mexico- arriba! arriba!

We just returned from a vacation to Mexico.

We stayed in Puerto Aventuras which is a town about an hour or so south of Cancun. We considered staying in Playa del Carmen which is about 30 minutes south of Cancun but I'm really glad we didn't. It is fun to stay a little more out of the way of the thick streams of fellow tourists. Puerto Aventuras is a gated community mostly comprised of houses, condos, Americans and Europeans... so not quite the "authentic" experience we tend to value, BUT it was great because we stayed in a condo rather than at a resort. The complex was called Quinta Luna and most people who own the 20 condos either permanently live there (mostly retired-folk) or used it as a second home, occasionally renting out to people like us.

The great thing about this condo was the view out our back door.

Jealous?

The lagoon was literally steps aways and our beach was private. A few more steps away and you were in the Carribbean. ABout 20 yards away around the corner was an infinity pool. We swam 2 or 3 times a day and had no competition for space or lounge chairs. At Spring Break, that is a rare thing indeed.

We were able to cook which ended up being a really good thing with the kids. We made a stop at Walmart (yes- they have TWO Walmarts in the Mayan Riviera- what is this world coming too?!) and bought a few groceries to have for breakfast and snacks, plus a few easy dinner options like pasta and a frozen pizza. I was really hoping to enjoy lots of great food but..... the kids whined like crazy come 5:30 when we would begin to suggest that we walk 10 minutes to the Marina area or pop in the car to find some good tacos or the like.

So I had maybe three really good food moments:

1. We stopped in Tulum which is a major Mayan archaeological site on the far southern end of the riviera area. In the pueblo itself there was an ice cream shop where I had both cajeta and corn ice cream. Yum. We need some shops around here to try these flavors.

2. About 10 minutes south of Puerto Aventuras is Akumal, which is a favorite snorkeling and scuba diving destination. I really liked the feel of this town. Just before you get to the arch there is a store on your right and a loncheria. We had read on locogringo that this place was pretty good and we decided to try it. I had some mole enchiladas and good limeade which were pretty decent and one of the boys had the chicken tacos which were really good. Plus their beans were good. Everywhere served refried black beans and sometimes the consistency was just weird. The guac here was also excellent- very lime-y.

3. This is kind of silly maybe, but I had a coconut ice pop at Xcaret that was quite tasty. It looked like a superfat, short white otter pop. If I could buy those here, I would have a freezer stocked full of them.

One thing we did that I will never do again is go on one of those sales pitches. When we picked up our rental car there was a lady who wanted us to come do a meeting at her resort, in return we would get $160 cash to pay for part of our car rental and we would have breakfast and the kids could swim in their great pools. The talk would just be about 90 minutes. We knew perfectly well what it was and thought since we always say no, we may as well hear what they have to say just to listen and learn. It was actually for a private residence club, not a timeshare, which seems to be a better idea, right? Investing in a purchase versus a rental? Man, these guys wouldn't take no for an answer. They came back at us with so many options and literally acted like we were crazy for not wanting to do it. They didn't seem to understand that some people need to do some research and think about an expensive decision before making it. It was also very strange that when we said we had no idea what other resorts charged for comparable programs or what people currently doing the program have to say in favor it, they didn't offer any info to persuade us. How about an, "oh here! I pulled this off a message board last week! Everyone loves us!" or, "down the road at these three spots they charge x amount for almost eactly the same thing, but ours has better trading power!". I mean, come on. I think walking out of there was a very good decision indeed. The good breakfast, cash and swim were not worth it. Afterwards we were thinking about our preferred way of travel and while we enjoy a nice resort here and there, we would hate to be committed to something like that because we like to have a pretty authentic experience immersed in the culture when we travel internationally. You know... stay at family owned small hotels, taste the local cuisine, walk out our door into the country or city, rather than into a pool and spa infested vacation bubble. Okay, enough of that.

The kids had a blast on the trip. They told us on our last day that they didn't want to go home and could we please move to Mexico?