Mexico - Cancun

The day before our flight to Cancun we noticed on our tickets that we were flying via Miami. Then we found out that even transferring passengers through Miami need an ESTA visa waiver form (online application takes 72 hours to process - ie too late). After an initial panic we realised that we could probably make use of the ESTA forms we had pre-arranged for our time in L.A. in a couple of weeks. We made the application before they implemented the mandatory online fee for the visa waiver. Now I ask you, what good is a visa waiver programme, if you have to apply online, pay a fee and wait 72 hours for your application to be processed? Doesn’t that sound a lot like a visa application to you?

Anyway, the following morning we caught our flight to Miami. We were scheduled to have about 4 hours in Miami airport before our connecting flight, which we though would be plenty of time. What we didn’t realise is that there is no such thing as a transferring passenger in Miami airport. We had to collect our bags, go through the rigorous bag security checkpoint and queue for customs again (they didn’t even ask for the ESTA), which due to the queues in the airport, ended up taking 2 hours to get through. I felt a bit sorry for the people that were transferring with only an hour between their flights, as they looked very stressed running up and down asking for an express customs queue (yes there was one, but it was just as long as all the others). Mental note: do not ‘transfer’ through Miami airport again.

On arrival at Cancun airport we came across some very helpful airport information guys, who directed us to the local Ado airport bus that took us in to Cancun central, saving us some money on a taxi fare. We then managed to follow the hostel’s walking directions from the terminal terrestre to the hostel (result). We had one night in a regular old hostel and the following morning we took a local white minivan taxi along the highway to the Mayan Riviera, which is about halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. As I probably mentioned before Mum Connellan had kindly given us a weeks worth of accommodation in a resort along the Riviera, so we were looking forward to a week of luxury after three months of hostel living. But first we had to get to the hotel lobby…

The local minivan taxi had rather unceremoniously dropped us along the side of the highway, just opposite the impressive entrance gate of the hotel (granted the minivan was cheap). So we picked up our bags and started to dash across the large highway (cars flying by). However, midway my cap somehow managed to come off my head and then bounced down the highway as a few cars and finally a large passenger bus ran over it. Steve eventually managed to retrieve it for me when the traffic slowed a bit, although it is now slightly worse for wear, with a bit of bus tread running over the peak! Lol. Then we ran the last gambit over to the gate, and asked the security guys if there was a shuttle service to take us into the lobby. They informed us that the next shuttle would be along in 5 hours time, and offered to order us a taxi that would take around 30 mins to arrive from Playa del Carmen. We of course declined and decided to walk our way in to the lobby (how far can it be?), bags and all, which the security guards had clearly never seen before. None the less on we marched, along the pristine golf course, passed the big fountain and on to lobby. Our first impressions of the hotel were fantastic - manicured gardens and fountains and a very impressive lobby - now this is more like it!

There was a slight confusion at the check in desk, as the hotel had actually reserved 12 different rooms for us (as in 24 people), so we had to explain that it was really just the two of us, and they could release the other rooms they had. As it was we still had 2 large double rooms, with a kitchen and living area in between them, so we had plenty of space to roam around. At last a decent bed with soft sheets, a hot shower with decent water pressure, fluffy towels, and a TV with English speaking channels - what bliss! Due to the kitchen and living area (couches in front of the telly YAY) it actually felt like we had an apartment for the week, rather than a hotel room and it was great to have some home comforts again whilst on the road. That first afternoon we went for a walk around the expansive hotel grounds (it was possible to get lost and we did) and checked out the beautiful pools and the beach. On that first day when we sat down next to the pool we felt a bit like impostors, and were half expecting a passing attendant to come over and say ‘Excuse me, but what are you doing here?’. I think that comes from 3 months of staying in hostels and suddenly being upgraded. I did notice 2 woman by the pool who had a bit too much work done to their faces ala Joan Rivers. Fortunately the impostor syndrome soon wore off and we were sipping pina coladas at the pool bar in no time.

On the morning of day 2 we went for an optional sales presentation, so that we could get a free buffet breakfast and a discount on our room charges (you can take us out of the hostel, but you cant take the hostel out of us lol). Then we spent a bit of time at the pool, before catching the hotel shuttle in to Playa del Carmen, so that we could go to the Walmart. After our walk around we thought that the restaurants inside the resort were a little pricey, so we decided to stock up on groceries and try to make use of the kitchen at our disposal. While we were in Walmart we also found a tour agency desk, so we booked ourselves on a tour of Chichen Itza (the Mayan pyramid ruins) and a Swim with the dolphins afternoon (another first). The grocery shopping turned out to be a great idea, as we saved loads by eating breakfast and dinner in our ‘apartment’ on most days.

On the Monday we went on the Chichen Itza tour, which actually consisted of a first stop at an underground cave (cenote) with a natural pool, then a stop at a souvenir shop and a stop for lunch, and after lunch we sent to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan (which was actually a good 2.5 hour drive from the resort). Chichen Itza is jokingly referred to as Chicken Pizza which I found pretty handy in remembering the name. Chichen Itza was very impressive and we had a great tour guide (good English) who walked us around for an hour and gave us an overview of the Mayan ruins. I was surprised to learn that the Mayan pyramid, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, did not contain any dead bodies, and was actually used as a kind of calendar to indicate when it was time to plant and reap (at the solstice). Our guide also managed to demonstrate the feather serpent coming down from the top of the pyramid and retreating back up again which was cool. As was the bird sound that the pyramid makes when you stand at the bottom and clap your hands. The Mayans (like the Incas) where obviously a clever bunch. Unfortunately by the time the guide had finished walking us around, we only had 45 minutes left to walk around the ruins on our own, before we had to head back to the bus, which I didn’t feel was nearly enough time. There are actually a number of ruins around the famous Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza and we found ourselves racing around from one to the next. However I’m glad that we got to see the pyramid, as Chichen Itza wasn’t actually something on our original ‘must do’ travel list, but more of an unexpected travel bonus! We also picked up a couple of souvenirs that we are posting back to the UK. However we were a bit shocked to find out the cost of postage…it actually cost more than double the price of the souvenirs to send them back to the UK - ouch! However as we don’t have any room in our backpacks, we don’t have much choice - either refrain from buying souvenirs altogether, or post them back when we do.

