We have spent our last full day lounging around in the sun and in the pool and tonight we will head out to one of the local restaurants for supper (the kitchen at Casa Meade has closed). Tomorrow will be laundry day so that everything here is fresh for our return, although at this time we don’t know when that will be. We are currently running the dehumidifier through one cycle to make sure everything works as expected. We don’t leave for the airport until around 4pm so lots of time to enjoy a good portion of the day tomorrow as well. The forecast for Calgary looks a little better than the past few weeks and hopefully we can bring some warmer temperatures back with us. I hope you have enjoyed catching up with our news….
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Paamul
Today we went to the beach at Paamul – just 5kms north of PA and the beach that we had seen from our boat tour. It has what I have to describe as the most funkiest RV park I have ever seen; RVs are parked on their lots and some of them have palapas built over the top of the RV and brick & stucco walls around some of the edges. Each lot is fully serviced with electricity and sewerage hook-ups and the RVs are used for sleeping/bathroom facilities and the remaining space under the palapa as kitchen/eating/living area. There is a small sandy beach with a cenote-fed swimming pool, restaurant and dive shop. There are chairs and small palapas for shade on the beach and all facilities are fully available to the public. Definitely worth a return visit at some future time.
 |
| View from the restaurant where we ate lunch |
 |
| South end (furthest from the restaurant) of Paamul beach |
 |
| Palapa-covered RVs (note the hurricane shutters on the middle one and the commencement of palapa building on the left hand side) |
Mexican movie night
Another first… last night we went to the movies to watch El Paleador (The Fighter). The movies are shown in the regular (English-speaking) format with Spanish sub titles. The trailers/ads at the beginning are interesting because some are in English while others are in Spanish. The movie theatre itself was located in a relatively new mall, was very clean and even had reclining seats. All for 45 pesos per person (just under $4). We then went on to Avenida Quinta for supper & coffee treats.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Sam's Club purchases
Three bottles of Kahlua, one bottle of Bacardi and one bottle of vodka; all are 980ml – 1.14L in size for a grand total of ~$36.50. Gotta love this place!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Turtle encounter
Today we hired the services of Captain Roberto, sidekick Palo and his 26’ Regal boat for a couple of hours. I don’t have the best sea legs in the world so I gulped down some Gravol before we left but luckily it was a very calm day. We asked to be taken around some of the different arms of the marina and then headed out to sea for some sightseeing and snorkeling. A short distance south of PA was some very shallow, clear water with some Mayan ruins in view – apparently we could likely find our way here on the bikes although not formally on a pathway.
We then headed north and pulled into a beach area known as Paamul. The entrance to the road leading to the beach is directly opposite the roadside café that we have stopped in for lunch on a couple of occasions. While we had intended to check out the beach via car, this was our first view of the area.
Next stop was a reef area very popular with snorkeling tours. When we arrived there was only one other boat with a snorkeling party on board and it left shortly afterwards. Roberto & Palo always bring their guests here and in addition to the fish and the reef, it is also home to some turtles. They had packed some fresh fish and very soon we had a turtle swimming around with Malcolm and Palo, both of whom fed the turtle by hand. It was perfect timing; shortly before finishing the swim three more boats turned up and the turtle disappeared. Palo also found a starfish for us, which we got to handle before he placed it back in a safe place (apparently if you just let them back into the water other fish come along and eat them).
We headed a little further along the coast before turning around and motoring back to PA. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole afternoon and I think swimming with the turtle was the highlight of Malcolm’s vacation.
Hasta luego!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Catch of the day
Today I had my first phone call en español; just a quick question of asking to speak to someone but I did have a backup question in place if they were not available. At least the person who answered the phone understood what I wanted! For some strange reason all of the scuba diving boats remained in the marina today which is most unusual – I checked on the internet to see if it was a national holiday of some kind but could not find anything to suggest why they were all grounded. The fishing boats were out as normal and by lunch time we could see a few had come back with some good catches so thought it might be a good time for a photo. This guy’s crew brought in a good-sized Mahi-mahi:
In addition to a human audience the catch also brings out the local wildlife, including pelicans and then this stingray appeared in the marina (looking for scraps?) which is first one we’ve seen here. We ended up watching the dolphins once again, as they are always so much fun to see.
 |
| Notice the 3rd dolphin in the background who was jumping out of the water as these two were on their way back in |
The bad news is that we are nearing crisis level once again, but this time with rum (it's not just me - Malcolm has been practising his Cuba Libres), vodka and Kahlua. Looks like a trip to Sam’s Club is necessary in the very near term.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Another lazy weekend
It’s the weekend and time to relax (as opposed to what?....). I have received a gentle nudge that I have not blogged about anything with my response being that we have not done anything as it is the weekend. Yesterday morning was cloudy with showers and Bob rang our doorbell to tell us that he was firing up the oven in the afternoon and baking a chocolate cake. Being absolute haters of chocolate, we readily accepted an invitation to order in pizza and have chocolate cake for dessert. I offered up some fresh cream that we purchased accidentally; long story cut short we were looking for sour cream and made the wrong selection at the grocery store.
