Everyone went to Mexico!

We did it again. In December the whole family (almost) embarked on an all-inclusive vacation to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Unfortunately this time we were missing Sabrina’s mom and her partner, but they were very much with us in spirit. Sabrina and Beorn picked the resort and they really picked a gem.

Kirby and I had to travel a few days off schedule from the rest of the family due to vacation schedules and getting approval at work. But we did take the opportunity to upgrade our tickets to business class. Because hey, you only live once and what else is money for? And this was definitely money well spent.

We arrived at the resort on Saturday December 13, and settled into the room.

We booked a room with a “partial ocean view.” And it ended up being ocean front. We really couldn’t have asked for a better room.

The whole resort was beautiful. Even the grumpy anti-photo people (person) couldn’t ruin the aesthetic.

On Monday the rest of the group joined us. We wandered around with folks and enjoyed ourselves at the buffet (genuinely the best buffet I’ve ever eaten at, abroad or at home). The next day we all jumped into a tour van to go on a snorkeling tour of three different types of cenotes.

This was definitely a highlight of the trip. We started off in a small open cenote where some brave people jumped off a platform, while others could take a zipline.

Next we got to snorkel in a cave, which was very cool (in both senses of the word).

And lastly we snorkled in a bay where the fresh water meets the ocean. I don’t have any pictures of that because we had to leave everything locked up while we swam, but that was definitely my favourite part of the tour. We all had room to swim at different paces and there were lots of beautiful fish. It was really fun. All in all, this excursion was a huge success.

The rest of the week we enjoyed riding bikes into town and doing some sight-seeing and shopping.

The people were very friendly and loved Kirby. He was very popular in Playa del Carmen for many reasons, mostly due to his tattoos. I think he was a little taken aback (we all know how much Kirby enjoys being the centre of attention).

I said it before but I’ll say it again, the food at the resort was outstanding. I didn’t have a single meal that disappointed me, and I don’t think anyone else did either.

On Thursday Bill, Sylvie, Kirby and I went on another excursion, this time to see Tulum. The ruins were very interesting but the temperature that day rivalled the surface of the sun and we had a tour guide who acted as though I poured sand in his cornflakes. And then kicked his dog. I don’t know, he was an odd economist. I mean tour guide.