Last day at Allegro Playacar

We had an absolutely wonderful time here. In retrospect, we didn't do much, just relaxed and took things easy. In spite of the expensive laundry service and lack of options in regional beers, this place was amazing. What really made it great, I think, was the staff at the resort. They were all extremely friendly.

There were activities going on all day including water polo and other games in the rowdy pool. One big beefy guy acting as MC would organize the games wearing a cowboy hat and a woman's swimsuit. I actually didn't notice for the first few days as it looked like some kind of lifeguard's uniform, but eventually I realized that it didn't fit right in places.

Every staff member would give you a cheery "hola" when you walked by. In the buffet, the waiters would chat and make little cat noises that had Baby looking under the table for the cat.

Everyone loved Baby, with her curly blonde hair. She got lots of attention. Ina, at the front desk, even bought a little gift for her from downtown. Ina and Remco worked at the front desk and we got to chatting with them when we were looking for lost sunglasses. Turns out Remco is Dutch and a very interesting guy to talk to. Ina learned English for this job by spending six months in Medicine Hat. In winter. Talk about steep job requirements.

There was a Kids' Club where our kids would spend part of most days. The staff there would play games with the kids, but mostly Baby would watch videos like Beauty and the Beast on the aging big screen TV and the boys would play games on the PS2. At one point Donnie Darko did make a new friend, a boy in a room near ours. They spent quite of bit of time together the last few days.

Today the boy's parents got the timeshare spiel and Donnie and their son played videogames. When the spiel ended the boy and his parents left. Donnie stayed behind and played games for another couple of hours. After awhile I got to wondering where he was. I looked everywhere for him, which is easy to do in this resort, but I couldn't find him. I started getting worried. We eventually found the timeshare place through the disco. I hadn't thought to check the disco.

So that was our excitement for the week. Donnie Darko's friend and the boy's family were from Edmonton. There were a lot of Canadians at the resort -- there are a lot of Canadians in Mexico in general -- but we also met Americans, Italians, and of course Mexicans. The place had a nice cosmopolitan feeling, a nice mix of cultures. The next resort we went to was bigger and more impressive, but there was less diversity. It seemed more touristy, less friendly, and not as cozy, but we had a blast there too.

Making our way to the beach

We left Avenida 5 and stopped at the beach on the edge of town before heading back.

More shopping on Avenida 5

OK, another complaint about the resort. The only kind of cerveza you could get there was Corona. No Dos Equis. I got sick of that after a couple of days... maybe it was Corona Light or something 'cause it mostly just tasted like bubbly water.

Downtown, every one sells Dos Equis and you don't really see Corona advertised.

Tourist part of Playa

After I dropped off the laundry I returned to Avenida 5 to find the family. I passed a local who looked at me and said, "hey, Meester Cowboy, you drop your doobie." Excuse me?

"Yeah, you drop your doobie. Come here." No, that's OK. You can keep it. He smiles at me. Even the drug dealers are friendly here!

I found them shopping. Donnie Darko saw a sombrero he liked at a hat store and got a lesson in haggling... a little homeschooling in Mexico. He did well. It helped that we would not give him any more money and it was coming out of his own pocket. He wanted a sombrero and knew that he wanted some cash left over for other things, so he really gave the vendor a hard time. Eventually the vendor gave in and sold Donnie a sombrero at the price he wanted. We explained afterwards that haggling was a normal part of shopping in some parts of the world. It was a good experience for him.

Laundry day

OK, the one big complaint I have about the resort is the laundry facilities. There are none. Instead, they have a laundry service where they'll wash a shirt for you for five bucks. Five bucks! Not five pesos -- which is still highway robbery -- but five bucks! It's a wonder people don't smell worse there.

We could've just washed our clothes in the sink, but we're not supposed to hang stuff to dry on the patio banister and there's just a thin laundry line for bathing suits in the shower. Anyway, it would take like a week for something to dry inside with all the humidity.

