Travel blog 29. Miami, and Mexico part 1 - Cancún, Mexico
Cancún, Mexico
The mental image I had in my head of Miami was based primarily on the Will Smith song and the TV show Dexter. As with much in life the glossy TV image was not quite the Miami we encountered. In fact I would say it's a city of huge contrasts. On the one hand the South Beach area is the shiny face of the city. Art Deco buildings, fancy resorts, palm tree lined beaches and boulevards. However there is a whole underside of the city. Large urban areas whose citizens live in extreme poverty and where drugs and violent crime are common place. Having seen a bit of both sides our feeling was that the first felt too clinical and the latter a little too real. Perhaps for this reason we didn't quite feel we'd gotten our heads around Miami by the time we left. However it was our first insight into American culture and what better place to start than one of the countries most beloved sports. I'd never been to a basketball game before either in the UK or otherwise. As soon as we arrived at the huge stadium there was a buzz of excitement as music blasted into the street. What followed was a spectacle of dancers, fire, prize giveaways and music. Oh and in the background some basketball took place as well. I felt like I'd gone to a show rather than a sports match and left feeling quite dazzled. We also chowed down at a cool food truck festival.
Before long we were headed for Cancun, our first stop in Mexico. The little preconceptions I had about Cancun before we arrived involved American teens getting drunk during spring break and up market holiday resorts. So I was pleasantly surprised to find our own little corner of Cancun where neither of those things were present. Through 'air b n b' I'd booked three nights on one of the more unusual forms of accommodation we'd stayed in. I was more than a little excited to be staying on our own private yacht moored in a peaceful Marina. When we turned up at the boat dock we met el capitan Patrick the owner of the boat who helped us aboard. The boat and the scenery was everything I'd hoped for and more. In the mornings I could sit on the bow and watch the sun rise over the ocean and at night we were rocked to sleep by the waves. For much of the time we had the marina completely to ourselves. Both being completely new to boats the motion on the first night left us feeling a little green but we soon got used to it. Patrick is one of life's big personalities and has been everywhere. He was a great source of entertaining stories, advice about the local area and the rest of Mexico. The neighbourhood had a local feel and we enjoyed visiting the fruit market and eating tasty Mexican food at small, cheap eateries. On Patrick's suggestion we visited some local Mayan ruins and cycled out to the remote isla blanca. It's a popular haunt with kite surfers and I enjoyed some delicious fresh ceviche sat on the white sand. We also got an insight into Mexico's party spirit. On our second night the Marina was hosting a swanky wedding reception. The preparations went on well into the night. We relaxed on top of the boat to the sounds of the band as they warmed up. So we were surprised to still see no sight of any guests when we headed to bed at 11pm. We assumed the reception must start early the next day. As it turned out the reception started at midnight and the live band and revellers went on until past 6am!
For our next stop we continued down the coast to the town of Tulum. We'd come here to visit the pretty beach ruins and some of the areas crystal clear swimming holes. Both of which we did. However what Alex hadn't planned on was our second Mexican air b n b host, Samuel, taking him out for a night of Mezcal (a strong Mexican spirit). The night culminated with Alex asleep in his pants on Samuels bathroom floor. This was a bit of a surprise for Michelle (who also lives there) when she woke up early next morning and found him. Tulum has picture postcard beaches and it's hard to imagine a more perfect scene than Mayan ruins atop the hill surrounded by Palm trees, overlooking a white sand beach and clear blue water.
Punta Allen is a small fishing village about 40 Km's from Tulum. It ticked all the right boxes in terms of getting off 'the beaten track' for a few nights. I'd read that one collectivo a day left from Tulum taking 4 hours to navigate the rutted dirt road. I'd been waiting on an email from a campsite in Punta Allen to confirm how to get there but hadn't received anything by the morning of our departure. Just as we were walking out of the door with our bags on our backs I heard an email come through and thought I'd better quickly check. It's lucky that I did as the reply from the campsite told me that the collectivo service had stopped running a few months ago. Now the only way to reach the village was to take a taxi about 13km's to the edge of town, then walk 3 1/2 Km's to a small boat dock. From here we were told to wait for a boat at around 2.45pm which would drive us one hour to Punta Allen. It was a completely unexpected change of plans and we wondered if the extra effort even made it worth going. In the end we decided to go for it! When we were walking along the jungle road each carrying 17kg backpacks for over 3 Km's we did later question that decision. As we took the boat through mangroves spotting rosette spoonbills and even a baby alligator however we felt more assured that we'd done the right thing. The village feels like the end of the earth located on the farthest point of a thin spit of land. The 'street' to our campsite was along the beach. We ate tasty food in the local Cocina including a whole snapper for about £4! And rented bicycles to explore all the hidden places including a large natural swimming pool formed from a sand bar with crystal clear warm water.
Our final stop on the first leg of our Mexico adventure found us in Bacalar town on the shores of lake Bacalar. The lake is also known as the lake of 7 colours. The different shades of water in turquoises and blues was simply stunning. The lake was a very beautiful and peaceful place and we enjoyed swimming, watching the sunrise, snorkelling in the cenotes and taking a boat trip. It was also carnival time in town and the main square was packed each evening with locals and tourists enjoying the dancing and music.
Part one of our Mexico trip has been pretty blissed out and we have met some great people, loved the scenery and in particular been nuts about the food. Part two resumes after our brief trip into Belize - stay tuned!