo Dave's looks fun too. IMHO, the dogs knew a good family when they saw one and they weren't going to let that opportunity pass them by. So did you take them or how did you get them out. The look on your daughter's face is too cute.

[Beth&Scott]

Great views from the Temple of the Masks




Awesome report Dan-o!!!! Loving it.....this view is breath-taking...ahhhh.

[Dan-0]

This weekend we went to El Cuyo, Yucatan for the first time. It’s a little fishing village on the northeast tip of the Yucatan a little west of Holbox. It’s on a peninsula separated from the mainland and accessible by a long causeway over a body of inland water. Although we only spent a couple of days and one night there, I really enjoyed it for its quietness and tranquility.

There’s not much there, it’s a small town with one or two hotels, some beach houses, a few cabanas, and some seafood restaurants and loncherias. But, although it’s kind of off-the-beaten path, I think it’s a great place for the budget traveler and it offers many of the attractions of Holbox for less money. But, it is a little difficult to reach El Cuyo and the roads are a little rough and narrow in some places. I don’t think I would recommend it for folks with limited vacation time, but, for those who have time, I think it’s worth a trip. I was told that in late July and August there are quiet a few flamingos in the body of water around the causeway, although we only saw a few on our way out. We enjoyed just relaxing, walking around town, and renting a golf cart and four-wheelers to explore. (100 pesos/hr.) On Saturday, the thing to do for local teenagers seemed to be to pool their money, rent a golf cart, and cruise around the town square.

For more general info on the place, check out El Cuyo Travel Guide.

Coming into El Cuyo on the causeway


The inland water surrounding the causeway is almost red due to the concentration of salt


The shore is covered with salt


Mural of the causeway at El Tiburon restaurant


The main road coming into town


The town square



Lighthouse


Posada El Faro (Tel. 986-853-4015). Small, five-room hotel where we stayed. 500 pesos/night. Clean and comfortable with very hospitable owners. One of two little hotels in town- and I’m not sure if the other one was open. I recommend this place.


Cabanas located at La Conchita restaurant, not far from the beach. Price is 200 pesos/night and up.




This is one of the nicer houses in town


The circus was in town!