We ended up spending more time than we thought in Cancun… here’s what we got up to:
We arrived late evening at the airport so checked straight into our hostel, Senor Frogs. It was a really modern build with a great party vibe and a big bar. As we were starving we hopped across the road to La Natura for some tacos. The tacos were a cut above any we’ve ever had and came with guacamole and nachos. Day 1 = success.
On day 2 we popped over to Chac Mool beach where we sunbathed and swam for a few hours. The brochure was accurate in its ‘white sand paradise beach’ description but unfortunately, a tonne of seaweed had recently been swept onto it, making it a bit smelly and unsightly. Nevertheless, nothing we couldn’t handle. After a cheeky McDonald’s for lunch, we took the bus (which is a fixed price wherever you’re going) down to Playa Delfines, which had free shade huts to use. We met up with some pals from the hostel and enjoyed a litre margarita in the sun. When we were satisfied with our tan progression we headed back to the hostel and ate there. Each night they had a different food theme and this night happened to be fajitas – yum! We then took part in some crazy games before heading to the FOAM PARTY at senor frogs club. I’d never been to one before but had the best night ever!!
On day 3 we took a boat to Isla Mujeres, the ‘womans Island’ which is just off the hotel zone. Most vendors tried to sell us a $60pp USD tour but we managed to do it ourselves for half the price and still do the same stuff. Indeed, we took the Ultra Ferry over and in 20 minutes we were there! It’s common for people to hire golf buggies to get around but seeing as the hostel held the documents we had to get a taxi (cheap though) around. Our first stop was the turtle farm, where we spent about 30 minutes observing them. We then headed south and had lunch at the Joint, a really good Mexican restaurant with live bands all afternoon. Our last stop was the Garafin Castillo where we spent the afternoon snorkeling. We then took the Ultra ferry back and were entertained by a sax player on the top deck. When we returned to the mainland we ate at the hostel, who were hosting ‘burger night’.
On day 4 we went downtown (or city centre to us) and walked through the flee market in search of fridge magnets etc. We had an amazing lunch at Pescaditos which consisted of fish wrapped in banana leaves, and of course a side of tortilla chips and guacamole. As the heat became unbearable we sought refuge at a local mall and cooled down with a starbucks. That evening, the hostel hosted ‘sushi night’ which we thoroughly enjoyed and this was followed with a night out at Congo Bongo! Most clubs here charge an upfront cost of $70 but that includes open bar. It’s sort of worth it but when you consider queueing up at bars and tipping the bartenders it’s probably not.
Day 5, we woke up super early to watch England play Sweden in the world cup. After a fantastic victory, we went back to bed for a few hours (standard). When we arose we had burritos at La Natura across the road and then onwards to Playa Caracol for sunbathing and swimming. We spent the evening at Isla shopping centre and had dinner at Chili’s (our new favourite restaurant), it was a very chilled evening as we had an impending early tour!
Indeed, on day 6 we were picked up at 6:45am for our Chichen Itza tour! Chichen is one of the 7 wonders of the world so we were super excited. The first stop was at a Mayan village, where we learned the Mayan maths system (dots, lines, and seashells) and went through some typical Mayan rituals. We then had a buffet lunch and were treated to some fabulous performances by the Mexican dancers – they balanced trays of water glasses on their heads! We then drove to Chichen Itza and saw the main temple. It was really magnificent but the thing I loved the most about it was that the temple represented the Mayan calendar. They believed there were 18 months, with 1 month only including 5 days (when they couldn’t see Venus in the sky). Apparently, people born in August are good candidates for the human sacrifice, so the guide put me forward for the group. Thankfully this was a joke and I am still here. One of the other crazy things at Chichen is the architectural structure that allows for particular sounds to occur when provoked. For example, steady claps in front of the main temple create the sound of a rare bird that existed at the time the temple was built. Shouting something loudly by another structure creates an insane echo around the whole vicinity. Of course, the guide picked the only word in our vocabulary, ‘tequila’. After a few hours of Chichen Itza, we drove to a nearby Cenote (or sinkhole) called Samaal. It was literally a huge hole in the ground with water at the bottom, something that would have been quite intimidating had the sun not been making the water glisten. We went for a swim and looked up at the hole above us, completely hidden away from everything! Finally, we stopped in the town of Villadid and witnessed some street performances by the fountain. Upon our return, we had dinner at Chili’s again and had a quick drink at Fat Tuesday’s bar.
Day 7 was supposed to be the day we left Cancun to join our parents up in Vancouver. For British people to get into Canada they need an ETA, which I had applied for months in advance and had been approved. We got to the gate of our plane and were only told at the last minute that I had apparently made a mistake on my sister’s form (wrong expiry date on her passport) and therefore would not be able to travel. This was super frustrating for us as it was a tiny tiny mistake and we lost a lot of money, but also a lesson learned. To anyone reading this and planning on visiting Canada, please check your ETA application over and over – they can approve an application even if the details aren’t right!!!! After a few hours of pondering whether we should stay in Mexico or at least get into the north part of USA (which you need ESTAs for, by the way) we made the call to stay 3 more nights in Cancun. After all, a place with the beach and good weather isn’t the worst place to be stuck, right?! instead of going back to the hostel we chose to go to a cheap hotel where we could do all our travel admin and spread out a bit.
On day 8 we went to the local supermarket to get snacks and headed to Delfines beach again. This time there was a lot less seaweed which made for a more pleasant afternoon. The new problem was that the waves were super strong and the lifeguards wouldn’t let anyone go more than a few metres in. For that reason, we went back up to Chac Mool beach where the waves were big but not as rough. That evening, we did one of Cancun’s most famous nights, ‘Coco Bongo’. It’s essentially a club venue that puts on performances throughout the night with super talented dancers/singers. We saw an MJ tribute, a (random?) UK interlude probably for the impending football match, a Queen act, as well as many others. Characters such as spiderman and batman flew around the venue as we all danced below. It was truly a crazy night but we were glad to have been. (Maybe it was God’s plan to keep us in Mexico so we would go to Coco Bongo).
On day 9 we headed over to Hooters to watch the England v Croatia game (which basically took up the whole afternoon didn’t it!). Unfortunately, it was a sad day for all the Brits in the room but on the plus side we had nice BBQ ribs. After a healthy dinner of salad Leah and I walked along the beach to watch the sun set. The skies in this area were beautiful and ranged from red, purple, pink, and orange.
The next day, we finally left Cancun and flew to Vancouver via Denver. We re-applied for my sister’s ETA and it was approved (for real). The journey took longer than our previous one would have but it was good to get there in the end without any major problems.