One of the friendly staff at the resort agreed it was outrageous and recommended we go down to Avenida 30 in Playa del Carmen, which is where the locals do their shopping and business. It's well out of the touristy section, and we were told we could find lavenderias (laundromats) there. So we packed all the dirty clothes into a couple of bags and took a cab downtown.

We did find a lavenderia where it cost something like 30 pesos for them to wash and dry a kilogram of laundry for you. The only problem was the laundry wouldn't be done until Friday when we were leaving for the next resort. The guy said we could wash and dry the laundry ourselves but all the machines were tied up and we should come back in an hour. His English was perfect.

So we decided to walk down to Avenida 10 where our grumpy cab driver had actually driven right by a lavenderia without stopping. Avenida 10 is right by the touristy area -- where I left the family as I continued on with two big bags of dirty clothes -- so the laundry here cost twice as much as at the place on Avenida 30. Still a great deal, though. The woman here didn't speak much English so we had a bit of trouble understanding each other. She just talked louder to me. Still in a friendly way, though. I eventually figured out that I could come back the next day at 2:00 in the afternoon to pick up my laundry. Great!

Snorkeling

On Tuesday the boys and I went snorkeling.

We got on a bus that was to take a group of about two dozen people from the resort to a spot by Puerto Morelos, about half way back up the coast towards Cancun. There were problems, though. First, the air conditioning was broken on the bus. A lot of people were complaining about this, but it didn't bother me. You think this is hot and humid? Get on the C-Train during Stampede Week with a bunch of sweaty tourists and the heaters blasting.

We stopped on the highway, though, and transfered onto another bus. I assume this was arranged and we didn't just commandeer the bus of some other tourists who were wandering around the jungle beside the highway. Boy would they be surprised!

After a forty minute drive we got to Puerto Morelos. The captain met us at the highway turnoff and told the tour guide that the transmission on the boat was broken. So we drove twenty minutes back to another place that had alternate transportation.

We got onto a boat there and were handed life jackets, snorkels, masks, and flippers. While these were being handed out, the captain tried to start the boat. And tried some more. It eventually became clear that this boat wasn't going anywhere either, so they brought us over to yet another boat. After we all got settled and got the spiel about where we were going and what was going to happen, the captain told us that this boat was broken too. We couldn't believe it.

"Just kidding," he said and started the engine. Funny guy.

At the first reef, Calvin didn't want to go in the water (because of the sea monsters). A crewman said he would stay with him, so Donnie Darko and I jumped in. This swim was guided, but Donnie Darko and I straggled behind. Donnie got tired and too much sea water in his snorkel; I turned to bring him back to the boat when another crewman told me he would and that I should catch up with the group. I felt kinda nervous about leaving Donnie with someone else, but off I went.

I was really far behind and struggling to catch up when I realized that I was exhausted and would probably die out there on the reef. It was pretty, though. Fortunately, the guide stopped now and then to show people stuff so by the time he turned back towards the boat I had almost caught up to him. This actually worked out well as I ended up in the front of the group and got a good look at a ray he scared out of hiding on the seafloor.

Back on the boat, we headed to the second reef. Calvin got over his fear when we came back with no bite marks, so we all jumped in. The second swim was unguided, which was nice as we could go at our own slow pace. The boys thought it was great, swimming around looking at the coral and fish, but the time seemed to go by quickly.

On the way back to shore, the crew went around asking for tips. How embarassing. I didn't bring any money. I mean, where was I supposed to put it? So when the guy got to me, I said, "lo siento, no tengo dinero." I don't speak Spanish, but thanks to the Dutch blood in my veins I can be cheap in any language.

Mexican night

After a busy day of doing a whole lot of nothing, we went for supper. There are two restaurants -- Mexican and Italian -- at the resort. We tried the Mexican one the previous night.

I generally don't like Mexican food -- at least not in Canada -- but I really enjoyed it at the resort.

