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Mexico and Costa Rica

October - November 2023
Food, sun, and Cenotes Read more
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  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 1

    Mexico here we come

    October 5, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Thur 5th Oct: After a very long tiring flight - 4 hrs to Toronto, then 4 hrs wait, then 4 hrs to Cancun, we arrived to a very warm and sticky 31°C - I think time to stick all the jackets in the bottom of the bag. Went and picked up our little Nissan March rental car, where they tried to sell us about US$500 more insurance. First time we have booked a car through a third party, Discover Cars, and we paid for insurance with them. But apparently if we have an accident we have to pay it then claim back from Discover Car. The rental places rather you had insurance directly with them. We decided not to pay extra, therefore had to do a US$8000 deposit on Doug's credit card as it was in his name, however his credit card is no longer valid as TSB has just switched from Visa to Mastercard. We tried using my card but when he realized it wasn't Doug's said no, so we put some money on our joint BNZ credit card as the limit on it was only NZ$8000 and Doug used his card. After all that fluffing around they used my BNZ credit card, which he had already done the transaction on after all. Anyway we got our car and was soon on the highway for 1.5 hrs drive south to Tullum. The accommodation I had booked back in July got canceled last week so I had to find somewhere else, and we were certainly pleased with Bufo Alvarius. A little tropical paradise just of the main road heading down to the beach. A simple room, but has the all important air conditioning, and at NZ$27/night wonderful value compared to USA, Canada and Chile. It was about 4.30pm and we were both pretty jaded - brought back memories of those post night shift feel. We really knew it was best not to sleep now, but the bed was right there calling our names. Ended up having only a quick 20 minute rest, which was good. Decided to go for a walk down to the beach, about 2 kms away. About 2 kms the road continued to the right, with a smaller side road to the left. We went right, however it was all fenced off with resorts etc and after walking another 1.2 kms without finding access to the beach and now being dark we returned back to Bufo Alvarius, stopping at their little restaurant for our first Mexican dinner - tacos. Yum, however Doug learnt the hard way, don't dip the corn chip in the chilli sauce 🔥🔥🔥. After dinner it was a quick dip in the pool, then a shower before happily retiring to slumber land.

    Fri 6th Oct: Enjoyed our well needed sleep until 9.30, then got up and went in search of a Scotiabank to withdraw some Mexican Pesos. It wasn't to far away (~1.5 kms), but they couldn't connect to my bank so have to try again later. Then to a supermarket to get breakfast and lunch supplies. Since it was after midday when we got back to our accomodation we didn't bother with breakfast and just had lunch. Afterwards we had another attempt at getting to the beach, only to get all the way down there in the scorching heat to find you have to pay MX$58 as it is a National Park, and since we were playing it safe by not taking wallet or anything with us we just had to turn around and walk the 2 kms back. So instead we had a relax by the pool and ended up talking to an expat NZer from Timaru who has lived here for the past 2 years for most of the afternoon. The accommodation is based at a Healing Sanctuary, which does detox treatments etc using the poisonous venom from a frog from the Amazon, and a toad that only emerges from underground 2 months of the year. It was interesting hearing about what they do, but at NZ$500 we won't be partaking. In the evening we went back to Scotiabank to try withdrawal some money, and was success this time. We then wandered down the main street, which was a mixture of mainly tourist market type shops and bars and restaurants. It was after 9 pm with the tummies rumbling that we finally stopped at a street food vendor and had a "mexican pork sandwich" for dinner. It was then back to our room for showers and bed.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 3

