Primeras Impresiones - First Impressions

            Our first impression of Mexico was of the glorious heat. As soon as we stepped outside the airport, boom! It felt like being a piñata at the sun’s birthday party. If you visit Mexico, be prepared for the intensity of the tropics. Imagine opening a 400˚F oven while bending over it. Yup, that’s pretty close.

            Anytime that we walked outdoors, we had to do the celebrity thing and hide beneath hats and sunglasses. I’ve never had so many requests for autographs in my life, LOL. Since we expected to spend a lot of time in the water, we were pretty stoked, especially as we’d arrived at the end of the rainy season.

            Ah, the much-debated rainy season. You should research it before you book your vacation. We had been told that if it rained, it wouldn’t last more than an hour or so. We heard that Mexico still feels warm during the rain, and that the weather wouldn’t hamper our activities. Was this true? Yes and no.

            During our first week, we had two hours of rain. Once the sun re-appeared, everything returned to oven mode. We resumed our faux celebrity status with hats and Ray-Bans, and were rapidly surrounded by adoring fans (Just kidding). Sunbathers quickly claimed all the beach loungers, while iguanas assumed their languid posturing on the walkways.   

            Our second week was somewhat different. We had two rainy days of intermittent showers. No longer did we wonder about the large umbrella we had found in our closet. The trams, sheathed in heavy plastic, still carted guests around the resort. Staff members manned their long floor squeegees with aplomb. Iguanas stayed out of sight, undoubtedly sipping hot cocoa while watching old episodes of Jeopardy.

             Why would anyone visit Mexico during the rainy season? For the same reason that people eat ice cream in the winter: it is still a delicious escape from normal. If you travel there in October, plan to include activities that don’t depend on the sunshine. You can read, shop, visit the spa, enjoy leisurely meals, and be glad for each minute away from your normal 9-5 grind.

            Our second week included two rainy days, as well as an electrical storm one night. We didn’t hear the thunder much over the wind. At that point, I remembered that we were technically in hurricane season. Hmmm, should I wake Darling Hubby now, or wait until the last minute? What if this was our last minute. I wasn't really scared, just intrigued. After all, none of the palm trees had jack-knifed. Yet.  Still, their frenzied fronds could have whipped up enough froth for the entire resort to have lattes for breakfast. 

            Next morning, I asked the fellow in reception if he had slept through the storm. He acknowledged that we’d had a “strong rain.” Too funny. Isn’t that like calling the Rocky Mountains a mild increase in elevation? 

           Enough water had seeped beneath our door to make the marble floor hazardous. It showed no sign of stopping, so they moved us to another building. This one was identical to the first but with a few advantages: 

1) We now had the most gorgeous ocean view imaginable from our new room. Spectacular!!! 

2) We were now directly across from the buffet. 

3) The new A/C unit worked better.          

            Air conditioning in Mexico is a study in relativity. We are accustomed to sleeping at temperatures blow 20˚C year round. Our hotel room never got quite that cool, but the ceiling fan provided enough air movement to keep us comfy. As soon as we stepped outside our room, we realized how cool it actually was. I’m sure our housekeepers shook their heads at the crazy Canadians who kept their room like the inside of a meat locker.   

            Besides the heat, we had to make adjustments for the humidity. They say that if you’re from the Calgary area, everywhere else feels sticky. Well, we are and it does. Most of the time, the ocean breeze refreshes you like nothing else. If you’re going to be in the water, the humidity doesn’t matter. The main thing we found was that when we hung up our wet swimsuits to dry, they took longer than we had expected. They did slightly better on the balcony than over the tub.  

            We had brought along some detergent with which to rinse out some socks and undies, since there was no coin laundry at the GB. That was our plan. Once there, we found that socks were redundant, except for wearing home to chilly Alberta. Because we were on the third floor, our damp undies were obscured from view. As far as I know, none of them blew off the balcony. But if you hear rumours of iguanas and parrots being sighted in Fruit of the Loom, you’ll know.        

            On that note, while most prices seemed reasonable at the GB, the cost of laundering seemed exorbitant to us. Since all laundry services include ironing, I wasn’t about to engage in a bilingual request to opt out of having my foundational garments ironed. So either take enough for the whole of your stay, or festoon your balcony with them. And if you take only red ones, they will blend in perfectly with the Hibiscus flowers!

            The brief rainy period did nothing to hinder my shopping experience. Since I couldn’t be in the ocean, I was pleased to run off to the shopping district. The GB has its own little market, which I will describe in a separate post. The outdoor stalls had awnings over them, but it was still a little drippy in places. I felt very safe leaving Darling Hubby’s side for a couple of hours. The rain wasn’t pouring heavily the whole day, so it wasn’t the dreary time it might have been at home. Also, most of the second week was less intensely hot, so we shed our celebrity accessories and bid adios to our 15 minutes of fame.   

            For the most part, Mexico provided us with perfect beach conditions. Except for certain older ladies who liked to sun random portions of their bodies without warning. Trust me ladies, your exposure failed to enhance the otherwise idyllic Caribbean ambience. I hope you didn’t go home to find your experience immortalized on FaceBook. Or if you did, I wasn’t the culprit. I was too busy watching the iguanas stalking their prey across the sand. Once you’ve seen how fast they can move, you might change your mind about where you’d risk having one land on your person. I’m just saying…   

            The Gran Bahia resort is huge, bordered by a mile of beach and sea green Caribbean. Tulum is the oldest section with the most private beach. Akumal had the most fish to see when we snorkelled. Coba is the newest, but also the furthest from the beach. Plus, the sand there had a lot of coral bits in it. So each section has pros and cons, but you have access to everything no matter where on the resort you stay. It’s almost like parking at the mall. You can be close to the food court or close to Target, but not both.      

           Our main goal in coming to Mexico was to enjoy some snorkelling. I saw more fish at the GB than I did on our two snorkelling excursions. For a beginner, it was pretty awesome. The water is clear and not too weedy. We even ventured out beyond the floats and the manmade barriers without it getting much over our heads.

            In my next post, I’ll go into more detail about the resort and our rooms. I still have lots of memories to share with you J          

            Parting thought: If you can’t tolerate the heat but you don’t like to be in the water either, maybe you should go to Milwaukee. At least there they have cable channels in English.