Tag Archives: Mexico

The first tour we book in Cozumel is a Segway and Snorkel tour.  Since our first segway experience in Mauritius, Lee has been keen to get back on one again.  We had booked an early slot, but our tour time has changed – obviously to facilitate one of the many cruise ships that are now docked at different ports. It’s going to be a good day for tourist income on the island!  This later time actually suits us, but highlights how dependent the island is on the regular influxes of cash-laden tourists. Every activity is geared to suit the ship schedules.  The holy grail for a tour operator is to get added to the activity list on one of the ships and watch the money roll in.  When no ships are in port, many streets are completely deserted. You can tell that there’s at least one lurking about somewhere when the main square is busy and music is pumping out of the clubs. Small shops stay open late into the night hoping to profit.  All the storefronts along the shore, or close to the main square, peddle an odd mix of items designed to appeal to the average American tourists they can expect to see visiting for a few short hours.  The market ranges from high end shops, to cheap flea markets – all in close proximity to the cruise piers. The glut of ‘silver shops’ are generally guarded with at least one machine-gun-wielding security guard lurking outside, or just across the street.  It doesn’t look like they expect to see a lot of action, but it seems to be a prerequisite to prove you’re a serious upmarket place.  There’s also a mix of Tequila and Cuban cigar shops.  And let’s not forget the shops hawking nothing but Texan boots for the discerning customer. Few electronic devices feature in the stores, but watches, jewellery and perfumes are popular too.

Our tour meeting point brings us further south to the biggest pier, where the towering bulk of a Royal Carribean cruise ship waits, a steady stream of occupants spilling out onto the streets to spend some cash on having a good time. Today a group of them are joining us on our excursion. We pile into a bus with our guide and travel a short distance down the road to a centre where a pile of Segways lie out in rows under the sun.  During a short toilet break we witness a show of the Flying Men dance which is a regular occurrence in these parts.  The usual intro and demo of how the Segways function is given, and then the group are individually assisted with mounting the beasts for a trial spin. We circle around repeatedly until even the most unstable person has gained enough confidence to start feeling bored. We are sternly told throughout the excursion that any mounting or dismounting is to be done with assistance. There are to be no high jinks or anything more complicated than a bunch of people travelling single file, right hand side – or the culprits get banned from the Segways and put in the truck!  This makes good sense as we’re about to take to the roads with actual traffic careering past at any time. It’s a far cry from our Mauritius Segway Safari though, where the Segways were bigger and heavier, and the terrain was varied with various forms of wildlife and rocks/ditches to navigate. There anything went… one of the guys would just come along and pick you up again if your misadventure involved being unable to get mobile again for too long.  In Cozumel, once the group is ready to go our bags are loaded into an open back truck which follows along behind us, furiously tooting its horn as advance warning of any overtaking traffic approaching from the rear.

We sedately stay in line while the group trundles along the coast road heading further south. We pass by numerous hotels and clubs, all overlooking clear blue skies and calm seas of cobalt and turquoise waters. After about 30 minutes we reach a small beach club where we have 75 minutes to avail of the facilities. Most people obtain snorkelling gear from our guides and head for the water. The reefs around Cozumel have a good reputation. The waters are crystal clear and our masks are in good condition, so visibility is excellent. The variety of fish is limited, but there’s definitely plenty to see close to shore. The water is luke warm and inviting. A nice change for anyone used to the grim Irish waters.  Added bonus – fresh water showers afterwards to wash that nasty salty layer from your skin before embarking on the return Segway journey which goes by a little faster. It’s a nice way to spend a day, and a great way to see a bit of the coast.

We decide to walk the 5.5 kilometers back to ‘home’  It’s a fair distance, but there are plenty of beach clubs dotted along the coast to take advantage of the visiting cruise hordes. We stop off for cocktails and french fries overlooking the water. At the next pier Lee can’t resist the lure of Starbucks, so we both get a caffeine fix to keep us going through downtown San Miguel, and out to our pink Casa.  For dinner we make the wise decision to return to Del Sur Argentina Empanadas and try their grilled fish – best fish I’ve ever had. Lightly seasoned and perfectly cooked.  Along with more delicious empanadas. Can’t recommend the place highly enough.  A wonderful way to end your day. Tomorrow we’re back to the beautiful waters for some sailing and more snorkelling. It’s our last day in Cozumel before we move on to see another side of Mexico.