    Exploring Tulum

    October 7, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Sat 7th Oct: Well it wouldn't be a tropical paradise without tropical rain, and that is what greeted as when the alarm went off at 7 am. We were going to the Tulum Mayan Ruins this morning, and wanted an early start to beat the heat and crowds. They were only 2.2 kms away so we decided to walk even though it was very wet. Once we got to the entrance we did take shelter for 10 or so minutes waiting for another big downpour to pass. We then found out that you have to go to the ticket booth at the entrance and pay the National Park fee of 58 pesos (~NZ $5.80), once you have the wristband you can pass the guards and walk 500 m down the road, where you can go right towards the beach, or left where you pay another entry fee of MX$90 to visit the ruins. Once we got that sussed, we then wandered around the ruins for about 15 minutes before the rain stopped. I think we enjoyed finally seeing the beautiful coastline and animals such as the Yucatan Squirrel and iguanas more than the ruins, maybe we should had got a guide to give us a better understanding of them. Once we had seen them all - wasn't a very big site, but pleased we went early because it was certainly getting busy, we headed for the beach. It really was what you would expect from a carribbean beach, blue clear water, white sand, we just weren't expecting the water to be as warm as it was - apparently 30.5°C at the moment. As we were walking along the beach back towards town, we were approached to see if we wanted to do a snorkeling trip out to the reef, about 1 km from the shoreline. We just keep saying no thanks until I thought we should at least find out abit more, so as we went to go pass a boat getting loaded with some guests we found out it was MX$250 for about 1 hour, and good chance of seeing stingrays and turtles. We thought what the heck let's do it, so we joined the 4 others on the boat. After a short ride we first stopped below the Ruins for a photo, then out at the reef where we immediately saw 3 rays swimming around the boat. With mask and snorkel on, in we went. Wasn't alot of reef or fish, but we did see a turtle, who at times swam so close to us, unfortunately Fiona's old waterproof camera that she gave me wasn't so waterproof and had stopped working at this stage. Back at the beach we continued walking towards town, until Playa Paraiso or Paradise Beach where we stopped under a palm tree and each took a turn at having a swim. Soon after here, the sandy beach turned into a rocky shoreline so we headed up to the road to continue our walk back to our hotel, passing a snake on the way, which Doug tried to shoo off the road before it got ran over by the approaching truck. Once back it was immediately into the pool to rinse of the salt. Then to the supermarket to get some bread for lunch and we slipped in a pre-mix Pina Colada as the cocktails in the bars and restaurants are so expensive, about NZ$15 - 20 each. Our 1 litre costed $9. After lunch and with the sky still overcasted, but the bugs biting in full force we retired to our a/c room - Doug for a siesta and me to type up this. Headed back to the main street where we found a street vendor last night selling 7 tacos for $5, the vendor next to him was 5 tacos for $5, his queue waiting was alot smaller but 2 extra tacos is worth the wait.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 4

    Tulum Cenotes

    October 8, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Sun 8 Oct: Today's experince is the main reason we came to Mexico and especially the Yucatan Peninsula - cenotes. Cenotes are natural swimming holes formed when limestone collapses revealing a hidden pool of water. There are over 6000 cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula, and about 200 around Tulum ranging in entrance price of about NZ $3 to $80. So the hardest part is trying to decide which ones to go to. After reading through blogs etc we choose to visit Cenote Azul (45 mins north) and Taak Bi Ha (30 mins north) today. Again we got up at 7 am to try and avoid the crowds, so we reached Azul about 8.30 am and were the first ones there. We were initially keen on doing closed in or cave type Cenotes, and Azul is an open cenote surrounded by beautiful jungle, and I'm so pleased we decided to still do it. It was gorgeous - crystal clear water and the setting was just so serene especially before the crowds came. Also enjoyed seeing the birds and lizards in the jungle. Doug had a sighting of some strange animal, and got a bit of a unclear video of it, we think it was a Central American Agouti. I started to take some photos with my camera, when one of the workers motioned that wasn't allowed. I was a bit perplexed, as there were no signs saying no photos, but he obviously had no English so I wasn't able to get an explanation - just waited for him to go and was a bit more discreet until people started arriving and all were busy taking photos with their cellphones, so I thought it mustn't have been a rule. However when we stopped at the entry to Cenote Dos Ojos probably the most well known cenote, on the way to Taak Bi Ha there was a sign saying if you want to take camera in you have to pay MX$300 pesos (NZ$30) as it is "professional equipment", so that probably explains why at Azul he didn't like me using the camera, I will just have to get with the times and just use a cellphone or I will be classed as a professional photographer 🤔. Anyway back to Azul, we had a wonderful 3.5 hrs swimming, water was a lovely refreshing temperature (about 24°C), snorkeling - quite amazed at the number and size of the fish in it, getting nibbled by the fish feeding of our dead skin, jumping of the 3.5 m bank, enjoying the sun, and watching the crowds especially those getting the courage to do the jump in. Our first Cenote experience and it more than lived up to our expectations. So we left just after midday for Cenote Taak Bi Ha. You have to drive down the side road which leads to the very popular Dos Ojos, but they have a barrier at the start of the road, making you go into the information and ticket area, which also makes you think that Dos Ojos is the only option, but at 400 pesos for 2 of the ponds or 800 pesos to also have a guided trip into the "bat cave", and also having to wear life jackets all the time we were not that keen. So Doug went back in asking about Taak Bi Ha, and was told yes that was ran by a Mayan Community and you accessed it down the same road. So we headed there and again was so pleased with our choice. Still not cheap at 350 pesos each or NZ$35 but it was so wow and so totally different to anything we have done before. It's small entrance just below the ground surface leads to a staircase down in to the most incredible limestone cave, complete with stalactites, hanging vines and bat's and the most incredible clear water. We thought Azul was clear until we saw this. It really was just wow wow wow. Spent a couple of hours there, and as we were getting ready to leave, they were bringing a whole lot of gear down and setting it up for a wedding ceremony, which would be just amazing. Got back to Tulum about 4.30 pm, certainly clean after all our swimming but also hungry as we hadn't had lunch, so decided to go to the supermarket to get a baguette to have an early dinner. Also brought a waterproof pouch for Doug's cellphone so we can use that in future for some water shots. Great day, and a busy night sorting the over 500 photos.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 5