We headed off for brunch by the marina and were watching a group swimming with the dolphins when we had a downpour of rain. We stood underneath an umbrella and carried on watching the dolphins while everyone else ran for cover. This photo is not great but was the end of two dolphins pushing someone through the water with their noses:
The sun came out in the afternoon, providing a short time to float around in the pool.
Food was calling once again by early evening; we had chicken wings and thin crust pizza, numerous cervezas and the chocolate cake was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately I didn’t think to take the camera with me so for all you chocolate lovers out there you will just have to imagine how good it was. While today was uneventful, you will be pleased to hear that I continue to strive for perfection in the pina colada making category....
Friday, February 25, 2011
Grand Cenote
Yesterday I had prime position for a sun lounger on the beach; front row with a wonderful ocean breeze and a palapa for shade if needed. Add that to a couple of hours floating around in the pool and my neck and the top of my chest were home to a very good heat rash (luckily no sun burn) by the end of the day. Today we decided to head down to Tulum to another cenote that had been recommended to us. Tulum is ~40kms south of PA and has some very famous Mayan ruins on the coast. The town itself is quite funky with a hippy kind of feel to it. We turned inland at Tulum for 3-4kms to find Grand Cenote. This cenote has more swimming in caves than the previous one we had visited and once again the fresh water was very clear and refreshingly cool. Malcolm took his snorkeling gear while I just swam around. It was pretty neat to swim in the caves; the water is a dark turquoise colour and bats fly around above your head among the stalactites. There is one cave that you can swim through completely to a small shallow pool. We saw a small turtle (~10 inches long) and lots of tiny fish in the water.
As it’s Friday, we are heading off to Latequila tonight to try another set meal.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Puerto Morelos
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cucaracha wrestling
In the green corner: El Senor Cucaracha – the second cockroach we have had ‘visit’ with us.
In the red corner: El Senor Malcolm with a secret weapon – a can of Raid.
Ding, ding – round one: El Senor Cucaracha is bobbing and weaving around the edge of the kitchen cabinets – El Senor Malcolm gives him a sharp left-hander shot with the can of Raid. Down goes Cucaracha but comes back fighting, legs pumping madly. Bam! El Senor Malcolm goes in with the second shot; Cucaracha is on his back and failing quickly. KNOCK OUT! El Senor Malcolm scoops him up and throws him over the balcony in triumph. Another one bites the dust! I wasn’t sure if anyone would appreciate a picture so I stood down from the photo op however am willing to consider any requests.
Remigio, the plumber (plomeria), came by today with an employee to fix our pipe. We are gradually working out MT (Mexican Time) – he says one hour, we extend that by an additional 1 or 2 hours and then the doorbell rings. The problem was not new to him – a lack of glue – as he has seen it in a number of buildings here. The employee gestured that he was going to get a harness (the pipe is in a service shaft that goes down the side of the building from the roof) and came back with a weathered piece of rope that was strung up on our palapa (this is Mexico, what else were you thinking?) and hey presto, job done. We paid him 300 pesos (~$25) which I think was good money for him and we decided was excellent money for us as I don’t think our travel insurance would cover Malcolm to hang off the side of a building. With all that excitement we had to spend the afternoon floating around in the pool…
Monday, February 21, 2011
Cenote Jardin del Eden
Today I had not one but two conversations en español. The first was with Carmelino who looks after our building. I asked him for our spare key and also for details of the colour of the paint on our building and where I could buy it. The second conversation was with Martha, our maid. I asked her to lock the door when she left, to put the key under the door and also made arrangements for when she would next come to clean. I was a little apprehensive but they both understood and likely appreciated the effort. Martha is a cutie; she starts working as soon as she comes through the door and works like a whirlwind to make everything look perfect. She obviously does not approve of the way I make our bed as it is always re-done when we get back! Malcolm thinks I should take some lessons from her…. I think he should be grateful for what he’s got and to keep quiet…
The temperature had hit 30.9C by the time we left Martha so we took the opportunity to check out a local cenote. Cenotes are limestone sinkholes with exposed rocky edges and are naturally filled with fresh water. They are quite common on the Yucatan peninsula and their entrances are dotted along the highway on the opposite side leading away from the coastline. We paid 50 pesos (~$4) each for an entry fee and found a beautiful and tranquil place to swim for the afternoon. There were a number of palapas for shade and just a handful of people swimming when we arrived. At one point only two of us were actually in the water swimming. I am sure it helped that we did not go at the weekend when no doubt it would be busier with locals (everyone there today seemed to be tourists). There were lots of very large iguanas running around the edges and the water was refreshingly cool without being too cold and crystal clear. We figured that the water depth ranged between four and maybe 20 or 30 feet. We got talking to a young guy who had visited a number of cenotes; he advised that each are quite unique and that there were some very good ones closer towards Tulum, so we may do that as a future day trip venue. Tulum has some good Mayan ruins (which we have seen before) and is an easy drive from PA.
