Saturday, Feb. 14
We have an early start for Detroit Metro airport. We pick up the Santoros at 3am for a
5:15am charter flight. We each have 1 suitcase and 1 carryon. A short panic at checkin
when Mindy had a document which was not an official birth certificate, but it was worked
out with an affidavit. At 5:15, the Reno Air plane hadn't even shown up. We left about
an hour late. Nancy and the kids got a little sleep on the plane, but I didn't. Immigration
and Customs in Cancun are easy and we find the Best Day Tours bus and head to the Hotel Zone.
We arrive at Kin Ha about noon. (Kin Ha means "sun - water" in Mayan.) The rooms
aren't ready, but the kids change and swim in the pool. We get our rooms about 1:30pm,
the Gaarenstrooms in 708, on ground floor, the Santoros in 748, up the stairs on 3rd
floor. Nice rooms, 1-bedroom suites with king-size bed, plus 2 twins in living area,
eating area, furnished kitchen, walk-in closet, bathroom with shower, and patio-or-
balcony. The Santoro's have 2 balconys on their corner room. We have lunch at the
beach cafe/bar and swim at the pool and the beach. The kids have pizza for supper and watch
TV. Nancy and I walk across the street to the handy supermarket and buy breakfast
cereal and snacks.
Sunday, Feb. 15
I got up at 7:30am, before the others and went for a walk on the beach. It is very windy,
the beach sand stings a little as it hits my face. (The sand here is very white. It is either
from the dominant porous limestone of the Yucatan or from ground-up seashells. The
beach has huge numbers of tiny, eroded seashells, which the kids like collecting.)
Our hotel and its high-rise neighbors, Presidente Intercontinental (west) and Quality Inn Calinda
(east) have good beaches, but the Fiesta Americana Cancun further east is on a little point
and has very little beach. It is a little more exposed to the high seas of the Caribbean,
although still in the Baie Mujares. Breakfast is cereal and aseptic milk in the room, plus
the fruit basket we received from our travel agent, Joanna (includes papaya). Later in the
morning the eight of us walk to the shops in the center of the Hotel Zone (Maya Fair
Plaza, Plaza Terramar, the upscale Plaza Caracol, and discount Plaza Fiesta). We only
make a couple small purchases (toy puppets, silver earrings). We hop a bus ($3 pesos, where
8 pesos = 1 dollar) to
Planet Hollywood for lunch. It’s a neat place with lots of authentic movie
props. I had good stuffed chiles. We bus home for pool
swimming and lounging. A light supper at Domino’s Pizza across the street, then sit on
Santoro’s balcony for a while.
Monday, Feb. 16
A late morning for sleeping, still windy. The kids swim in the pool
before we bus to an upscale shopping plaza,
Forum by the Sea. We lunch at Rainforest Café, with cool animal animations and jungle
décor. Santoros and Amy get T-shirts next door at Hard Rock Café. On the Forum’s
patio, we watch seasurf crashing onto the rocks and take photos. Across the street at
Coral Negro Flea Market, Amy and Chelsea get one hairbraid each ($50 pesos). We walk
home, buy souvenirs for the Crows’ and Melody. Later in the afternoon, we spend more
time at the Kin Ha pool and the beach. Amy likes jumping the waves at the beach. In
the evening, we attend the Mexican Fiesta buffet at the Kin Ha. (In general, our hotel is
very quiet in the evening, but they have parties on Tuesdays (Mexican) and Friday
(Caribbean).) The buffet food is ok, but there is good entertainment: two bands (fiesta
and pop-rock), singers, cockfights, lasso expert, and dancers.
Tuesday, Feb. 17
We are up at 7am to get ready for the Chichen Itza bus trip, a 2-1/2 hr ride
to the famous Mayan ruins in the Yucatan
interior. Mindy and Chelsea will stay behind. Unlike the past two days, there are no
strong winds, only a very slight breeze, so it will be hot. The bus leaves on time, our
guide is Martin, from Mexico City. On the way downtown for a pickup, we have a flat
tire and quickly switch buses (new driver Harry). We make one more stop outside
Cancun at the timeshare Moon Palace (middle of jungle), then take Freeway 180 to
Villadolid (also stop at Quintana Roo - Yucatan border, because Q. Roo is a freeport
state, so Mexican residents have to pay duty on Q. R. purchases). We photograph an old
colonial church at Valladolid, after walking past numerous beggars, then take Old 180 to
a Mayan souvenir stop (Dale buys a brass Mayan calendar plate) and to a buffet lunch at a
hotel near Chichen Itza. The food is very good, especially the Yucatan specialties like
Conchinita pork, which is shredded pork, seasoned with achiote and wrapped in banana
leaves for baking. Native Yucatan dancers entertained us. We finally get to
C.I. at 1:30pm. The guided tour by Martin is two
hours, then we have one hour free. The main ruins are indicated in the map. It is a hot
day. We buy water a couple times to supplement what we brought and look for shade
whenever possible. Dale climbs the pyramid 3 times, Nancy once. Amy, Zack, and I go
partway. The bus ride seems long on the way home, arriving 7pm. We jump into the
pool, then have leftover pizza for supper.