    Coba

    October 9, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Mon 9 Oct: What a thunderstorm we had last night, probably the loudest thunder we have ever heard, although didn't see much lightning. It was tempting to stay at Tulum but we really need to carry on exploring more of the Yucatan Peninsula, so we were up at 7 am, to leave for Coba, and another Mayan Ruin. This was quite a big site, at one stage, around 400 - 600 AD the city had over 50,000 inhabitants, and it was abandoned around 1550 when the Spanish conquered the area. Since then the jungle has taken over most, with only pockets of ruins unearthed, so there was quite a lot of walking between ruin sites, most people seem to hire bikes to explore or even "taxi bikes" which were bikes with a seating area in front for 2 people. There were a few information signs at some of the ruins, but didn't really explain much, I suppose they want you to pay for a guide, which again we didn't, and so found it a bit hard to understand what we were seeing. We were done after a few hours of wandering around. We were keen to then head to one of the 3 cenotes 5 kms down the road, however we were low on pesos, as I didn't budget on the parking fee. We tried to find somewhere in the small town that would change some USA dollars, but the only place we found didn't have a very good rate. So we decided to have some lunch instead as we saw a restaurant advertising nachos. Nachos is Doug's signature dish back home so we were keen to compare to authentic Mexican Nachos but we have not found them until now. There was the choice of nachos with chicken or pork. I got chicken, and Doug went pork. They were certainly different to our nachos but still a very tasty experience. When we arrived at the restaurant we choose an outside table under the veranda, a few minutes later it started to rain, so we moved to a table inside by the open doorway. The rain became quite torrential, and we had to move further inside. We were so pleased with our timing of finishing the ruins and being dry inside a restaurant while the rain passed. It was sunny again as we were leaving and went back to the car which was sitting in quite a stream. Still keen on doing the cenote, we changed US$20, and headed to Cenote Multum Ha, only to be told that they were closed as they had no electricity, therefore no lights in the cave. We stopped at the entrance to the other two cenotes, but one was very shallow so not great for swimming, and the other was a very deep one which most people go just to do diving off the 5 or 10 m diving boards, which we weren't keen on so decided to give it a miss and carry on our way to Valladolid where we had accomodation booked for the next 3 nights. After arriving at Casa Chi, we found out we were now in a different time zone so it was now 2 pm and not 3 pm. We were both pretty tired and hot so ended up having a few hours siesta. With it a bit cooler in the evening we went for a walk to a supermarket to get breakfast supplies. It was a large but crammed supermarket that sold everything from motorbikes, washing machines etc, along with the groceries, but the aisles were barely wide enough to get a trolley down (found out the next day it was a Mexican Walmart). After choosing our few items we headed to the checkouts, only to get greeted with mega long queues we decided it wasn't worth it so put all the items back, and we would just get milk at the smaller shop we passed on the way. There wasn't many options for dinner, but there was a little place which seemed very popular with the locals so we thought we would try it. They had 9 choices, which we only knew of empanadas and sopa (soup). They just served a guy his meal which looked good and found out were Salbutes - a puffed deep fried tortilla that is topped with lettuce, sliced avocado, pulled chicken or turkey, tomato and pickled red onion. So we ordered one of those and an empanada each. Both were very delicious. Headed back to our room and that was us done for the day.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 6

