Sonya Bouvier鈥檚 account of the holiday she and Craig Johnson took in Mexico:
This year we went to a resort that was 20 minutes south of Playa Del Carm, on the east coast side of Mexico, south of the Gulf of Mexico.
It was beautiful with a very natural jungle-type setting. There were lots of nature paths for walking on the property; it was not just hotel and pool/beach. It was fantastic with lots of wildlife like iguanas, flamingos, monkeys flying from tree to tree, lots of birds and a couple of other things which I have no idea what they are called.
One day we took an excursion, the Coba temple tour that included history on the Mayan people, a few different buildings and ruins still standing. The Coba temple itself had a sign stating 鈥淐limb at your own risk.鈥� This is the only temple left in the Mayan Rivera area that people are allowed to climb up.
We did that. The steps were easy to climb up like a toddler learning to climb. Using hands and feet up you go. Coming down, Craig walked hanging on to the rope that was hung down the middle while I scooted down on my butt, one step at a time while also hanging onto the rope.
Then we took a 鈥渢axi鈥� back to the tour bus area as my legs were shaking so bad from the adrenaline and being afraid of heights and not breathing correctly. The 鈥渢axi鈥� was a man on a bike with a bucket in front that had a ledge. They put a cushion on it for a chair 鈥� very much appreciated!
Next stop on the tour was an old village where the people do not speak Spanish like the rest of Mexico. They still speak the Mayan language.
We canoed across a small lake, did two different zip lines, then hiked to a cenote, an underground water system. This is sacred area to the Mayans. We stopped and had a smudging ceremony with the local shaman for a blessing to go forward into the water.
This cenote was a totally enclosed cave; you did not go into it and swim out on the other side. To get down to the water, we had to rappel into the cave. The staff 鈥� local villagers hired by the tour company 鈥� helped us a lot. They had people down below who placed a tire tube under us so you landed in the tube and could float around in the water. When you were ready to come out of the water, you had two choices: climb the rope ladder or go back to where you landed where they hooked you back up and had two guys on a pulley system to bring people back to the surface.
From the top looking down it showed complete darkness. Once down in the hole your eyes adjusted and you could see the walls. It was pretty neat.
Once up and dried off, we hiked back to the village and the local ladies had lunch ready for us. Afterwards we went and bought the photos of the village adventure and then they took us back to the hotels. We were picked up at 8 a.m. and came back around 5:30 p.m. 鈥� certainly long enough, but just right.
On another day we did a shopping day trip. A bus picked us up at 10:30 a.m. and took us to a silver factory. I bought a nice new ring. Then we went into Playa Del Carm and walked around Fifth Avenue, a touristy shopping area. I was very pleased to find a Canada Dry ginger ale. When travelling you can never find ginger ale anywhere so I bought one and enjoyed it in the shade as it was a very hot day. That was the only thing we bought on our walkabout.
We walked a lot each and every day. It was great.
Nights were cool though. I did not have enough clothes as I took dresses for evening but it was too cold to wear them with it being 18 degrees at night but, with the humidity and a breeze, very cool. Craig was good as the restaurants at night required long pants for men, so he had a warm body.
