Trip Report
Akumal July 9 - 16, 2005
(Or How I Spent the Week Before Hurricane Emily)
What with the arrival of Emily and subsequent questions about
what effects there were from the storm, it's taken me much longer than usual to
get going on this report. However, all seems to be progressing well in the Riviera
Maya, so let's get to it.
We were pleasantly surprised by the efficiency and service of Sun Country on our
flight down…something they more than made up for on the trip home, but we'll get
to that later. The flight was only about half full, which is something we've not
had before, usually taking charters. They offered a breakfast sandwich and, in
fact, seconds. The flight left on time and landed just a bit early. Terminal one
(hadn't gone there for several years) was a great experience, but that may be simply
because it's an off-peak time and there were not a lot of arrivals competing for
immigration and customs. The longest part of the arrival process was waiting for
the luggage to be unloaded. Avicar's rep was waiting for us when we left the terminal
and, as last time, the process of completing the car rental paperwork was very fast.
(This was matched by equally good service when checking the car back in at the end
of the trip.) Total time from landing to driving out of the airport was less than
45 minutes. We made a brief stop at Chedraui in Playa to get some pesos from the
ATM and also some soda and cerveza, then beat it the rest of the way to Akumal.
Though we were at least an hour ahead of official check-in time, we were able to
get right into the bungalow and then off to meet friends Jule and Dale and to find
lunch at Lol Ha. Just after we sat down, someone came up to us and introduced himself
as OK from the locogringo board. Doesn't take long to find people you know from
the boards! Unfortunately, he was leaving the next day so, apart from seeing him
in passing a couple of times, we didn't get too much time to visit. We spent the
afternoon on the beach and snorkeling in the bay. Following Happy Hour at Lol Ha,
we headed out to Pizzaria Leo's. Great pizza, as always.
Pizzaria Leo's
Back to Lol Ha for some wonderful chocolate dessert, then off to bed. All in
all a great first day, but it had started in the early hours of the morning and
we were ready for some sleep.
Sunday morning was spent relaxing and snorkeling, and walking down the beach to
find a new turtle nest just a bit south of the ABR.
Turtle trail south of ABR
We took off to find Nacho's
Latitude 20° for lunch. Nacho was the chef at Gringo Dave's Tulum location and
now he has his own place just north of that location. (At least he did at that
time…we really hope he's still there, after Emily.) Same great view, smaller area,
but still a great menu. Also the same huge margaritas.
Nacho's entrance
View from Nacho's
Jule and Kathy enjoying Nacho's margaritas
Nacho's menu
After lunch, some nap time
and internet time, some more beach time, then happy hour at Lol Ha, followed by Pasta
Night at the main Lol Ha restaurant. After some beach star-gazing off to bed.
Monday was the day that Jule and Dale were heading home and also the day of the
main Playa Fiesta '05 events up at the Iberostar Beach and Del Mar resorts. It
was an interesting experience seeing how the All-Inclusive fans spend their vacations.
Huge place, beautiful landscaping, but they could stand to put some alcohol in their
drinks! The food was tasty and the beach was very wavy - no protecting reef there.
It was so nice to reacquaint with Sandy and Bob from MN, and also wonderful to meet
so many folks who have been simply board names and have been seen only in pictures
thus far. To name just a few: Bandman and Joni and Heather, Dorees and Beence, the
Chrises, Karen in NY and Ellyn in St. Louie, Tami, Keith, Okieman…and so many more.
I am honored to have met all these wonderful people. We headed back to Akumal at
about 10:45…very late compared to our usual Mexican habits!
PF '05 breakfast
Iberostar beach
Swim-up bar
Flamingos grazing at the Iberostar
Bandman and the Chrises(?) being photographed by Ellen in St. Louis
Tuesday was another typical beautiful day. We set up under a palapa for the day.
Snorkeled and shot a video of a turtle. While resting up from the activity, Alice
in AZ came up and introduced herself. So of course, we had to go have lunch with
Alice and Chuck at Lol Ha.
Lunch with Alice and Chuck
The afternoon became pretty windy. Spent a little time
on the internet and tried out Kathy's new split fins. Unfortunately the wind had
stirred up the water and it was pretty murky. Iguana Mama found us sitting under
the palapa…we had the Locogringo cooler sitting there just in case anyone from that
board showed up. Later I discovered that my carry-on bag had disappeared from our
room sometime between Monday and Tuesday. It appears that someone must have come
along while the housekeeper had the door open, darted in and grabbed it. Spent some
time with security reporting the loss. Later, during Happy Hour we started a conversation
with a delightful honeymoon couple, Bart and Angi (TheBlinnsinIndy) from Indianapolis.