    Valladolid

    October 10, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Tue 10 Oct: After a good night sleep and no alarm this morning, we had a leisurely start to the day. First we headed to the center of town, about a 2 km walk. We went into a tourist shop, and had a sample of tequila. It was very nice and smooth, no burning which normally get from a straight spirit. However, even with getting a special deal, a 250 ml bottle originally MX $1300 (NZ$130) down to MX$800, it was beyond our budget. Checked out the Cathedral and then went to find the nearby Cenote Zaci. Eventually found it but as I had read in one blog, it is now closed apparently for renovation, so no cooling off before our walk home. We stop at the large supermarket which we now know is Walmart and got a few groceries only to find the checkout lines were still mega and we estimated would take us an hour to get through. We were just contemplating putting the items back when a lovely lady behind us told us about the rapid checkout, but they couldn't do the fruit because it needed weighing - easy choice to make, we ditched the plums. With that done, we were going to stop at our little local restaurant for lunch to try some of the other dishes, but it was closed, so after putting our groceries away we went back to try another restaurant we saw. I got the quesadilla, and Doug a pork chop. Again both very happy with our dishes. After lunch we drove 40 kms to Cenote Secreto Maya, a open top cenote, surrounded by jungle and hanging vines, with deep blue water. Different to the other two we have done, it only had a few other people in it, and for most of the time we had it to ourselves. I spent alot of time diving in while Doug sussed out using his phone now in its waterproof case to take photos and video. After 2 hours, it was the first time we both felt a bit chilly in Mexico. Driving back to Valladolid, the sun was setting at 5.30pm, such a short day, miss those long days of Alaska, but I suppose it is slightly cooler with the sun down which is good. Did get back to our little local restaurant to try Panucho, Chalupa and Sope tonight. And for dessert when we got back a sweetbread called Ojos de Buey, that we had brought at the supermarket, which were very yummy indeed.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 7

    Yellow city of Izamal

    October 11, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Wed 11 Oct: The plan for coming to Valladolid, was so we could visit nearby Chichen-Itza, the best of the Mayan Ruin, and now called one of the modern day Seven Wonders of the World, however after not really getting a lot out of the other 2 sites we have visited, mainly due to the hot temperatures and lack of information and also the NZ$62 entry each we have hesitantly decided not to do it, instead today we are going for a 90 km drive west to the yellow city of Izamal. There are two theories why its yellow. Firstly to honor the Maya sun god, but also the city was repainted In 1993 for the visit from Pope John Paul II. Today from what we saw the majority are still yellow with just a few houses pink, blue and other bright colours bucking the trend. On the way there I thought there was going to be a Mexican stand-off between Doug and an impatient bus driver. The road was very narrow with high jungle right up to the road edge. We were following behind another car and the bus was driving impatiently behind us. Doug normally pulls over to let faster vehicles pass however there was no where to pull over, and when the bus tried to overtake where Doug felt there just wasn't enough width to safely do so, he moved more into the centre stopping the bus from doing so. Bus driver was not happy about this. Probably drove another 500 m before there was an area to pull off on the left. With us stopped there, the bus driver stopped on the road alongside and with both drivers making angry gestures I was worried what might come next, but luckily the bus soon carried on its merry way and so did we. Once at Izamal we had a wander around the Convent of San Antonio build in 1561. Afterwards we saw on goggle maps an archeological site nearby so went there but it was fenced off and gate closed. So next we walked to the botanical gardens that showed on the map, but it looked like just someone's backyard, so we just headed back to the car as we were suffering big time in the heat. A 3.6 km drive out to the monastery was also a waste of time, but did have success with the Pyramid Kinich Kak Moo, build sometime around 400 - 600 AD, we climbed up and had views of the surrounding area, and also a very welcome breeze. We were now well and truly ready to find a Cenote so headed to the small town of Holca and Cenote Chihuan. Firstly we had some pork tacos for lunch, but when we went to pay I had no wallet in my bag - bugger must have left it back at the accommodation. I had some USA money but no where in town to change it. Luckily Doug had his wise card, however without any Mexican Pesos on it, but great thing with Wise, it will just convert out of another currency account, and she had a temperamental visa machine that luckily for us decided to work today. But the biggest disappointment about having no wallet was no cash for a cenote. When we got back to the car, Doug handed me my little bag I've been using for my swimming gear, and said to check in there. There was a big smile when I found my wallet in there, yay we can go for a swim. The cenote was another cave one but with a very low roof which made if feel quite different and as always the water crystal clear and very refreshing. Certainly enjoyed our 2 hours there swimming and photographing, although the light always makes it a challenge to get decent photos. Left there at 5.15 pm and drove the 82 kms back to Valladolid. Two more items were ticked of our favorite little restaurant, both were extremely good, have really enjoyed the food here and for between NZ$6 - 8 a night great value.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 8

