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Ola! Am in Mexico. Sasha Atemo Bulimo. The End of Summer School!. “Okay, class dismissed!” And with those words that came out of my Biology teacher’s mouth, my brain was automatically set in holiday mode! Our next family trip destination: Mexico!. Packing Time!.
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Ola! Am in Mexico Sasha Atemo Bulimo
The End of Summer School! “Okay, class dismissed!” And with those words that came out of my Biology teacher’s mouth, my brain was automatically set in holiday mode! Our next family trip destination: Mexico!
Packing Time! As soon as I arrived back home from school, I immediately started to pack my clothes in the suitcase. The whole packing process was rushed, because our flight was the following day. I packed blindly, not checking the weather in the part of Mexico we were to stay, etc. Nevertheless, I would later regret my choice of clothing for this holiday! However, at the time, I was clueless as to what was to come.
Plane! We left the house late at night on the 13th of August, since our flight to Toronto was around 1am. Since there are no direct flights from Edmonton (where I live) to Cancun, we had to connect flights at the Toronto airport. The stopover at Toronto airport was around two hours, so that gave us some time to rest and eat breakfast. The flight from Toronto to Cancun was in fact shorter than the one from Edmonton to Toronto. So that gives you a clue as to how large in size Canada really is!
Arrival in Cancun, Mexico. Finally! My family and I collectively took a deep sigh of relief for all of the travelling we had to endure. We hadn’t even stepped out of the airport when we were bombarded with time-share people trying to sell us vacation packs, activities, and what not. People all the way from Edmonton had warned us about these people selling time-shares, but our curiosity failed us. The lady that persuaded us was very kind and professional. Needless to say, we got sucked in, and bought the time-share, which had activities for us to enjoy! When we eventually stepped out into the fresh air, I could really begin to feel the heat and humidity. That’s when I knew we were in the right place. From there, a bus picked us up as we braced for the two-hour journey to our hotel. The name of the hotel we stayed in is called the Gran Bahia Principe in Rivera Maya, with three separate hotels included: Tulum, Coba, and Akumal. We stayed in the Tulum Hotel.
Day 1 As soon as we got to the hotel, we all had a nap, because all that travel can be tedious . When I woke up from the nap, I was completely ready for a swim! Unfortunately, it was night time and very dark. All we could possibly do at that time was go for dinner, so we enjoyed a delicious family meal at the main restaurant!
Day 2 The second day of our holiday was honestly one of disappointment. For the whole day, it was raining. Nonstop raining. That’s when I regretted my clothing choices from earlier! The different faces in the hotel gave it away, everyone shared a common ground that day! The hotel lobby was full of guests just sitting and waiting for the rain to go away with their swimsuits and sunscreen in hand! As the night of Day 2 crept in, happier faces arose when the nightly entertainment kicked in, with music, dancing, and laughing you wouldn’t even have believed the misery earlier on in the day!
Day 3 On the third day, guess what happened? More rain! And this time heavier than the day before. Some even said it was a hurricane. At that point I believed this holiday had taken a turn for the worst. The best thing about the day was meeting some new friends who all share a common ground with my family. They were a fellow Kenyan family also enjoying a holiday in the same hotel as us. We also met a lovely couple on that day, who were Spanish speakers, so it was very useful for them, (and us!). Once again, we concluded the day with a wide selection of foods in the restaurant.
Day 4 The following day, we were set to go for the activities that the time-share lady had set for us. The activities we chose were the jungle tour, and to visit the Tulum Mayan Ruins. She organized a taxi to pick us up from our hotel, to transport us to another hotel in Playa Del Carmen. From that hotel, we’d then be taken to the destination of our activity. Without our knowledge, the whole hotel thing was just an attempt for the business people to sell us things as usual. They gave us a presentation and food hoping we’d buy what they were selling. However, we didn’t come for that, we came solely for the activities we paid for. Since this hotel neighboured the famous 5th Avenue, we decided to take a stroll there, and I knew why it was so popular. There were merchants shouting lovely things at you just to come inside their store, people dressed in the Mayan costumes gesturing for you to come and take a photo with them just for a tip, etc. We returned to our own hotel that day exhausted, but knew a whole day wasn’t completely wasted like previously.
Day 5 I woke up that morning expecting more boring rain, so I kept my umbrella in my sight. However, when I opened the curtain for daylight, the sun was shining so bright! As you can imagine, I was overjoyed! I told my older sister Lynda to wake up and see outside, and we both looked at each other and knew… swimming! I put on my swimsuit and headed for the swimming pool. While the water was cold, I didn’t really mind, because I was just so excited! Once the afternoon hit, Lynda and I migrated from the pool to the beach, which was even more exciting! The waves came hard, high, and fast! Definitely the best beach experience. We came out of the waters cold and wrinkly, but knew the best was yet to come! We were set to go to a club/show called Coco Bongo, which had so much excitement attached to it’s name. When we arrived at Coco Bongo, I was certainly not expecting all that it provided. It was a mixture of dancing, music videos, Cirque Du Soleil, impersonations, and much more! It is definitely one of my most memorable experiences from Mexico!
Day 6 We returned back to the hotel from Coco Bongo in the early hours of the morning, so of course we slept until noon! We all collectively knew that we needed to rejuvenate from the night before, so we agreed for this day to be a relaxing one on the beach! Later on, we went to visit and see the Tulum Mayan Ruins, which were very intriguing to see. It is one of the best-preserved coastal Mayan sites. It is also considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world! So I can now proclaim that I visited 1/7!
Day 7 and return back home! A sombre morning that consisted of last-minute packing, and eating breakfast was pretty much all that we accomplished during our last hours in Mexico. I am going to be honest, I was a bit sad to leave, because the real fun was just beginning, but I knew that I’ll have more fun on our next trip, fingers crossed! Our flight from Cancun to Toronto was delayed for almost an hour due to technical problems on the craft. We did miss our connecting flight from Toronto to Edmonton due to this, but thankfully they booked another one for us two hours later, which we got. We returned home safely at around 1am in the morning!
My mother looking beautiful as always at the Toronto Airport!
Meeting and greeting with the time-share people at the hotel… Notice our fake smiles!
Us posing with the lovely Olivia, in the traditional Mexican wear.
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