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Amy and I got up earlier to go to the store, but both the supermarket and the hotel’s
minimart were closed. Later we got milk and postcards at the minimart. Today was
pool-lounging and beach-combing day. The kids found sponges, crabs, and live starfish. The
sand is so white here it never gets hot. All four kids also did ceramic painting, the results
(boxes, turtles, tucans) turned out nice. Later, we had a siesta when we had too much sun
and heat. We had supper at Outback Steakhouse in Flamingo Plaza, a little pricier than it
is back home.
Thursday, Feb. 19
Today is our Tulum - Xel Ha trip with Mindy and Zack. Again, we were up at 7am. Our
guide is Luis, our driver is Douglas. The bus has both English- and Spanish-speaking
passengers, so all announcements are repeated. The trip to Tulum is about 120 km,
shorter than the trip to Chichen Itza, but almost as long since the road is 4-lane divided
only a fourth the way, then road construction and 2-lane the remainder. There is
development everywhere. Playa del Carmen, where the ferry goes to Cozumel, has
grown from 10,000 to 60,000 in 5 years. Outside of the Mayan ruins at Tulum, we order
box lunches for back on the bus. Tulum was built in the late post-Classic period and was
still occupied when the Spanish arrived. The cliffs, seashore, and city walls make it a
very picturesque place, but the workmanship is not as good as Chichen Itza. (Tulum is
Mayan for "wall", but that was not the original city name.) Following Tulum, we had a short
(13 km) bus trip to Xel-Ha, where a river widens before emptying into the sea. It is
protected, but the breeze has still stirred the waters so the famous snorkeling is less than
perfect. There is no coral, only smooth limestone, so it is quite safe for beginners like
Dale, Zack, and Amy. We see a fair number of fish here, which excites the kids. Later,
Dale and Nancy snorkel across the river (seeing a ray swimming was a
highlight), Mindy swings on a hammock, and I hike with Amy and
Zack on a trail to Mayan ruins. Iguanas are plentiful here, as there were in Chichen Itza
and Tulum. Our stay is 1:30 to 4:30pm, not long enough to explore
everything. We get back to the hotel at
7pm. We then swim and eat at the Hotel restaurant. Our waitress was from Mexico City,
like many others here.
Friday, Feb. 20
Dale and Nancy captured the little black lizard in our walk-in closet that evaded us last
night. This was another day at the pool. There were periods of sun and clouds, even a
little drizzle. I took the kids to the grocery store for jalopena microwave popcorn and
other items. Dale and Zack used their masks and new snorkles (purchased at Xel Ha) in
the pool. Amy and Chelsea played in the room. At 4:30, we had our only rainstorm of
the trip, lasting one hour. We took the bus to Flamingo Plaza, for Pat O’Brien’s Restaurant.
Nancy and I had a seafood platter, Dale lobster. The waiters, including Victor, put
on a show by balancing
drinks on their heads. The outdoor restaurant is right on the Lagoon. Afterwards, we
windowshop in the Plaza and buy Dale a Mexico national soccer team jersey,
which is a cool Aztec print. Back at the
hotel, we do our packing.
Saturday, Feb. 21
We are up at 5:30am and the bus leaves at 6am. At the airport, we check in and learn the
plane will be over an hour late. A breakfast snack at the airport café cost $21 US! The
plane finally loads at 10:30am and leaves after 11:00am. Dale and Zack are together
most of the plane trip, as are chatty Amy and Chelsea. Kids get along great. We land
after 3pm but are stuck on the ground over 45 minutes waiting for a gate. Immigration
and Customs in Detroit are fast, but luggage and curbside are a zoo, thanks to area schools' mid-winter
breaks and everyone returning at once. I retrieve the van from offsite parking and pick up
the families at the terminal for the drive home.