    Cenote Sac-Aua

    October 12, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Thur 12 Oct: Left Valladolid to head north 113 kms to the Gulf of Mexico and the small fishing village of San Felipe. First though did a slight detour to go to Cenote Sac-Aua. This was an open cenote that use to be a cave but the top felled in, resulting in an island in the middle. Which was quite cool swimming around the outside. Also had quite a few cat fishes in it. Included was a tour through a nearby cave. Once there was a underground passage that connected the cave and the cenote but not anymore. Lots of neat limestone shapes etc and even artifacts from 6000 years ago in the cave. The guide had no English but luckily there was a young Beligum couple with us, and she was able to translate most of what he said. We then went back down to the cenote for another swim before continuing on our way to San Felipe. About 18 kms from our destination Doug saw a lightning strike hit a metal gate, then about 3 kms later the rain came down, and continued coming down heavily until we got to our accomodation and then thankfully a few minutes later it stopped. Lovely room right on the waterfront with pelicans etc flying pass our window. Spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and sorting out photos for my reports. 5.45 pm had a lovely sunset over the water. Went for a wander around town looking for some dinner, finally having empanadas and Panuchos at a local loncheria (snack bar / diner)Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 9

    Las Coloradas

    October 13, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Fri 13 Oct: All the swimming and diving lately has taken there toll, and my ears are so sore, bugger. Will have to wait til we get somewhere bigger and hopefully can get some eardrops from the pharmacy. Today we headed 29 kms east to Las Coloradas, and the pink lakes. It was a fun drive for Doug, trying to avoid all the potholes. The pink lakes are actually man made salt ponds that have an algae in them causing the pink colour, and also flamingos that feed on the algae. Since Covid you can no longer just view them but have to take a 30 minute tour for $370 mxn (NZ$37). We decided it wasn't worth that, so snapped a photo from the carpark and continued on pass the town where we soon found us driving along a narrow sandspit with lagoons on one side and the gulf of Mexico on the other. It was a real lovely drive with tons of different birds to photograph including flamingos and pelicans. Although the road continued we decided eventually to turn around, but firstly went up the sandbank to check out the sea. It looked so gorgeous and inviting. I didn't want to swim because of my ears, but took my skirt of for a little wade, oh it was so nice . . . . Bra is wet now might as well go abit further but keep the head out of the water, beautiful . . . . Oh stuff the ears, under I went and throughly enjoyed it. Doug also enjoyed the plunged, not that it's difficult to plunge with the very warm sea temperature. On the way back again a lot of stops to photograph birds and iguanas. Heading back to San Felipe we first went to the bigger and more touristy town of Rio Lagartos. Had a walk along the waterfront, being continually asked if we wanted to do a flamingo tour, sorry already done our own. Couldn't find a reasonably price restaurant for lunch so continued on back to San Felipe. Our loncheria wasn't open so ended up going to a restaurant and having a delicious meal of the local fish, Corvina. Choose the garlic and coconut options - the only two we knew what they were, and both were very nice. Since it was about 3.30pm that was enough for our dinner also. Walked down the road from our hotel to the lookout at the end for the sunset, but wasn't as good tonight. There was a boardwalk leading into the mangroves from there, so walked that but it was to dark to see anything. Just spent rest of the evening in the hotel room watching the lightning out to sea, and still trying to decide whether we should go to Chichen-Itza.

    Sat 14th Oct: I had a bad night sleep, couldn't get comfortable with my sore ears, and definitely feeling a lot worse this morning. Doug suggested spending another night here and just resting but I really wanted to get some eardrops so ended up driving 4 hrs back to the east coast to Playa del Carmen, which is halfway between Cancun and Tulum. Got to our accomodation and I collapsed on the bed, while Doug went in search of some ear drops. He also found a pizza place and brought one home for dinner. Discovered I must have left my kobo, hidden by the bed coverings at San Felipe ☹️. Message back to the hotel confirmed they had found it, bugger an 8 hr return trip required to pick it up.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 11

    Playa del Carmen

    October 15, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Sun 15 Oct: Still feeling very unwell, with sore ears, no energy, and a full on head cold, but I suppose if you just have to chill out somewhere to recover this is not a bad place to do it. Went and checked out the beach nearby. 2 minutes walk from apartment to the beach access, and then probably another 2 minutes walk to an amazing white sand, blue water beach and all for free here, so much better than Tulum. Had a bit of a wade and walk along the beach, just beautiful. When back at the apartment went to check out the roof top swimming pool, only trouble is the elevator broke 2 days ago, luckily our room was on the 1st floor but had to walk up 5 flights of stairs to the top - I was exhausted, so much for all that mountain climbing. The pool was quite small but big enough to get wet in and had wonderful views, a lovely spot to spend some recovery time. I spent the rest of the time chilling in our air conditioned room, Doug meanwhile went out in the hot afternoon sun to the supermarket to get some stuff for lunch. About 6 pm wandered down to the beach for sunset. Wow was it busy, lots still swimming and relaxing, playing volleyball etc. Not much of a sunset, the beach is east facing so sun sets away from it. Had a nice walk though, and came back and went up top for the night views on the roof top.

