Visit to Mexico

Nancy and I were on a Mexico all-inclusive vacation from Jan 20 - 27. We last went in 2019, pre-pandemic, and we stayed in the same area, Playa Del Carmen (about half an hour south of Cancun). The flight was a bit messy - we were a bit late leaving, then on the other end there were two hours in customs with a gong show of a lineup - people coming from all directions, and only a few customs staff. Finally we got to the resort - thankfully the first stop on the shared shuttle. 

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Paraiso, which is unquestionably the most beautiful hotel or building of any kind I have ever stayed in. It the the highest tier of a four-resort complex and was adults-only. We had access to all the facilities at the other resorts (restaurants, pools, beaches, common areas, bars, etc.) which was really nice. I would recommend it.

The food was generally very good with the best buffet I think I've ever seen. The pools were nice and the service was very good. The beach had a lot of seaweed and the ocean was too rough to swim in at all, but that's just luck of the draw anyway. 

We stayed at the resort most of the time (managing to avoid timeshare presentations) but went on two trips. For one I booked a private tour to Chichen Itza and Ek-Balam, two Mayan ruins. It was a bit pricy but nice to have our own guide and vehicle. No stupid tourist stops! We also somewhat customized the itinerary. I asked to add in a cenote visit, and that wasn't a problem. This was a good call as the cenote was a highlight of the trip - a beautiful underground cave with a waterfall. And, of course, a buffet. The guide included a "photo package", which meant lots of staring at the camera, but nonetheless added some nice pictures to our own photos.

You can still climb the pyramid at Ek-Balam. You can't at Chichen Itza, or even Coba anymore (we climbed Coba in 2019).

The second trip was to Xel-Ha, which is part of the Xcaret attraction chain (we went to Xcaret last time we were there). It is sort of a water-themed ecopark. There was a river that floated down to the ocean, and you could snorkel in it (saw some jellyfish and other fish) or float down in a tube (we did both). There were ziplines into the water, and what they call "zipbikes", which is essentially a recumbent bike on a sort of pulley system - you pedal and you move the bike along the chain, flying through the forest and through caves. Pretty fun experience. Sadly (for me, and to Nancy's relief) the "Adrenalina" boat ride (100 km/h with 360 turns) was out of service that day due to the rough waters. There was also a waterslide in a lighthouse, and several buffets to eat at that were included in the ticket. Nancy liked the most basic "attraction", which was a bike ride through the forest. 

The other days we mainly bummed around at the resort complex - went to a few of them for different dinners, or to get ice cream, etc. They also had some waterslides. I love waterslides so Nancy stayed behind with the other moms while I went on them a few different times. 

The weather was a bit rough for the first couple days - just very windy.  Other than that it was quite nice and naturally, significantly better than Edmonton. The trip back was even worse than the trip there. A delay led to our flight being cancelled because we were supposed to change planes in Calgary. We got put on a later flight but our shuttle still arrived at the original time because of communication issues. So we were at the airport for about 7 hours, which isn't a good time. I would have much rather been at the beach if we were delayed but Westjet Vacations wasn't very good at changing things on the fly.

Jude was very kind to watch the house for us while we were away, and also dropped us off and picked us up at the airport. She seemed very busy going to appointments (including in Drayton) and visiting friends. She and Mom are coming this Monday to stay overnight for an appointment Tuesday. We are watching Beau since Grace and Dallyn will be in Jamaica. I'm sure he will be happy to see additional familiar faces.