A SUMMER OF TRAVELING AND REFLECTIONS

During our busy season I dream of summer when then pace is slower and I imagine that I will slowly savor our life in paradise. Then when our slower season of summer arrives I find that we stay busy catching up on things we didn’t have time for earlier.  This year, a friend of mine had posted about a book called “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, and I started reading it, a few pages every morning before I started my day.  There was a line in the book that really caught my attention and I will loosely quote it here, “the days are long, but the years are short.”  It wouldn’t leave my mind…..so I decided that this summer I wouldn’t worry about catching up on all my little projects, I would truly experience the paradise that we live in, we would travel the Yucatan, going places that were a few hours away and do things that we had either never done or hadn’t done in a while.  I didn’t want to be one of those people that live their last years in regret of things that they didn’t do, simply because they “couldn’t” take the time.

We started our summer of experience by taking a free vacation that we had won to Playa Del Carmen.  Those who know us will remember that we lived in Playa for 3 ½ years, but once again we were working and did little else.  This time I wanted to do and try things that I had only seen as a spectator, this time I wanted to be a participant.

We began with taking a Discover Dive course at our hotel, Doug had been diving before and totally loved it, however, I had always been happy to lie on the beach or go snorkeling. It took me 2 days to work up the courage to and “take the dive.”  Of course it was an amazing experience that introduced me to another aspect of living and playing in paradise.

The next day we went para sailing, another thing that Doug had always wanted us to do, but my fear of heights had held us both back.  Taking a few deep breathes I stepped on board, strapped up and gently floated up towards the heavens, fantastic!

The next morning while we lazily sipped coffee on our terrace we noticed a band of coatimundis underneath us. They were making chirping noises and playing together, much like kittens.  These friendly little creatures were very tame, eating grapes out of our hands.

Soon the coatis were joined by some Yucatan Jays one of my favorite birds here in the Yucatan.  What a lovely way to start the morning.

Next we were off to Mahahual (sometimes spelled Majahual) about 2 hours south of Playa, heading towards Chetumal.  We were going there to visit a friend of ours from Playa that had moved there a few years back.  We hadn’t been to Mahahual since 2004 and were eager to see the changes as well as catch up with our friend, Jaime.  Jaime is well known in Playa, he had owned and managed many of the top restaurants there and I couldn’t wait to have some of his shrimp tacos and secret sauce again from his new restaurant Nohoch Kay.  There through out the course of the days spent there we stuffed ourselves with his great food including, burgers, burritos, ceviche and a couple of sweet, freshly caught lobster.

Mahahual was even better than anticipated, a small Caribbean village with a cool, funky vibe. The town had been devastated by Hurricane Dean in 2007 and recently been rebuilt and improved. There was a beautiful new pedestrian only Malecon (beachfront walkway), palm trees on the beaches and an assortment of great restaurants with local seafood, burgers and fantastic Italian food.  We had one of the best pizzas we have had in 10 years from Pizza Papi. There is a large influx of Italians in the area so it was easy to get homemade pasta with an array of delectable sauces.  It was an enjoyable experience spending time in a slower more laid back atmosphere after leaving the hustle bustle of Playa, Mahahual is the Caribbean at its unspoiled best.

Nohach Kay

 Sitting at Jaimes' restaurant, looking out over the Caribbean

 In front of another fabulous restaurant Luna de Plata

 View from hotel

 Dos Amigos- Doug and Don Pedro

What a great trip and all within driving distance of our little piece of paradise here in Chelem !