There's also a buffet in the resort, where we went for breakfast and most suppers. The food was good (especially the fresh juices and fruit... pineapple, papaya, mmmmm...) but after a week it got a bit repetitive. The themed suppers made for a nice change. Here we are at Mexican night, which was quite the extravaganza. They moved the buffet outside and had a mariachi band.

Evening recreation for the boys

North American Curly-haired Loonie

I can watch these things for hours.

Gecko

These were everywhere as well (in spite of the barbed wire fences).

They were cute, though, and probably helped to keep the bug population down. We didn't see a lot of bugs and only got a few mosquito bites.

Iguana

We had iguanas the way most people have mice.

Local wildlife

I don't know what this thing was, wandering around our front yard one morning.

A capybara, I think. Or a large, tail-less rat. There was a giant shrew-like creature out there one evening, too -- a coati or something -- but it ran away before I could get a photo.

Exploring

I decided I could use a break from the bar on the second day, so we went exploring around the resort. Looks like that tower to the south finally gave up and collapsed.

Our patio

I could get used to this.

When it's not raining

The fifteen minute downpours keep everything lush. Even the view from our patio was gorgeous.

Our room

Our room was on the lower floor. It was small but cute, clean, and comfortable. We really only used it for sleeping, personal maintenance, and storing our stuff.

Everything was slightly damp with all the humidity in the air, from our bedsheets to the little sugar packets for our coffee. We got used to that quickly, though.

The bathtub was a squarish tiled basin with a shower head. There was a little partition at one end between the tub and toilet that kept the toilet and fresh towels from getting wet when using the shower. There was no door or curtain, though, so the rest of the bathroom would get soaked when you took a shower even if you were very careful. It helped to take short showers, which the resort asked you to do anyway to conserve water.

Pools

There were a couple of pools at the resort: the rowdy one by the ocean and the quieter one near our room.

Sun off a beach

All the beaches in the area were suffering; the resort south of us was in pretty bad shape too.

We ended up going to the beach at the resort north of us (all Mexican beaches are public, though we couldn't use the other resort's beach chairs).

Did you know that ocean water is salty? Yeah? I thought I knew that too. You don't really know it, though, until you've waded in up to your neck, laughing as the kids try to keep up, only to have a wave wash over your head and down your throat. For a moment I forgot I was standing underwater and that my kids probably were too. All I could think was, "wow! Now that's salty!" And while I like sushi, whatever else went down my throat was just a bit too fresh.

The wave passed and I surfaced, gagging, making all kinds of strange, guttural noises. Some cute chick swam by just then, of course, and gave me a look like, "aren't you a little old to be throwing up in the ocean?"

Stormy seas

It only rained on occasion and then for only a few minutes at a time. The ocean was rough most of the week we were at this resort. I don't know if that's why but the entire beach was washed away and the sea wall was beginning to crumble in places. It seemed that resort workers were dropping sand bags next to the wall constantly to keep if from falling into the sea.

First day in paradise

I woke up the next morning refreshed and feeling much better after a long, ugly day. It was already 26C, humid, and wonderful, even though I woke up to a typical fifteen minute tropical downpour.

Off to Mexico

Our vacation was not off to a great start. I suppose I should have read some more to know what to expect but we'd only had two and a half years to prepare.

First, I only had a couple hours of sleep before the taxi arrived to take us to the airport. My own fault. I'm pretty good about packing for trips but I keep forgetting about other stuff like... uhmmm... Anyways, the wife wanted to only take carry-on luggage so we wouldn't have to wait for the checked luggage. Good idea, but it took longer to figure out what I really needed and how to pack it.

The taxi arrived and took us to the airport at 4:00AM. Everyone was tired and sleepy, but the excitement of going to Mexico kept us awake. Except for the driver who somehow didn't share our excitement and kept nodding off on the Deerfoot. But we got there alright, stood in various lines, and eventually got on our first flight to Denver.

