me-x-i-co!

well this post is slightly overdue, not unlike most of my posts... as most of you know, i went to playa del carmen with my mom for a week starting aug 24th. we stayed at the same resort we have a timeshare for, but since it wasn't our week (we traded something for this week), we weren't staying in our unit and we only had a 1 bed/1 bath and small kitchen. like a small fridge and microwave and toaster. anyways, the resort seemed rather empty - my mom said at one point that it seemed like their were more employees than guests! we did go there the week that most US kids were heading back to school so no surprise there. we went sunday-friday so that i could be here for my saturday runs. however, 3 days before leaving i got the good news about the stress fracture in my heel. awesome. so i dragged myself all the way to cancun with that big hideous boot and purple soft cast. i met mom when i changed planes in houston and off we went. she'd been upgraded (she's an elite member of continental) and being the nice momma she is, she gave it to me so that i would have extra room for the boot. there were a bunch of empty seats and even one next to me, but they wouldn't let her move up. mean airlines!! what do you have to do to get upgraded these days?!

sunday we explored the resort. monday we went to the pool. my soft purple cast and all. it was hot. we ate lunch by the pool. went back out by the pool. mom swam, i watched. that night, i was able to remove the purple soft cast in anticipation of our fun tuesday tour that had been planned.

tour day: tues
picture explanation: on the zipline on the bottom right was one of the girls in our group, helen. and yes, that is me ziplining with my boot. yes, you may laugh.

zipline/canoe/free water swim & diving

the zipline was fun, but it was super short. there were two that we got to do. it was fun, but not something i need to do again there. i hear from my parents that hawaii has amazing ziplines. from where the zipline ended, we took a canoe and explore a cave and then canoed over to where we had started the zip line. and then we went to the fresh water pool for some swimming and cliff jumping. not as scary as it sounds...said cliff was maybe 15 feet. there was another couple in our group that was super nice and they decided to jump off and so did i. mom said hell no. the first time i jumped, our tour guide (who was probably younger than me) said to dive in... i said oh absolutely not! and went feet first and getting a ton of water up the nose. awesome. the second time i actually dove head first! the couple also did the dive - they did it first - and then i did. i should know to just go first as back in the 4th grade i figured my friend had dared me, but she went first and was fine so i did it and landed in the er with a bunch of stitches in my chin. i digress. i dove a couple more times and that was a blast.

snorkeling the cenote - dos oyes

after the zipline, it was time to go snorkeling in a cenote which is an underwater cave. it was super cool. a bunch of scuba people go there as well as snorkelers. we had flashlights and swam through some pretty low ceilings.

lunch at la buena vida in akumel

then it was time for lunch - thank god. i was starving! the restaurant was in this little town called akumel and it is such a cute pretty place! if you are in the cancun/playa area, you must check it out. the lunch place was casual and we ate at a table on the beach. food was yummy. i had their special tacos and i definitely could have kept eating them.

snorkel in turtle area

after lunch we got in a boat and went to snorkel with the turtles. mom gets seasick and this boat was no exception. lucky mom! fortunately she didn't pollute the water. we went snorkeling and saw a lot of big sea turtles. very cool.

snorkel in lagoon - yal ku

this was by far my favorite spot to snorkel. there were tons of fish to sea and it was a combination of fresh and salt water so in some spots it got super cold and then in others it would be pretty warm. there were so many different kinds of fish and the water was gorgeous. it was clearly more of a locals spot as there were local families hanging out and cooling off in the water. our guide said this was one of the best places b/c it hadn't been spoiled yet by commercialism and too much tourism like xel ha.

after that final snorkel, it was finally time to head home...everyone was exhausted! it was a super long, super fun day.

wed:
spa/beach/playa - shop & dinner

we relaxed. and that's about it. we both had spa appts in the morning and then in the afternoon we sat on the beach. for dinner, we went in to playa to see the city and eat. there were some cool shops and loads of junk and i swear if one more guy trying to sell me something asked if my boot was from too much tequila i was going to punch them in the face. seriously, you're not clever, i've heard that 17 times already. that and hairbraiding. no. i do not. want. braids. ever. i think 26 people asked me that.
*not actual numbers... totally exaggerating... but not by much.

thurs:
spent thurs, well, went back to the spa (there was a special so i got a facial and massage - 1 each day) and then went to the beach. the beach is awesome. beautiful, white, sandy, big, quiet. and the water is warm and pretty calm. we tried to go to playa again for dinner, but as we were getting in the van (the hotel provides a shuttle service) it looked super dark and like rain. by the time we got to town 10 mins or so later, it was pouring complete with thunder and lightening and we decided we'd stay on the van, thank you! and not get soaking wet just to eat dinner. so we ate back at the restaurant where they knew us by name (told you, not many people to remember - esp ones in a big black boot). i'd brought 16 candles so after dinner we watched that. mom had never seen it and i hadn't seen the non-tv version in a very long time - i forgot how much was censored!

and then on friday... we had to leave. i would have been so content to stay and sit on the beach and play in the water some more.... but alas, back to chicago i went.