Tuesday
Costa Maya, Mexico
January 20, 2009
Costa Maya, Mexico (more specifically Majahual) was our first port on the cruise. It was the perfect weather for January – Sunny and 77° with 70% humidity…wonderful. As you can tell from this picture I was just a tad excited to be there. I fell in love with the area as soon as I woke up and looked out the window. I had decided the day before to take a picture of the first thing I see in the morning (outside the window, of course). This was the first thing I saw. We arrived in Costa Maya about 45 minutes early which gave us a little extra time to have breakfast and make our way ashore. We found our way to the meeting point (they always seemed a bit chaotic to me which I guess is no surprise when you have around 1,500 people trying to figure out where they are going) and were lead through the port and accompanying shops to our ATVs and guide, Willy (who looked like Cesar Milan).
When I was 14 I had an accident on an ATV. It flipped twice and on the third flip I went one way and the ATV went another. I wasn’t wearing a helmet and consider myself very lucky that I was just knocked unconscious. Ever since then, however, I have been afraid of ATVs. However, B loves to ride ATVs and I thought this would be a fun excursion for us. A good way to take in the sights and have a little fun. I was quite nervous getting on the ATV and , thankfully, Willy set mine (and most everyone else) into third gear so we wouldn’t have to figure out when to shift gears. He had told us to not even attempt going around any holes/puddles we might encounter along the way (and there were quite a few). So, naturally, the first thing I encountered was a huge (I swear!) mud puddle. I might have moaned a bit in fear as I SLOWLY went through the puddle.
I was in the middle of the group and found, at times, that I had difficulty keeping up. There were two reasons for this – 1. Yes, overcoming my fear and 2. The scenery. I wanted to take everything in. We went through a couple of fishing villages, past school and all sorts of vegetation and wildlife. I waved at people (mostly kids) and enjoyed myself greatly…so I was absorb as much as possible not realizing that we did have a certain amount of time for the excursion and needed to get to our stopping point (a resort South of the port). About halfway to the resort Willy stopped the caravan. (WARNING: an “could only happen to M” moment coming up) Willy came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I said yes, as I was perfectly fine. I was starting to get over my fear and overall having a wonderful time. He then said, “are you sure?” “Well, yes, I am sure.” (although I was starting to worry that maybe I was looking not so well) Willy then made EVERYONE (except B and the backup van) get in front of me. EVERYONE. I was slowing the group down! It was so embarrassing (but not the most embarrassing event of the vacation), but he made a point of letting me know that it was no big deal. In fact, this very nice couple (in their 50s) told me “don’t you worry, honey, you just go as fast as you feel comfortable” as they passed me. This made me more determined than ever to get over my fear. Once everyone was safely in front of the slow girl (Willy wanted B behind me to as he said, “keep an eye on you.”), we took off for the remainder of our ride. I was able to successfully keep up (take that!) and we finally arrived at Maya Palms Resort about 15 miles from the port. We spent about 30 minutes at the resort and got to enjoy the Caribbean Sea (lovely), have some guacamole and chips (B had nachos) and relax under the shade of an umbrella. At one point B turned to me and said he wouldn’t mind moving there. I agreed. Granted this was in January and I’m sure the weather is miserable in the heat of the summer. Not to mention, the Costa Maya area was almost completely destroyed by Hurricane Dean a few years ago (you could still see quite a bit of damage). The right back to the ship was a bit quicker. I think we took a different route and I was, for the most part, able to keep up with the group. The majority of roads with fishing rope used (very effectively) as speed bumps.
We were very hot and sweaty upon our return but we both had a great time. It was a great way to start our shore excursions. We were going to walk around the port shops (with inflated prices, of course) but decided to head back the ship. My still swollen hand was starting to throb (mostly from gripping the ATV handle very tightly) and B had an appointment for a hot stone massage that afternoon.
We ended up missing the inauguration of President Obama, but we did get to see highlights that evening. We accidentally had two lunches. Yes, it is possible to accidentally eat twice. Within minutes of each other…but we really had no choice. We made a poor decision the first time and decided to go into the buffet to see if they had anything good. They did. So, we ate again.
That evening we went to see the Second City Comedy act. It was okay – we definitely enjoyed the improv more than the skits.
I think both of us ended up sleeping very well that night.
Next stop: Guatemala…
-M
