Loud Americans

During yet another trip to The Surfin Burrito in the Cancun Hotel Zone this past Saturday, I was listening in on the conversation of the 2 tables next to us. Why was I listening in, you ask? Because they were speaking so loudly I had no choice. Of course, they had to be gringos.

In Cancun, American tourists have a reputation for being loud. I’m here to tell you that this stereotype is pretty much dead on, to an extent.

When I hop on the bus to go into the Hotel Zone, it’s filled with mostly Mexicans for awhile… and the bus is silent. Once the bus leaves downtown Cancun and enters the Hotel Zone, tourists start to get on. And the volume level goes way up. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty amusing to see dozens of Mexicans sitting quietly in their seats on their way to work while my fellow gringos scream things like “WALMART??”, “DUDE! STEVE WAS SO WASTED LAST NIGHT!”  or “HILTON? HIL-TON? YES? SI? YOU LET ME KNOW! OK! GRACIAS!”

I even heard one guy shout aloud on the bus, asking in all seriousness where the bus stop for “COKER BONGER” was. Jorge and I assume he meant to say Coco Bongo.

What I’ve noticed after 7 years here is that most American tourists are low-key when in public, so the stereotype isn’t 100% true. However, I’ve also never seen anyone from another country act that loudly unless they’re at a party or a sporting event.

In a nutshell: Not all American tourists are loud, but all loud tourists are American.

It’s not a bad thing or an offensive thing to be loud in public. (Especially not in Cancun!) It is pretty funny to watch, though.

What kind of tourist are you?

**Edit: After posting this, I’ve been told by a few friends that it’s not just Americans. Turns out Canadians can get quite rowdy as well. 😉 Party on, Canada. Party on.

Casa Las Tortugas Hotel in Holbox

Our favorite part of our weekend trip to the island of Holbox was our hotel: Casa Las Tortugas. Jorge and I both agreed that if and when we return to Holbox, we will be staying at Casa Las Tortugas again.

The hotel has a beautiful pool area, a beachfront restaurant, a spa and a chic beach club area. We loved the rustic Mexican design and beautiful palapas throughout.

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Jorge and I booked the most basic room. I was worried I’d regret not getting an ocean view room, but as we spent an evening lying in the hammock on our balcony listening to the ocean breeze move through the palm trees… I knew we’d made the right choice.

24 Hours in Holbox

This year, Jorge and I have made a list of all the places in the state of Quintana Roo that we’d like to visit. We’ve already crossed many places off our list, although it’s not doing us much good since the list seems to grow every week!

Still, this weekend we were happy to go to the island of Holbox (pronounced “Hole-Bosh”), something we’ve tried to do unsuccessfully for a few years now.

Since we have no car, we had to plan around public transportation, which is very reliable but didn’t present us with many options for time. Here’s a rundown of how we got to Holbox:

• 8 am Saturday: Took Mayab bus to Chiquila from the downtown Cancun bus station (cost: $85 pesos per person)
  • 3 hour bus ride, with stops in several small villages along the way
  • Arrival in Chiquila just in time to catch the ferry
• 11 am: ferry to Holbox island (cost: $80 pesos per person, time: 30 minutes)
  • Note: most of the day, there are ferries leaving every hour or every 2 hours
• Golf cart taxi from the marina to our hotel (cost: $30 pesos)

The island was absolutely stunning. The downtown area is quite small, with lots of restaurants, colorful shops, and sand streets. You won’t see any cars on Holbox! Only bikes, mopeds and golf carts.

We fell in love with the island and the hotel, although we were a bit disappointed in the water. The sand was white and powder-soft and the water in the distance was clear, bright turquoise… but right on the shoreline, there was either thick mud or brownish-green water with lots of sargasso. It was beautiful, but I guess we’re spoiled after spending so much time on beaches in Cancun and on Isla Mujeres. We’re very picky!

**Note: My friend Kelly tells me that the water is much clearer other times of year. Good to know 🙂

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We came back only 24 hours later, around noon on Sunday, to catch the last bus back to Cancun. Here’s how we did it:

• 12:40 pm: golf cart taxi picked us up at our hotel and took us to the Holbox marina (cost: $30 pesos)
• 1 pm: ferry back to Chiquila
• In Chiquila, there was a 1:45 bus that took the 3-hour route back to Cancun (cost: $85 pesos). There was also a bus at 2 pm that took a more direct route with no stops and took 2 hours (cost: $115 pesos). We opted for the 2 pm bus.
  • We would have loved to stay longer, but the 2 pm bus was the last one back to Cancun for the entire day. Travelers taking a car can leave much later, or you can take a taxi back for $70 US dollars.
• 4 pm: back in Cancun

Even though we only had 24 hours on Holbox, we felt like it was just enough time to relax, unwind, explore the island and enjoy some amazing food.

Tomorrow I’ll do a separate post on our hotel, because it was AMAZING!

What I’ve Been Up To

So the past few weekends I’ve taken tons of pictures to share with you guys! Things have been pretty busy at work, but I figure I’ll keep ya’ll updated. Here goes…

Last Weekend:

Went to my friend Dama's birthday party at Black Pub Friday night

Saturday: Went to another friend's birthday party, complete with palapa and a taco stand

My "gringas"... flour tortilla, pastor, onion, cilantro and pineapple

Saturday night: Burgers in a friend's backyard (it had very cool design, but I only managed to get a shot of this light-covered palm tree)

 

This Weekend:

On Saturday I bought this... I'll tell you why later!

Sunday afternoon: Puerto Morelos

Saturday night: Carnaval parade in Playa del Carmen (all pictures were either blurry or blocked by pedestrians, but the costumes were great!)

What did you do this weekend?