This evening we had a trip in to Playa; the cerveza level in the fridge was getting critically low so an excursion to Wal Mart was required (the local Chedraui does not stock the beer that we like). Of the 14 items in our cart there were 5 six-packs and a bottle of wine! Malcolm found his favourite beer Negro Mondelo and there were only 3 six-packs on the shelf, so we had to find them a safe home. The total bill was <$60 with the most expensive item being a pair of swimming shoes for Malcolm at a cost of $12.
Just in case anyone is concerned, we have located the English-speaking Alcoholics Anonymous meeting place in Playa del Carmen…
Sunday, February 20, 2011
A lazy weekend and a lesson in physics
We have had a pretty lazy weekend; yesterday morning we cleaned the laundry room from the work that had been done and then I headed down to the beach. I used to have this theory that the beach was quieter on Saturdays because that was the busiest day for hotel transfers. That theory fell apart yesterday when I could not find a sun lounger to sit on. I came home after a couple of hours and floated around in the pool on an inflatable for the afternoon. Last night we went to Mangoe’s for supper – a restaurant around the marina that opened last year and has provided consistent food quality and service since our first visit to it last November. We enjoyed a Caesar salad each and shared shrimp quesadillas. The Caesar salad is very good, firstly because I don’t seem to eat anywhere near as many salads as I do in Calgary and secondly because the waiter makes it tableside with the dressing made from scratch. The quesadillas were excellent with some very plump and large shrimp. With the addition of three drinks the bill came to a grand total of 320 pesos (~$27).
We arrived home to find our water dispenser leaking on to the floor and hence the physics lesson. We cleaned it up but it happened again this morning. There is literally almost nothing to go wrong with a plastic vessel that holds the large water bottles and has a small tap for dispensing the water but somehow ours appeared to defy this logic. Malcolm dragged out his tool box (not sure what for but it looked good) and the only thing we could think of was that maybe the bottle itself was defective. The plumbing was another story…. a pipe leading from our washing machine (lavadora) let go part the way through a washing cycle and we could hear water gushing down a service shaft on the side of the building and it also leaked out of the AC unit in our bedroom (the laundry room is upstairs where we go out to the roof). We did not like to call the plumber on a Sunday but it will be first on our list tomorrow morning.
I have been diligently practicing the art of making Pina Coladas although we ran out of jugo de pina tonight and had to use mango juice instead. I would like to say that they are almost perfect however I feel that more practice in both making and drinking them is definitely required!
Hasta luego...
Friday, February 18, 2011
School's out
Today was my last day at school. We have been attempting some more conversation these past two days and so my brain is really fried now. The underlying message is ‘keep it simple’ and not to get too hung up on trying to get what you say 100% correct – the general meaning will likely get through (Vanesa: I am bringing the text book back; we have lots of work ahead of us!!) On our way back home we called in to what I can only describe as a “roadside café” for lunch. A place literally on the side of the highway from Playa to PA with plastic tables and chairs and a makeshift kitchen and roof although I understand it has been there for a couple of years. We had two tacos and two burritos plus a pop each all for ~$6 and it was excellent. Unfortunately I did not have the camera with me but the food was so nice that we will probably be back and I will try to remember to take photos next time.
We had workmen at the condo from 11am through to around 4pm; we had insect screens fitted on our living room patio doors and on the front bedroom window (the original ones did not fit properly), a new lock on the door to our roof installed and our water heater fitted with a new stand. Pretty much everything that we wanted to do maintenance-wise has now been completed, which has pleased Malcolm (it stops me nagging about it…). Maybe it’s time to relax? The owners of the apartment next door are in PA for a couple of days and we got to meet them for the first time this evening; two business guys from the US who were more than happy to participate in the customary cervezas on the balcony.
Disfrute el fin de semana
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
ah cacao
Day 3 of school and I’m still looking like a deer in the headlights! We had a couple of extra (German) guys join our class yesterday – they were originally placed in a different group but presumably after day 1 it must have been decided that they should be in our entry level group. Reading and working with the text book is not too bad but trying to listen and take in what the teacher is saying and then attempting to respond back in Spanish is quite the challenge.