They knew me from Locogringo!
The honeymooners
Chuck and Alice joined us, Barney1 said hi, and even
Kay stopped by! The place was definitely becoming overrun with locogringos! After
happy hour, Chuck and Alice, Bart and Angi, Kathy and I took off for Pizzaria Leo's.
After another great meal, we drove around Chemuyil and located their little library,
then drove around Akumal Pueblo. So mostly it was another wonderful day.
Lots of storms overnight, with the power out for about an hour. So
Wednesday was pretty much a do-nothing day. Beach time, went to Tulum for awhile.
Had dinner at La Cueva del Pescador (and ran into Iguana Mama again). I'll recommend
their very good, smooth margaritas and their excellent grouper fillets with butter and
garlic. Had coffee to-go from Lol Ha on the beach.
Thursday morning we spent at the Xel
Ha ruins site. Interesting murals from the early classic period, several groups
of buildings and a cenote. We happened upon a troop of monkeys in the trees along
the walk from the Pajaros group to the Jaguar group.
Murals at Xel Ha ruins
We had lunch at Nacho's again then ran up to Playa for some tequila
and a replacement carry-on bag. On the way back to Akumal the storms started again.
After siesta time we headed to La Buena Vida for the big Locogringo gathering.
Lots more fun people there. We signed Kay and Gary's plywood board (for protection
from the oncoming hurricane) and Iguana Mama's LG cooler. Much discussion at the
party about the expected hurricane. Altogether a wonderful way to spend our 32nd
anniversary. A photo spread with our Locogringo gathering pictures is viewable by
clicking on the picture of Alice's arrival, below:
Alice arriving at the bash, wearing her LG "hat"
Friday was another quiet beach day.
Took videos of several fish and stills of others as well as some turtles.
Turtle and hitchhiker
Both the Canon underwater housing and the AquaPac
worked great. The former is a bit bulky, however, while the latter takes some getting
used to, as far as control access goes, but they both performed their task without
any unfortunate leaks. Through the afternoon the beach chairs were gathered up and
taken to more secure storage in preparation for the storm.
Truckload of departing chairs
Parts of the Lol Ha were also being boarded up in preparation. We
made a stop at the library with gifts and also with a donation. We understand that
many or most of the kids were going to be heading inland to stay with other family
members. We took several pictures of the bay, just in case there are many changes
coming from the storm. We had dinner at the Turtle Bay with Alice and Chuck.
The four of us at Turtle Bay
The company was great, but the food was at best adequate. The selection was a bit low,
due to preparations for the oncoming hurricane, and I suspect that the quality of
what was available was a bit below the usual par for the Turtle Bay. We've never
had a complaint about the food there in the past, and I expect to be back there next
time. We had coffee and dessert at the Lol Ha and listened to the live jazz music
for awhile, then went to the hotel registration desk to settle the food/bar bill,
in order to save time on our way out in the morning.
I do have to mention the trials of our flight home. All was going fabulously
as we boarded the plane. We'd upgraded to first class for a bit more comfort on
the way home. Then the plane taxied to the end of the runway and waited in line
for takeoff. As we approached the front of the line a warning light appeared in
the cockpit and we taxied back to the terminal for some repairs. A couple hours
later we tried again, with exactly the same result. Again, spending a couple hours
on board while repairs were discussed and attempted, then we were taken off the plane
and brought into the terminal.
Waiting in the terminal
After yet another couple of hours we were bussed to a hotel (the Miramar Mision
in the Cancun hotel zone) and told that we'd be going back to the airport at about
10:30. At the appropriate time we gathered in the hotel lobby to find that we wouldn't
be leaving the hotel for a few more hours. No one could reach any airline representatives
to get a true story of what was happening, and at one point we heard from two different
sources that the airport had closed due to the upcoming storm. That proved to be
untrue, and some time after 1 AM we did reboard the bus for the airport. No preparations
had apparently been made to get us through the airport any quicker than a normal check-in,
so it was more lines and standing around. Finally boarding a replacement plane at
about 4:30, we actually left the ground at about 5 AM - about 9 hours before the
airport did finally close. To add insult to injury, there was no food and very limited
(non-alcoholic) beverage service on the flight. I do now have a fairly good understanding
of exactly what transpired in the hours we were waiting, however the total lack of
communication from the airline we all felt was inexcusable. Will I fly Sun Country
again? I can't say for sure. I suppose to be fair I should give them a chance to
prove that this was a fluke, but at this point I'm not entirely certain that I dare
do so.
View the rest
of the July 2005 Akumal photo gallery here.