The following day we didn’t do very much other than sit around the pool , soak up some Cancun rays and read our books. Steve is on book 3 of the Stieg Larsson trilogy (as recommended by me) and I have just started Eat Pray Love, which promises to be an entertaining read. By the way Kerstin W if you are reading this, then the author’s writing style reminds me of you. She is hilariously funny, rather detailed and very self aware, I reckon if you haven’t read this book already you would like it. The only other notable thing about Tuesday was that by the time we got back to our rooms, someone had slipped a wee note under our doors to say that Hurricane Paula was approaching and that we were at a hurricane warning level 2 (whatever that means, Im guessing its similar to a defcon 1) and that the pools and most of the restaurants / activities at the resort were going to be closed the following day. Call me an idiot, but having never seen / been in a hurricane before, I was kind of curious to see what one might look like from the safety of our ‘built to withstand a hurricane‘ room.

However we happened to be booked on the Swimming with Dolphins trip on the Wednesday afternoon. As luck would have we were driven about 45 minutes away from the storm to Dolphin Discovery where it wasn’t throwing it down with rain and it just looked like any other sunny day. We had an awesome time swimming with the dolphins. We got to stroke them and kiss them on the nose. Then we got pulled along by a dolphin swimming on its back, and lastly we got pushed along by 2 synchronised dolphins while on a boogie board (one nose pushing each foot!). My only complaint is that we weren’t allowed to take any cameras with us (well I guess it would have been difficult since we were in the water). There was a resident photographer sent out to snap pictures of us doing the various activities. However when we came out and went to view the photos (the ones of us kissing the dolphins were very cute), they told us that the CD of photos was going to cost USD100. This came as a bit of a shock, seeing as we’ve bought a CD of photos before for around USD25. Worse still we just didn’t have the necessary USD100 on us, and we hadn’t brought any credit cards along, so in the end the choice was taken out of our hands. We did walk around the pools afterwards and get a couple of photos of the dolphins from alongside the pools, so we will just have to make do with those pics instead. It wasn’t until later that night when we got home, that I realised I had left my trusty sunglasses somewhere at Dolphin Discovery. We are still trying to recover them, but in the meantime I like to picture Keekoo the young male dolphin swimming around with them perched on the end of his nose. He will clearly be the coolest dolphin in the pool wearing my rap around black ray bans. By the time we got back to the hotel that night, we had another note under our door to say that the hurricane was passing and the activities were back on, so it was all over very quickly and not nearly as windy/rainy as I had expected.

Thursday was our last day in the resort, and we had a bit of boring admin to sort out before leaving. We basically spent the day doing laundry, posting souvenirs, getting forex, updating the blog and sorting out important emails. Unfortunately even though we’ve been gone for over 3 months now, every now and then the odd council tax bill / RAC membership renewal letter pops up demanding a response. Thanks go to Mum Taylor for kindly receiving and scanning in all our post.

First thing Friday morning we had some cereal for brekky (another bonus of having a kitchen for a whole week - we don’t get to eat much cereal nowadays) and taxied to Cancun airport for our Cuba flight. All good things must come to an end, and we paid a sad farewell to our luxurious room and life of comfort. Thanks again to Mum Connellan for a fab gift.

When we got to Cancun airport, our 13h10 Mexicana flight to Cuba was, rather ominously, not showing on the departure board. The more informed among you may remember the name Mexicana from the news a while back, as they just happened to go bust about a week after we booked our flights with them in August. However this was Not news to us on the day, and we had contacted Opodo earlier in the week to check if our flight was still on. Opodo informed us that some Mexicana flights were still running and ours was scheduled to depart on time (A Okay). Unfortunately this couldn’t have been further from the truth, as there was nary a soul to be found at the Mexicana check in desk, or the Mexicana Tickets Sales counter when we arrived at the airport. Nor was there any sign / sort of information around regarding Mexicana to tell unsuspecting passengers what was going on. It was left to the Airport Information man to tell us that Mexicana had stopped flying from Cancun about 2 months before. Needless to say we were Not very impressed with Opodo customer services at that point. We were basically left standing in Cancun airport with all our luggage at 10h00 on the Friday morning without a flight. We then spent the next hour running around between the different operators in the airport, to try and find ourselves another flight to Cuba leaving on the same day. We did manage to get ourselves on a 12h30 flight, however as we bought the tickets last minute they were at much inflated prices - grrrr - complaint already in with Opodo! It was quite a relief once our luggage was finally checked in and we made our way through to the boarding gates. So it’s a short flight before our Cuban adventure begins…but more about that later.

In the meantime you folks have been busy at home and congratulations go out to Ryan and Ann, Nicky and Grant, Wendy and Cyril & Dimitri and Anna on their new bundles of joy, as well as Jessica and David on their big day.

Love to all at home,
Kirst x