    Mon 16 Oct: Doug could not, not go to Chichen-Itza and since he had to drive back that way to go and pick up my kobo he decided he would detour out to the ruins first. Meant an early start of 5 am but he got to Chichen-Itza 15 minutes before the gates opened, he didn't take into account the change in time zone and gaining an extra hour. But it did mean he had the first hour or so with very few people around the site. He really enjoyed Chichen-Itza, the ruins being in much better condition, with a lot more detail visible on them. Also he had downloaded a walking map with information about them while he waited to go in, and spent about 3.5 hrs there before continuing on to San Felipe to pick up my kobo, getting back to the apartment about 6.30 pm. So for my day to myself, I tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep when he left, but about 6.15 am gave up and went down to the beach to catch the sunrise due at 6.45. It was such a lovely time to be on the beach, temperature was very pleasant. A couple of cruise ships were heading to Cozumel, an island 18 km off shore, under the raising sun. Spent about 1.5 hrs walking in total turning when ran out of beach, by 8 when I was getting back certainly could feel the heat of the sun already. Spent the rest of the day until 3 pm just resting, reading, catching up on our expenses worksheet etc. I then thought I would go for little wander along the street to stretch the legs and see what was nearby. Ended up walking probably for 2.5 kms and seeing a large mall thought I would go and have a look before turning around. 2 hours later 😉. The mall was part of the tourist area of town and on the other side was a pedestrian only street of shops and restaurants (fifth avenue). Didn't buy anything but a couple of bikini possibilities to check out tomorrow. At least the pedestrian street was leading me back towards the apartment and just as well because intersected with Doug just as he was about to head down the beach access track to look for me (I had the keys to the apartment so he couldn't get in). Went out to a nearby restaurant for another Mexican version of Nachos and to catch up with each other's day.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 13

    Fifth Ave

    October 17, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Tue 17th Oct: Enjoyed my early morning walk along the beach yesterday so much decided to set the alarm to do it again this morning. Didn't get as far today, as my stomach is a bit dodgy I think from the antibiotics I decided to take to help my ear infection, so had to rush bac - think I will stop taking them. In the meantime Doug decided to get a headstart on his NZ ocean swimming training and did a 1.2 km swim. After our cornflakes and yogurt we headed bikini shopping. Tried on about 8 pairs over 2 shops, and finally selected a new one, it was abit of dilemma whether to buy or not, really liked it the most but the pants were abit brief at the back for my liking so will have to replace them, at least it was on sale with 60% off. We continued strolling along 5th Avenue, all pedestrian only, right to the ferry terminal. Last night we decided to go to Cozumel Island and do a snorkeling tour, even though if I was sensible I shouldn't because it was to soon for my ears, but I did buy some ear plugs to wear. Anyway we sussed out the ferry for tomorrow, as we were walking back I went to one of the many hair braiding stores to find out the price. We stayed and chatted to a young woman from Mexico City who was getting her and her niece's hair done, trying to decide whether to do it not. I thought I might and they try to get you in the chair before you change your mind but we were really hungry and I wanted to wash my hair first so said we would come back. We also saw a store doing photos with young cats, not domestic cats but a lion, tiger, jaguar, and a black jaguar. We were tempted, just to be able to hold and pat them would be such an unique experience. However the price of $1000 mxn (NZ$100) per animal was a bit off putting, then I started thinking of the ethical side of it, and it just didn't sit well with us. These animals shouldn't be inside a room for the enjoyment for tourists, but roaming in the wilds, even though they are breed for this purpose, and apparently when they are 6 months old will go back to the farm to breed themselves, it is still a sad situation for these supposedly wild creatures. So unfortunately no photos for us. Back at the apartment we had a late lunch and then waited around as Doug had a phone call about a potential job at 6 pm. We eventually walked back down to the center and I got a couple of side braids done. Then went on the hunt for a non tourist restaurant for dinner.Read more

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