Hoodoo Highway

Mexico

Our trip to Mexico with 6 other friends was fantastic. Of course, we had our moments and catastrophes - it would not be a vacation without them.

I will list them in a bit. Our flights were uneventful. Customs and Immigration were fine. Getting rental cars was fine. Finding Steve & David and Shyrlee & Bill at the airport went fine. The traffic from Cancun south on 307 was monstrous. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to Playa de Carmen. We stopped at Sam's to load up on a weeks worth of beer, wine and liquor. We got snacks, cokes, water and came to the liquor aisle to find that we could not purchase alcohol on Saturday because an election was being held on Sunday! Yikes, that was like being in Arkansas at election time but at least here it is only on election day that you cannot purchase alcohol. In Mexico it is the day before and until 1pm the day after the election. This meant we would be unable to purchase alcohol from Saturday until Monday 1pm. We were not happy foreign nationals. We pushed on because driving after dark on these roads is not a great thing to do. We stopped in Felipe Puerto Carillo for gas, restroom breaks that cost us each 3 pesos (T was quite upset because she thought it cost her $3 to use the restroom but was ok when she found out it was just .30Cents). We also got some Salbutos (fried tacos with shredded chicken, shredded cabbage and salsa) to snack on and pushed on southward towards Limones. It was dark, very dark on the jungle road. There is little electricity when you get off the main road. The place we were going to has no electricity, just solar and generator. We turned past Limones and started that 54 km drive towards Mahahual. We turned left past the gas station that we called "twisted metal". It is still a twisted metal wreck from Hurrican Dean. In fact, the hurricane damage became more and more evident as we pushed on. Turning on the final road, the beach road, for the last 3km was rough. The dirt road was very damaged and you had to drive very slow and maneuver around huge potholes and rocks. The mangroves on the right were full on debris from the hurricane, the lives of the people strewn about in the mangroves - waiting to be retrieved. We arrived at Mayan Beach Garden while dinner was being served. We were greeted warmly by Marcia and she promptly had us seated at the table with other guests (mostly Canadians we gathered). After dinner Marcia took us to the house we would call home base for one week. That is it pictured above from the beach. It was a fabulous 5,000 sf home with several amenities. My favorite being the screened in porch along the back facing the beach. We spent many hours there in hammocks or in comfy chairs listening to the music and chilling.
On Sunday we just relaxed at the house. The alcohol crisis was diverted when Marcia sold us a couple of cases of beer from her place and a bottle of tequila. She also hooked Bill up with some wine. We were good to go until we could get to Fernando's place in Mahahual on Monday. This picture to the left is the beach at the house. The water was so clear. The palms were sparse, Hurricane Dean took care of that but many were surviving and being replanted.

On Monday we had to go to Mahahual to take care of three major issues:
1) Dano lost the keys to the mini van and we needed to get in touch with National Rent A Car in Cancun to see how we could get replacement keys 5 hours away from them!! Marcia had given us her accountant's addy in Chetumal and we were going to see if that was a possibility.
2) Michael got bit by something and his toe was turning purple and hurting. It was also creating a rash up his leg and blisters, which he was scratching. We were afraid of an infection so off to the Farmacia for anti biotics
3) The alcohol issue - we needed to replenish the supply and make sure there was enough to last the week.

After a phone call from a pay phone in Mahahual, Dano was told to call back in the morning. It was election day and he would have to be the one to sign for the keys it they were mailed out. We got anti biotics, shampoo and a few others things. An ice cream truck went by and Steve proclaimed it to be a truck thanking people for voting until we all heard "chocolate' " and knew that was an ice cream truck - well that and the pics of ice cream on the side, the music and the kids flagging it down. We made our way into the beach area of Mahahual. Most of Mahahual was destroyed by Hurricane Dean but there is a flurry of activity to rebuild. One street back from the beach was Fernando's place. We created quite a stir, 8 Americans, buying tons of beer and wine from Fernando. I snapped this pic of the gang with Fernando, our hero! The pic below it is of the back street of Mahahual. As you can see, it is not a sophisticated city. It is simply a seaside town that will one day explode with tourists and buildings and, sadly, become another Cancun.

We mostly hung out at the beach enjoying the balmy days and wind. We did have one night where a squall picked up and blew so hard it slammed the door and began blowing rain in. It was a bit of excitement at 4am. It slammed the door so hard, part of the jam broke off. Nate, the sexy handyman in the area, came and replaced it. Poor Nate he had women and men drooling over him. It is a bit annoying when you have the heteros and the homos drooling over the same person!! (evil grin)

We did, finally, get replacement keys to the van. Fernando called National, they sent a man on the bus overnight. He got there about 8 am and left the keys with Fernando and caught the 8:30 bus back to Cancun. 10 hours on a bus to deliver an extra set of keys -- $50 was all they charged. Not bad. Here it would have been much higher I am certain.

Michael's leg got a bit worse and we were concerned we might have to take him to Chetumal (2 hours away) to see a doctor. Sevulow, the caretaker at the property looked at it and told us to rub lime on it, only one way. Sevulow is Mayan and knows he is at least 70 years old. He gardened every day. A very sweet old man. We are not sure if the lime worked or not but we did it! Michael finally started getting better.

On Thursday we went to Dzibanche, Knichna and Kohunlich - ruin sites. They were amazing. Michael and I had been to Dzibanche so I did not climb any temples there. I waited for Knichna and Kohunlich. Kohunlich was most impressive and beautiful with 300 year old Cohoon palms everywhere. It was magnificent. The Temple of Masks was cool to look at. We have tons of pics but will have to post more later. We were very tired that night and then another catastrophe... Michael slammed the van door shut on two of my fingers. All I could do was scream a couple of times, I could not say anything. Luckily, he understood those screams to be exactly what they were. He jumped out and ran into the house to get ice. I then stood there cursing because, well when you hurt like that, cursing just seems to help. Poor Sevulow probably had the bejeesus scared out of him! My fingers were sore for a few days but otherwise fine.

Our last full day together was Friday, as Steve & David were taking off for Chichenitza and we were staying until Saturday morning. This pic was taken by Marcia on the beach at her place. A great group of folks to travel with. Great music, well ok except for gay disco/techno stuff, and great fun.
Dano, Bill & I snorkeled with Marcia Friday afternoon and it was awesome! We had so much fun and saw some great stuff. I hot a red heart urchin shell to bring home. We decided we would like to do this every couple of years. So look out 2010 - here we come!

posted by Deb @ 7:53 PM