Too much travel combined with doing a lot of activities makes you feel weary of the world very fast.  We know that from exerience, so we had no real intentions of doing much in our first couple of days in Cozumel… unless cabin fever set in early.  So we went with a boring and easy daily routine initially – visit the nearby supermarket in the morning for some pastries for breakfast, and bread for a sandwich later.  Laze about all day reading and availing of the wifi.  Then venture out for dinner in the cooler evenings.   The second evening we ate at Casa Mission which had the highest Trip Advisor rating – a large restaurant complete with Mariachi band and very posh service. We had a good lime soup. Lee had surf and turf, and I had fresh fish. It was all very nice, but nothing to write home about compared to the previous night. We watched others being served the trademark ‘sexy coffee’ (coffee liqueur poured out while on fire), but neither of us fancied drinking one ourselves.  Overall we weren’t very impressed.  This is the problem with recommendations – what pleases the majority won’t necessarily fit in with what you like.  But it does beat the risky approach of complete random selection.

During the days I ploughed through some books, and looked up potential excursions for us to consider once we got sick of doing very little. Lee read the entire Internet (in between repeated cursing and ranting at the clunky kindle fire browser that failed horribly on most gaming sites) and embarked on a one-man crusade against all mosquitos that entered the house.  As it happens, mexican mosquitoes *love* Lee. His blood is like catnip to them. They started the war the first night with a fierce biting foray that escalated into a major assault on his face.  This was too big an insult.  The only appropriate thing to do was take extreme measures and try to eliminate every last one of them, regardless of guilt or innocence.  I, however, needed no insect repellent while I slept so long as Lee was nearby.  After the first night it looked like Lee’s face had got into a fight with a wall and lost. They then favoured his right arm which also started to swell in patches. This was not a good holiday experience, or look. Typically this was the only time recently where we didn’t bring a mosquito net on holidays. Usually it doesn’t get used. Lesson is most definitely now learnt.

I didn’t feel too left out of the wildlife interaction, as the ant army invading the main room was out to get me. 24 hours after our arrival a mound of excavated material started building on the tiled floor in the main living area. Slowly I start developing small red spots on my legs and arms. It was hot and humid inside, and the insects gave no respite. We decided it might be time to start getting out and about before one or other species involved ended up getting completely exterminated.

We wandered along the seafront mingling with the cruise crowds. The Disney Magic was docked in port, and the nearby streets were busier than we’d seen them before. We had a few forgotten items to pick up before going out and doing any tours for the rest of the week so we joined the crowds of shoppers. We got some bits and pieces and also treated ourselves to new sunglasses.  It took some effort to find suitable ones.  It was a close call as to whether we or the shop assistant would run out of patience first; every pair you wanted to try on had to be taken out of a display case by them.   We rewarded ourselves for a successful shopping expedition with Margaritas at Wet Wendy’s Margarita bar, which funnily enough, specialises in Margaritas.  The friendly waiter shared with us his two favourites – I had the chocolate mint, and Lee got melon chilli. They might just have been the most disgusting cocktails I have ever seen, melting into piles of sludge, but they were very tasty. We had burritos and tostadas to go with the drinks which were also good. It was time for an early night then. We had our first tour booked for the next day.  We wandered home through a refreshing mist of rain and once Lee finished a final mosquito revenge rampage, it was lights out.

It’s an extremely early start to the day for us; a cold morning dash up the road to Penn Station dragging our luggage behind us. Then a busy commuter train as far as the airport, where we queue and get screened a few more times for good measure. As we wait for the plane, a guy discusses with anyone nearby in the line about how he’s looking for his medication, but it’s in another bag.  Judging by his manner this is some kind of psychiatric medication. I’m sure whoever sits next to him is really going to enjoy the flight.  I’m not looking forward to it much either.  I wasn’t too well the night before.  My stomach is still unhappy, and not too impressed at the offer of nothing but intermittent airline snacks for most of the day. The layover in Atlanta is too short to do very much other then get to the next departure gate, so proper food will have to wait until we reach Mexico.

