I remember the good old days when a vacation in Mexico used to consist of lots of lying in the sun, relaxing, reading, sleeping in til noon, cervezas and of course lots of eating. Well, travelling with an 8 month old takes all but two of those aforementioned items out of the occasion - the cervezas and lots of eating. Please don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, and will gladly suffer the hell known as airline travel with a baby to do it again in the future, but it certainly was a different experience this time.
For the first time in my adult life I was also very conscious to not get any sun - am really starting to notice the mess know as my dermis over the past few years, and thus I am probably the exact same shade of pale pasty white as when I left! I am sure I will be happy for it in 20 years though.
So, on to the good part - the trip! We stayed in a little village called Puerto Morelos which is nestled in between Cancun and Playa del Carmen on the Mayan Riveria. Puerto Morelos took a absolute beating from Hurricane Wilma back in 2005 and is still recovering today. Basically our casa was surrounded by devastation - to land and sea - and rebuilding of hotels, casas, roads and other infrastructure was in full swing (including the road leading to the house, if you could even call it a road - am not sure there are any shocks left on our rental car!). So, I am glad we went there and helped support the local economy - the area is definately suffering from a lack of tourist dollars.
It was about a 30 minute drive from our casa to either Cancun or Playa del Carmen. We spent a day at each, my preference was definately for Playa del Carmen despite the hoardes of touristas. We also spent a lovely (but expensive!) day at Xcaret (pronounced 'Ish-kah-rayt') which is an amazing eco-park/zoo/aquarium/beach/snorkeling area all in one. We also enjoyed spending some qt with the Nielsen/Miller clan. All of the kids held up pretty well considering the trip and the strange surroundings and high heat. Jasper loved spending time with his cousins and by the end of the trip didn't even cry each time cousin Logan "played" with him - guess the little one is toughening up finally! : )
So, now we are back and ready to book our next beach holiday (Maui - next winter). I got a nice jump start on my quest to learn Espanol (via classes and software) and none of us had a visit from Montezema and her revenge so we are all thankful!
Oh, and never let anyone tell you it doesn't rain in Mexico - here's proof!
