Wednesday
In the early morning we boarded a large tour
bus that took us to Chichen Itza, an ancient Mayan city complex roughly three
hours’ drive west of Cancun. (It’s also one of the new Seven Wonders of the
World and a UNESCO World Heritage site.) Three genial tour guides, all fluent
in English and other languages, led us. One of them was a Super Fan of
explaining ancient Mayan culture in
detail. Over the bus’s intercom, she delivered a one-hour lecture about Mayan
culture followed by a deep dive explanation of Mayan calendar prophecies that drove
many of the passengers to sleep. Others hit the bottle regardless of the early
hour. We stopped for mandatory trinket shopping.
Next stage was a refreshing
dip in the deep-water sinkhole, called a cenote
in Spanish. Swimming around in the warm aqua colored water while surrounded
by imperious rock walls was a unique experience. The tourism foreplay
completed, and refreshed by the bathing, we had lunch and proceeded on to the Chichen
Itza temple site.
Once there, I enjoyed learning about the
history of the place from our guide David in English (and in Spanish). I have
enormous respect for those who can switch effortlessly between languages like
that. We walked around most of the temple complex in 85ºF “winter” heat. I
threatened Marina with human sacrifice if she acted up; it was hot and it had
already been a long day.
Next up was a tour of the ball court area of
the temple which spawned thoughts of 1970s Battlestar Galactica episodes. We strolled
around on our own after that, snapping photos and haggling with the affable
stall owners over souvenirs. On the bus ride back to Cancun, it was lights out in
the bus with the very dark highway illuminated only by the bus headlights. I
told Marina a scary story to keep her awake until we arrived back at the hotel.
I didn’t want to throw off her sleeping rhythm.
A day dedicated only to aquatic fun was called
for with the beautiful ocean and an inviting pool 200 yards from our hotel room.
The day’s recipe was a mix of pool, then ocean, then back to pool in the
morning. Swimming. Frolicking. Napping in the sun. Wave bashing and other aquatic
pleasures.
It tired us out and we retired at a decent time because we knew Friday
was going to be great—and our last full day of the vacation.
Xel-Ha (pronounced shell-hah) is a water
sports and nature conservation park in the Riviera Maya. Our full-day visit was
in a jungle & ocean paradise. Upon arrival, a short breakfast prevented us
from diving right into the nearest inlet. We were soon outfitted with a life
preserver, mask and fins to snorkel together in the shallow, translucent seawater.
The area was replete with colorful fish. It was our first family snorkeling in
the ocean!
We also took the Discovery Scuba tour, which plunks an airtight hat fed
air via lines from the surface (like an old school hardhat diver). Its weight
keeps you on the sandy seafloor, no more than 15 feet from the surface. Fish
and other sea life swirl around when a diver unfurls plastic bags filled with
food. I think I witnessed sheer joy on the faces of the Rising Daughters. It
was a successful first experience for them to go underwater. It was also my
ploy to get them interested in scuba diving in a few years’ time.
Naomi went off to chase iguanas and see more
fish, as did Marina. Elena I vectored off for a bit, and we met up again for
the Zip Bike jungle tour. It’s essentially a zip-line suspended about 25 feet
above the ground. The route leads through the jungle, rock walls, dark caves
and over a cenote. Neat idea.
Xel-Ha is a large park area with the various
activities and amenities connected by paths. Despite the ceaseless activity,
yes, I snapped a few photos. I managed a shot of the girls by walking a jungle trail
above them as they drifted down a river. Elena and I did a zip line splash into
the seawater and later took the tower slide—quite an adrenal rush. To finish
off the day we went snorkeling together one more time yet still made the bus
back at 1800 for our return. Xel-Ha was a relentless sensory assault of jungle
greens and oceans blues and a wonderful family day.
To cap the day we went out that evening for Mexican
street food. The area had a spring break vibe: not very family-friendly, but it
was lively. The sexy dancing girls outside a disco luring the young guys in to
be scalped by drink prices captivated Marina. We ate and eyeballed the human frenzy
outside the restaurant’s patio.
I checked our return flights. Delta caused
me heart palpitations when our flight was canceled because of the snowballing chaos
and semi-panic caused by the onset of Coronavirus. It was suddenly real. A
Delta agent that I contacted told me that our flight would be OK but to get to
the airport three hours early “just in case.”
Saturday - Return to Reality
Our return to Nashville was smoother than I
expected. We got up earlier than usual and since we’d mostly packed the
night before, and with nothing to do, we all left together for a morning swim. It
was to be our last ocean/pool combo. I had noticed that there were fewer and
fewer guests around the place over the last few days. Cancun was buttoning down
for the virus’s impact, soon to come. We went early to the airport as directed, still wary given the concerns about immigration and the U.S. border shutdown. But it was fine. We
waltzed through and waited for about four hours in the terminal with other worried
looking, waiting passengers. People were keeping their distance. Facemasks
started appearing. I revealed my psychological cards by watching Terminator: DarkFate during the flight back to Nashville. We
landed and…all was well.
It was a great trip filled with enduring
memories.
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