The flight was an hour late at departure as they had forgotten to fuel the plane. It's a complicated business so you can see how things like this can get missed. The passengers heading for Puerto Vallarta had a tight connection to make, so upon arriving in Denver, instead of getting out at the terminal they had to jump off while the plane was still moving. Dodge other planes on the tarmac. We were eager to make our connection too but were told to wait until the plane came to a full stop and they could bring a ladder for us to climb down. Denver was no warmer than Calgary that day. We had already partly changed for Mexico so by the time we had climbed down the ladder and run into the terminal we were fully awake and refreshed.

We couldn't get seats together for the flight from Denver to Cancun. The wife got a seat with Baby, Donnie Darko sat alone, and Calvin sat behind me. They had movies for about half the trip but these suddenly ended over the Gulf of Mexico. Region codes or something... damn you, MPAA! The couple next to Calvin helped him get his drinks and meal and chatted with him. Calvin's usually kinda shy, but he got comfortable with the couple and talked to them quite a bit. "Are we there yet?" "Look, I see water... more water... more water..." "What do we do if the plane blows up?"

We stepped off the plane at Cancun at dusk and stood in some more lines in the wonderful 30C, humid air. The guy who took our passports was very officious but broke character to smile at Baby and offer a friendly "hola!" Normally very friendly and extroverted, Baby immediately hid behind her mom's skirt. Hours and hours and hours of watching Dora the Explorer, and when her moment to shine arrived she choked! Choked! I can only be thankful we didn't encounter any purple dinosaurs or brightly-coloured mutant British children with televisions in their abdomens.

Next we were asked if we had anything to declare. After making your declaration or not you have to press a button, resulting in a light glowing either green or red. A green light gets you a cheery "off you go;" a red light gets you cast into the Pit of Eternal Peril or something. I don't know... we got the green light, but the suspense almost killed me. Does the button know something I don't? Can it smell my fear? Did I leave the 30 kilos of coke at home or did I accidentally bring it with me?

Next we had to run the gauntlet. Lining the airport walls in official looking booths stood a bunch of timeshare hucksters, taxi middlemen, and people who happily convert the dollars in your pocket into pesos in their own. Apparently they're not allowed to leave the booths, but they scream and grab at you as you go by like something out of Dante. I asked for a cab to Playa del Carmen and almost ended up buying some ocean-front property in Mexico City.

We did end up catching a cab. I don't know what I was thinking, but the cab had five seats and with the driver we were six people. So Baby sat on her mom's lap. This would trouble me ordinarily, but I had had two hours of sleep, had been assaulted by salespeople, and -- after all -- taxi drivers are professional drivers.

They have something like STOP signs in Mexico. They're red, octagonal, and say "ALTO" in big white letters. In English, "STOP" means "don't go." But "ALTO" in Mexican Spanish apparently has a more nuanced meaning, something like "you are permitted to consider slowing down here if the spirit moves you."

The speed bumps are much more effective than Canadian speed bumps, however, as they are proceeded and followed by what are essentially man-made sink holes designed to remove the lower chassis from any vehicle travelling faster than 5 km/h.

Highway driving is more straight-forward. Speed limits are on a best-guess basis, as the signs go by too quickly to read. Again, I wouldn't be that worried (having driven the Deerfoot at rush hour on occassion) except every cab has a crucifix and rosary hanging from the rearview mirror, suggesting that Mexican taxi drivers believe God is their co-pilot or backseat driver or something. I mean, does anyone really believe God cares about traffic?

You can catch your breath at the speed bumps distributed randomly on the highway... or you could if you didn't get the wind knocked out of you when dropping from light speed to 5 clicks in eight seconds. I guess that's why no one wears seatbelts.

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We arrived at the Allegro Playacar resort 40 white-knuckle minutes later. I was tired, shaken, and paranoid, and was grateful when we were shown to our room. We all went to sleep not long after we arrived.