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.

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....

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.

Hasta luego!

Puerto Morelos

Today we had a trip to Puerto Morelos; a small fishing village about 55kms from PA on the way back to the airport.  A pretty quiet place where the primary industry appeared to be snorkeling tours.  Puerto Morelos is home to one of the largest coral reefs in the northern hemisphere so there was lots of activity with boats coming and going from a small pier.  The beach was a good size with lots of powdery white sand and not particularly crowded; there were only a couple of small hotels in the village itself plus some newer condo development where it looked like you probably get a sea view for a reasonable price if you didn't mind being 'away from it all'.

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…

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…

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...

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

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

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!

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:

Couldn’t help taking a picture of these cute cats that were obviously being fed by humans.  We stopped for ice cream (helado) on the way back through the marina and then headed home for cervezas.

Hasta luego!

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...

Avenida Quinta

Back to sunshine today and I finally got to spend some time down at the beach.  There are two beaches in PA, both an 8-10 minute walk in opposite directions from the condo.  This afternoon was spent hanging out at the pool, drifting on an inflatable.  This evening we drove back into Playa to meet Bev & Collyne, friends from Calgary who are staying at a resort north of Playa this week.  The main tourist zone in Playa is 5^th Avenue (Avenida Quinta) where there are numerous shops, restaurants, boutique type hotels etc.

  

At the north end of Avenida Quinta is a small area known as Little Italy and not surprisingly, it hosts some very good Italian restaurants and which is where we went for supper.  We selected a restaurant that we have been to a number of times and which has never disappointed us with its wonderful fresh pasta.  You might think it strange that we have yet to visit a Mexican restaurant but we have plenty of time for that as most of the restaurants in PA are Mexican.  For the second night in a row, it has poured with rain really hard on the way back to PA – so hard that it was difficult to see the road even though the markings are generally very good.  A bit scary but made it back safe and sound.

Latequila

Monday afternoon clouded over and made for some good conditions for a bike ride… the inaugural ride was relatively successful.  We spent about 1 ½ hours cycling around the community and all went well until I tried to cycle up a ramp just across the marina from our condo.  The pathway there is split into three; one less steep and longer, one steeper and shorter and one set of stairs.  I tried the steep ramp but I have no gears so that did not work, much to the amusement of some people who were milling around at the time.  The really successful piece was that I could still walk on Tuesday and my legs were not stiff as I was expecting (after close to a 15-year absence from a bicycle).  The cloud hung around on Tuesday and as we had some errands to do, it was not unwelcomed.  We headed into Playa in the evening with Bob & Carol to try out an East Indian restaurant (the first one we had found in Playa).

‘Latequila’ was a tiny restaurant with 6 very small tables inside and a few more outside, although they were out of commission because it had started to rain very heavily by the time we got there.  Harish and Claudia were the owners and operators; Harish originates from Birmingham in the UK and his wife Claudia is Mexican.  The restaurant offers set meals on Tuesdays and Fridays and this is what we went to try out; the food was excellent and we had a three-course meal for 150 pesos (~$12) each.  The set meals change each time so we will definitely be back to try some other dishes.

Off to a flying start!

We have arrived in Puerto Aventuras where we will stay for just over 4 weeks.  Our mission: lots of R&R, top up our vitamin D levels, venture out on a few day trips and sort a few things out in the condo. Our condo is ~70kms south of Cancun airport with the nearest town being Playa del Carmen, a 15 minute drive north of here.  Last weekend in Calgary we had lots of snow and it was       -29ᵒC when I went to work on Monday...

…and by Thursday we were +30ᵒC with a view of the marina and glorious sunshine!

We had a great flight down; Westjet kindly shipped Malcolm’s bicycle for free and the flight was on time.  The guys working the X-ray machine at security in both Calgary and Cancun airports were amused with our hand luggage that included a 4-slice toaster (we can only find 2-slice ones here) and a cappuccino machine.  We have been running a dehumidifier on a timer since we left in November and the condo felt good when we arrived – none of the musty smell that we had in the past because of the high levels of humidity and it means that we can leave bed linen and clothes out without them being affected by mildew.  One of the first things that we noticed was that the large tree at end of our yard had lost some of its leaves compared to when we saw it in November, so I guess the trees do realize that it is winter even if it is 30ᵒC.  It has developed some large sacks which I’m guessing contain seeds (or new leaves) and we have affectionately nicknamed it the “bollock” tree (for our dear friends in Canada, this is a quaint English term that you may not understand…J).

We have had a busy couple of first days; on Friday we set up a bank account and received exceptional service in the process.  The lady that we saw was specifically assigned to look after foreigners, spoke excellent English and was most efficient in what she had to do.  We left with debit cards in our hands, instructions on how to set up internet banking and all the details that we needed to send a wire transfer.  We also purchased a mobile internet stick which we are still trying to work with but seems to be okay for now (alternative is a wireless service that seemed a bit slow the last time we came).  On Saturday we went into Playa to buy a bicycle for me so that we can keep active while we are here.  I left with a lilac ‘Bacini Bike’ for the grand total of 1,200 pesos (~$100).  After struggling to get it into the hire car, we did manage to bring it home.  We also came across a nice indoor/outdoor couch set and decided to buy it for our living room…. the only problem was that someone (a.k.a.me) had forgotten to phone MasterCard to let them know we were travelling and our credit card purchased was declined.  We had to drive back here, phone MasterCard then head back into town to make the purchase which worked fine the second time around.  Luckily we have time to spare…
Malcolm completed a 'quality control' check for couch comfort and he approved it:

Bob & Carol, some friends from Calgary that we got to know through motorcycling and coincidentally own a condo nearby, called in Saturday evening to see how things were going.  A couple of cervezas later I made an impromptu curry and we had supper together followed by a few cappuccinos...