Flora & Fauna 6/3 - 6/10

Sunday (continued)

We left for the airport with little fuss & right at 1:30pm. Fifty minutes later we were at our gate, which was temporarily quarantined off from the rest of the terminal while returnees were being processed through customs. To kill time, we found a pub upstairs overlooking the runway where we enjoyed a beer & margarita.

We departed Port Columbus at 4pm. It was a smooth 3 hour flight into Cancun. We landed at 6:05pm CDT. Unlike other times, we were quickly processed through Mexican customs, reunited with our luggage, and on the bus destined for our resort in 40 short minutes. The bus ride to the resort took an hour and ten minutes. It was 8pm when we walked up to the resort lobby.

Our room was nice, just a few buildings over from the lobby. We dropped our gear and took off on a self-guided tour of the resort eventually finding our way to the pool & the beach. After the beach we found an open buffet restaurant where we enjoyed some food. We didn’t realize it at the time but the A/C was broken. We didn’t stay out too late. I think we might’ve grabbed another drink at the lobby bar before retiring to our room and bed for the night.


































Monday

Morning came and when I threw open the drapes we were greeted with fairly thick cloud cover, not the bright Mexican sunshine I was expecting. I was only a little disappointed thinking that they’d surely burn off. I left for my run after a fast round of push-ups out on the balcony. I was a tad nervous about taking off into the unknown, but quite often that is how I discover the hidden treasures within a resort. This day was no exception. I couldn’t believe the beauty. I found crocodiles, beautifully flowered lagoons leading up to waterside bungalows, and thatched pathways winding through the twisting jungle. I was in awe. And just like most of the reviews I read, there was no sense of over crowding by any means. In fact, it seemed a little deserted.

After my run and a shower, Mindy and I set out to find breakfast. We ended up at the same restaurant where we had our buffet dinner the night before. Again, it was a bit stuffy in there even though it wasn’t yet that hot. The food was good, however. I always look forward to the breakfast buffets probably more than any other meal.

After food we stopped by the lobby to check-in with the Apple Vacations rep. We booked our three dinner reservations, too, and received an invite to the complimentary honeymooners dinner. We also accepted an invite to a beach party. Next, we asked Eduardo, the gentleman working the lobby desk, why we didn’t get the room upgrade advertised on the Apple webpage. He said in broken but understandable English, that it was only IF available, NOT complimentary. Fruit basket complimentary, room upgrade ONLY IF available. Keeping my cool, I told Eduardo that the resort certainly didn’t look full to me. Now a little perturbed, he responded by saying that they were not empty. Mindy then asked the next obvious question. When will an upgraded room be available? Eduardo said tomorrow you come back here with bags and we’ll move you to bldg nine – jr suite by beach. Cool!

We returned to our room where we readied for a day on the beach. Clouds hung over head most of the day but the sun broke through numerous times. And even though there were clouds, we could feel the hot Mexican sun warming our relatively pale Ohio skin. We hung at the beach most of the day.

Later, we did dinner at the Bamboo, the resort’s Chinese offering. The service was exceptional. And for quite a while we were their only customer. The highlight of the meal was dessert. Our waiter insisted we try the strawberry flambé. And what a spectacle that was. After dinner we moseyed back to our room under a star lit sky.










Tuesday

We were greeted with sunshine shining in through the draperies Tuesday morning – a very welcome sight. I chose to run the beach in lieu of the resort trails – beautiful. Just as planned, we moved to a bigger/nicer room much closer to the beach. Snorkeled the local reef. Sunny skies all day. Honeymooners dinner hosted by the resort. It was very nice but very warm and humid. Couldn’t wait to get back to our room and remove our clothes and sleep in A/C.

Wednesday

I ran along the beach. Morning clouds gave way to sunshine by 9:30am. Ate breakfast at the White Sands buffet. Visited the crocodile pond along the way. Drank three Mimosa’s with breakfast – very tasty! Beach sunny but breezy. Red flags – no snorkeling. We hung out at the Rocas salt water pool all day – very lovely! Clouded over around 4pm. Beach Barbeque at 7pm. There we met Dave & Rela from Chicago. They were friendly and interesting folks. We shared a table. Drinks at the lobby bar. Met a couple whose names escape me from Germany on their honeymoon. She was a lawyer and he worked for Citigroup. Back to our room by 10pm, again hot & sleepy.