Once we finally arrive at Cancun airport we’re delayed by more endless immigration and customs queues full of very loud people.  Each time we get past one check, we find another waiting around the corner – generally with very few staff to cater to the volume of traffic trying to get through.  We finally escape the bowels of the airport to be accosted by the usual chaos of taxi drivers and touts outside, desperately trying to funnel people into their taxis. We opt for the simple and effective airport bus which takes you to Playa del Carmen in about an hour for a reasonable fare. We pass numerous exclusive resorts on the way, dripping in wealth and privilege. However our accommodation for this trip is far more budget-friendly.  We’re heading for a holiday rental villa on the island of Cozumel.

The closest port to Cozumel is at Playa del Carmen, where ferries regularly run back and forth between the two.  Playa del Carmen is a bustling place. Crowds of tourists wandering the streets and sprawled out on the beaches.  It also has all the sideshows that go along with the tourism industry – taxis, shops, tour operators and fast food. Definitely not a very authentic Mexican experience.  We grab some unappetising congealed pizza slices to keep us going just before boarding the ferry, hoping to reach our ultimate destination before it gets too dark.  It takes almost an hour before the coastline disappears behind us and we finish the docking procedure at Cozumel ferry port. There they search my bag once more, just for fun. The sun is below the horizon when we finally exit the port, hoping our guide to the accommodation will be there and save us the effort of finding our way through unfamiliar streets in the approaching evening gloom.

He’s there alright, an elderly Mexican waving a mis-spelt sign and brandishing a walking stick. He can barely walk, yet seems happy to drive us in a car that has definitely seen better days. “Just two of you?  Just two bags?”  Where he would fit more people or bags I don’t actually know. There’s little space left in the beat up car once our cases are jammed in. We spend what seems to be a long time driving up one way streets, and then back along others, before reaching our accommodation for the next few days.  Our driver maintains a friendly patter for the duration of the trip.  ”You want to rent a car?”  Not so much if this is what a typical driver on the island is like on the roads!  He then proceeds to give us a lengthy description of all his family members through each generation (though just the males of course).  We’re starting to run out of appropriate responses by the time the car creaks to a halt.  Despite the length of the car journey, we’re located only a 15 minute walk from the town centre where all the action takes place. Our holiday home is one of three colourful villas situated in a less affluent, but fairly quiet neighbourhood. Although the combined stench of freshener, disinfectant and bug spray permeates everything (including our clothes after a couple of days), the rooms are spacious and relatively clean.  After freshening up we go in search of our first proper meal of the day.

Cozumel is a reasonably big island just off the east coast of Mexico that is extremely popular with the cruise lines. The main town is a bit smaller and homelier than Playa del Carmen seemed to be. The residential streets are quiet, although the main roads are clogged with traffic at times. At this time of year the town centre is peaceful, unless there’s a cruise ship docked nearby. There are no queues for the plentiful restaurants, although most seem to be doing some trade.  We bring our business to Del Sur Argentina Empanadas.  It’s currently in second place at the top of the Trip Advisor list of Cozumel restaurants. We later find that Trip Advisor is the primary means of advertising to tourists visiting these parts.  Signs adorn most eating establishments and the tour operators ask for any positive comments to be added there to help drive more future business to them.  Assuming that a highly recommended establishment won’t disappoint too much, we opt for checking it out.

We find ourselves in a clean and cosy place. Apart from the main courses of grilled meat and fish, the restaurant specialises in empanadas. These are pastries that can contain savoury or sweet fillings.  We share a chicken empanada for a starter, and it’s pretty good. We risk the steak for mains. Although the waiter smirks a little when I say I want mine well done, he insists we cut the meat he brings to the table to make sure it’s cooked as each of us wanted. The meat is served in just its own juices. Mine is a little pink in places, but definitely cooked. Both are juicy and cooked beautifully. The side salad has a lovely vinagrette that isn’t too sharp, yet has a tasty kick. Some fresh bread and garlic butter round things off nicely. This is a very impressive dinner so far.  We can’t resist trying a dessert. My apple and cinnamon empanada is delicious, and Lee loves his caramel empanada too. If this is the typical quality of the food we’re going to be having in Mexico, then we’re going to be very happy here.