Splash! Restaurant in Cancun’s Hotel Zone

Right after our afternoon at the beach last Sunday, Jorge and I took the Hotel Zone bus to a restaurant we’d been wanting to try called Splash. It’s located right on the lagoon (by where Basic nightclub used to be, for all you partiers) and has some pretty decent prices!

My lettuce tacos (shrimp, salmon/caviar, and tuna)

Jorge with his michelada

We spent $260 pesos total (several tacos each, drinks and tip).

Jorge says we have to return because this place has “The 3 B’s… Bueno, Bonito y Barato“!

Sunday at Cancun’s Playa Delfines

Jorge and I spent Sunday at Playa Delfines (Dolphin Beach) in Cancun. It has been years since we hung out at the beach in the Hotel Zone! Usually we prefer Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen or Puerto Morelos, but I’m glad we finally came around and decided to enjoy our city for once.

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Honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro: Ipanema Sunset

Last night I realized I hadn’t finished showing you guys our honeymoon photos from Rio.

The photos today are very special to me.

Here’s the story behind them: Jorge and I had just been through one of the worst days of our lives as we missed our flight back to Mexico. I’d spent all morning crying at the airport and making desperate phone calls, then we went back to our vacation apartment for an afternoon nap. We woke up late afternoon, still with no idea how or when we were going to get home, and walked out toward Ipanema because that’s where the Subway shop was (extra vacation days = poor).

When I saw the sunset on Ipanema Beach, I knew that this was the reason we’d missed our flight. God wanted us to see this…

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Christmas and Culture Shock

Hello all! I’m back from good ole Richmond, Virginia, and it was a very Merry Christmas indeed. This was my first time back in Richmond after more than 3 years, and I got to see family and friends I hadn’t seen in forever.

Jorge LOVED the US. He liked the houses, mainly because they “don’t have bars on the windows, like in Mexico”. Very true. I took him to my favorite outdoor mall, and he was a bit overwhelmed but definitely enjoying himself. I have to admit I miss US malls, too… although I did feel bad for the shirtless guy standing in the freezing cold of the Abercrombie and Fitch entrance.

I was excited to be back in my hometown of Richmond! I got to see lots of friends and family I hadn’t seen in over 3 years. Jorge got to see my high school, middle school, elementary school, church and old house.

Everything seemed so much bigger and grander than I remember. In Cancun all the houses are right next to eachother (no side yards, shared walls) and yards are usually just tiny squares of concrete. The bigger houses here have walls around them, and almost all houses here have bars on the windows. In Richmond, the yards were so huge and the houses so much larger than they needed to be that I felt like I was way in the country or something (even though it was just the suburbs). Even houses I used to think were small growing up, today they look immense!

All the shopping centers and restaurants looked so pristine it was overwhelming. Immaculate storefronts were surrounded by massive amounts of parking space. Where were the flimsy taco stands? Where were the family-owned corner stores? Why are there so many SUVs? Who would go to a huge shopping center in the middle of nowhere? (a lot of people, apparently)

The only thing big about Cancun is the potholes.

I was seeing the first stages of reverse culture shock, and I was only there for 3 days. Everything from the cars to the houses, restaurants, movie theaters and malls was just so BIG and PERFECT. It was lovely, but I was glad to get back to the sun and tiny concrete houses of Cancun.

Here are a few pics. The lights are from the James Center in downtown Richmond, and the rest are just family photos taken at my grandparents’ house.

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How was your Christmas?

A Walk Along Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen

The past month has been one of my favorites since I moved to Mexico over 6 years ago. For three weekends in a row, we found great excuses to make the 1-hour drive from Cancun to Playa del Carmen. First we went to the Taste of Playa Food Festival, then the next weekend to the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, then last weekend just to hang out! Because who doesn’t want to wake up to this…

The most famous area of Playa del Carmen is Fifth Avenue (or “La Quinta”, as the locals call it), a pedestrian street that runs parallel to the beach. All along this avenue, you’ll find charming hotels, tons of restaurants, boutique shops, local artisanry, beautiful cafes and chic nightclubs right on the beach.

Coco Maya Beach and Night Club

A predominantly European destination, Playa del Carmen’s Fifth Avenue is ideal for people-watching. You’ll see everything from luxury travelers to backpackers all on one unique street.

My personal favorite part of Fifth Avenue is a small off-street called “Calle Corazon” (Heart Street). Calle Corazon is filled with twinkle lights, cafes and art galleries, and I lose myself in its magical atmosphere every time I walk by.

Calle Corazon

 

From Fifth Avenue, it’s just a one-block stroll down to the stunning Caribbean beach, where travelers can indulge in enticing meals right on the sand at oceanfront palapa restaurants. But to be honest, sometimes we don’t even make it to the beach! Our favorite thing to do is to simply walk up and down Fifth Avenue and talk about how much we want to move to Playa del Carmen.

"Jellyfish Lanterns"

What’s your favorite travel destination?

Disclosure:  I am being compensated for my work in creating and managing content as a Community Manager for the Mexico Today Program.  All stories, opinions and passion for all things Mexico shared here are completely my own.

Honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro: Botanical Garden

Moving on with the Rio de Janeiro posts (it’s been awhile)…

On the third morning of our trip, Jorge and I spent about an hour trying to figure out which was the correct bus to get to the Botanical Garden. After getting several different answers from several different people while trying to find out which one-way street was correct, we were finally on our way!

We passed through Ipanema and the uber-fabulous neighborhood of Leblon. I knew we’d arrived at the Botanical Garden when I saw several lines of the tallest palm trees I’ve ever seen just off to my left. (Palm trees don’t get that tall here in Cancun, aka Hurrican Territory!)

Here are the pictures! It only cost a few dollars per person, and it was a great way to spend a few hours:

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