Thursday

Wake to sunshine! Ran the beach. Mimosa’s at the breakfast buffet. Rocas salt water pool all day. Mindy drank margaritas and I drank mimosa’s most of the day. Walked along the coral beach – very, very beautiful. Couldn’t snorkel due to red flags – high surf. Canceled dinner reservations at El Dorado steak house. Ate instead at the buffet. Very good! Back to the room and in bed early – before 10pm.

Friday

Wake to sunshine & cloud mix, but eventually gave way to full sunshine. Ran the beach and meditated to the rolling surf all the while the warm sunshine beat against my sweaty body. Breakfast at the buffet. I drank mimosa’s with breakfast. Wanted to snorkel again today but again red flags. No resort sponsored water sports. Assured us there would be no red flags tomorrow. Hung at the Rocas pool drinking mimosa’s all afternoon. On our way back to our room we made an unplanned stop at the main pool for the first time all week. Met Al & Gale from Tucson, Arizona. We drank at the swim-up pool bar for about 2 hours. We were both way buzzed! We also met two nineteen year old boys from Pennsylvania that were partying very hard and flirting with all the girls. Mindy thought that they were cute. We took an hour nap before heading to dinner. Still buzzed, we dined at the buffet. Back to our room before 9pm and in bed.













Saturday

Beautiful sunshine. Up at 6:30am. Ran the beach & meditated immediately after from the same secluded coral rock as the morning before. Breakfast at the White Sands buffet. Stopped by the Colonial lobby to arrange for airport shuttle tomorrow AM. Requested we be at the lobby by 6:20am for departure! What??? Beach by 9:30am. Mindy secured snorkel gear for the entire day for $5. Stopped to have her hair braided and beaded on the beach while I took a long walk. Snorkeled the same coral formation that we did on Tuesday. Thousands of beautiful fish. After snorkeling we hung at the Rocas salt water pool for a couple hours. After burgers at the beach bar we visited the main pool for our last blast of Mexican sunshine. Around 4pm a thunderhead exploded from nowhere, but we were ready to bag the day anyhow. We retreated to the room to grab some cash for souvenir shopping. We shopped at two shops- one open air vendor on the beach and then the Kantenah lobby gift shop. Returned to our room to pack for early Sunday departure. We dined at the Brazilian Restaurant – lots of skewered meats – rabbit, lamb, pork, chicken, sausage, beef. No dessert – too bloated and too full. Returned to our room for early bedtime – 8:30pm.













Sunday – Departure day

Up at 4:45am. Moon & stars still prevalent. I ran in complete darkness, although the sky began to show signs of day break as I ran. I ran the resort trails in lieu of beach. Kind of scary running the jungled trails. The sky was showing signs of day break just as I finished. I took one last run out to the beach. Mindy was all but ready. I showered and finished packing. We walked our luggage to the lobby as the bell boy phone rang busy after numerous attempts to call for a shuttle. No biggie! We departed for the airport at 6:50am. An hour and twenty minutes later we were through security and shopping the duty free store at the airport. We wanted a burger but they were only serving breakfast foods. We passed. We boarded and left 30 minutes early. Cool! Three fast hours later at 2:15pm we landed in Columbus.

Unfortunately, we were selected for a full search by US Customs agents. There was one other couple singled out as well. They had numerous bags and several illegal items, so we had to wait for several minutes. Both of us were anxious to get beyond the last check point and on our way home. Finally, after waiting about thirty minutes they searched all of our bags. Of course they found nothing. We were on our way to the Blue Lot by 3:30pm. We stopped at the Lennox Target before heading home. We picked up a card & gift certificate for Gloria and some much needed milk. We received a call from Jimaken indicating that their flight schedule had been altered and that they were stuck in DC. We arrived home around 4pm. Ashley and Olivia were there waiting for us. We visited with them until 5:30pm.

We arrived at Jody & Larry’s at 6:55pm – just in time to celebrate Gloria’s birthday. We visited until 8:30pm. Just after we arrived home Jim and kids arrived did too. We were happy to be reunited. They spent the entire week in the Outer Banks. After visiting for a few Mindy got the kids ready for bed. They went out right away. We went to bed around 10:30pm after I downloaded and edited many of our vacation pictures. I took about 350 shots.