We spent the afternoon visiting with some friends from Calgary; Jamie and Krista are staying at the Barcelo resort just south of PA this week. If we stand on the beach by the marina entrance we can see the north end of their hotel complex, however we have to drive out onto the highway to be able to go into the resort. We spent the afternoon showing them around PA checking out the sea lions (who were in a training session), the dolphins and looking around the boats.
We stopped in for an ice cream and then headed back to our condo for cervezas on the balcony. This evening we all went into Playa for supper and then on to a coffee & chocolate shop called ‘ah cacao’. While I’m not a big coffee fan I do enjoy their mochas and Malcolm & Krista enjoyed one of their specialties – chocolate cake. Yum!...
 |
| Spot the two rather large pieces of chocolate cake!... |
 |
| Coffee art at its best |
Monday, February 14, 2011
Back to school
Today was my first day in Spanish school! I am going each day this week for 4 hours a day. The school is located in Playa del Carmen in a Hacienda-style hotel:
There are four other people in my class, all much younger than me (travelling after leaving school/university); two from Holland, one from Germany and one from Canada. I had to take an evaluation before being assigned a class and have to say I felt like I did not know a thing as the German girl and I were placed into the class today but the other three had been studying since last week. Very little English is spoken the whole time we are there. OMG…
We have a 30 minute break in the middle so I took the time to walk through Playa and down to the beach.
We called into the Chedruai supermarket on the way back to PA and found some freshly made empanadas in the bakery for less than 60c each. Essentially a savoury puff pastry with different fillings. A great lunch and I have spent the afternoon trying to read through the first part of the workbook that I missed.
Wish me luck for tomorrow... adios!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Proof of bikes
It rained pretty much all day Saturday, except a short break when I was able to walk down to the fruit & vegetable stall that sets up every Saturday. I’m crossing more off my “to do” list of chores; at this rate I may just have to sit and relax…
The sun finally came back today so I raced down to the beach this morning. There was a brisk breeze which is fine with me as it feels cooler when sunbathing. Malcolm did not go out all day yesterday so by this afternoon he was ready for some exercise. We have received a ‘special request’ to view the bikes so here we go:
 |
| looking a little unsteady here... |
 |
| that's better... two feet on the ground |
We decided to bike down a few different roads and came across some wildlife while we were out. Check out these iguanas that were sunning themselves as we rode by:
Hasta luego!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Bike tour of Puerto Aventuras
Today was cloudy (again!) and we have been trying to take advantage of those days to run errands so that we are not out in the blazing sunshine. We headed in to Playa to see if we could do something with our internet stick, which operates really slowly, but nothing is available to make it better. We appear to be faced with the lesser of two evils; the internet stick that works on the 3G network and has a strong signal but is slow or a wireless service that has intermittent signal strength but is faster when it is running well but is not a secure connection. We will persevere… We called into the bank and met another very pleasant English-speaking lady who helped us change our PIN number for our bank cards. It sounds very basic but when all of the instructions are in Spanish, we thought it best to seek out some help. When the account was opened an alert was also set up so that we would be advised by text message of any withdrawals (debit/ABM) of 1,000 pesos or more. We withdrew 1,000 MXN to test the cards and sure enough, the text message arrived advising of the cash withdrawal and included the remaining balance in the account. Pretty cool eh? Our trip also included a visit to a dentist’s office to find out the cost of some work for a friend. We also enquired about some general services for us and it turned out that paying 100% of the cost here for services was far cheaper than the amount we pay in Canada for the portion not covered by insurance. As an example, Malcolm’s recent 6-month check-up and hygienist recently cost us ~$90 for the portion not covered by Blue Cross. In contrast, a consultation and cleaning would total ~$64 here. A panoramic X-ray would only be $17.
After lunch I decided to bike over to the new local supermarket ‘Chedraui’ which is on the other side of the highway from our community. I thought that I would take a few photos as I rode back to show you our immediate area.
It is a gated community so entry is either by way of electronic card to lift the barrier or by discussion with the ‘guard’ who will take note of who you are and where you are going.
 |
| the 'main road' after going through the entrance gate |
 |
| ... leads to a dolphin enclosure with restaurants and shops around the perimeter |
 |
| there are sea lions and manatei as well |
 |
| and beyond that is the main marina |
 |
| it's hard to see but our condo is the one with the thatched 'palapa' on the roof above the boat with the yellow hull |
I was out cycling for just over an hour; the first few minutes were a little shaky - the Bacini Bike dragged me down the stairs from the third floor as it did not fit in the elevator!
Adios for now and let's hope the sun comes back tomorrow. I can't cope when the temperature plummets to 22C.... it means I have to start making cocktails to stay warm...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)