You arrive at the registration site under a lovely giant palapa, which is well designed for that environment -- air moves through it freely, but sometimes a little rain gets in past the palm leaf roof!
From here we all went to our various condos. Nancy and I selected a penthouse for the simple reason that it is larger than the regular condos and it is up on the 3rd level in the tree tops, where much of the animal life presents itself daily. I show you the outside porch area, which can accommodate several people and also has a Jacuzzi.
...and then when the family arrive for toddies before dinner we have the space.
...and the grandchildren can hang out in the Jacuzzi: i.e., Siobhan, Jakob and Ceilah.
This is also where many birds and critters would show up in the adjacent trees most afternoons when we were on the porch, including the beautiful Altamira Oriole, only seen outside of Mexico in southern Texas...
...as well as the Yucatan jay, both the yellow beaked juvenile..
...and black beaked adult.
Often our 'happy hours' were associated with the appearance of one or more white-nosed coatimundi, the Mexican version of our raccoon. What a great site for exposure to feral animals, which are not afraid of humans.
This kaleidoscope of life often included a parade of spider monkeys of all ages, including a mother with infant,
a juvenile male with a fondness for our red delicious apples,
and a provocative mature female that wished me to buy her a drink. Of course I judiciously refused.
They often feed on the tree in which she is sitting.
To show you the ballistic manner in which they can appear on the porch, I thought you might enjoy the brief video of the entrance of a juvenile male!
With this fearless creature in mind, a brief story. One afternoon I heard a Canadian 'eh' from the penthouse next to us, so I inquired as to their origins: Kingston Ontario it seems. This was followed from them by the question: "so where are the monkeys we have heard about"? My response - "they usually show up in the late afternoon, but unexpectedly. Don't leave your door open or you are apt to have a visitor". About an hour later, I watched a spider monkey exit from their room with a clock radio hanging from his prehensile tail!! Up and over the roof he went with the radio, probably to listen to the CBC.
Once you leave your room, the pathways lead throughout the resort area to include the restaurants, spa/gym, swimming pools, beaches, amusement areas, Mayan ruins, and cenotes. The cenotes are freshwater pools that surface throughout the property and are interconnect underground leading to the ocean. By the same token ocean fish that can stand fresh water can go between the two water bodies. The large registration palapa was build on the edge of the largest cenotes where people like to swim, although life jackets are required in this one.
Son-in-law Scott is swimming near the bottom here to check out the fish species present.
In a slightly larger one, Tracey spotted a 3 foot tarpon.
So we all got in the water to see it.
And sure enough it was there, which I think Scott snapped in black and white.
Many of the pathways tour you through the jungle and/or mangrove.
Where you will encounter many other critters, like peacocks.
Iguanas,
and penned white tail deer. Note the spider monkey feeding one of the many deer in the impoundment and a coatimundi sitting at the based on the tree to the upper right!
And there are several benign snakes, all with a similar pedigree that pop up here and there along the way.
Eventually you come to the ocean, where we seniors prefer the less sunny locations under the palms rather than the more sunny locations, as we all have had some version of sun damage and need no more of it.
On the way to these beach locations, we would likely have lost the children and/or grand children to one of the several play areas with a watery venue.
The trails and living areas are full of groomed vegetation, both familiar like bougainvillea
and some unknown to me.
Since we had rented several autos, we took a couple of side trips. Jamie and family went to Tulum one day. I didn't go, having been twice before.
Several of us went snorkeling on another day at the nearby Akumal beach area about 20 miles south.
Here the water was clear and protected from the ocean winds, yet there were many fish species to view. You can see the fish between me and the adjacent rocks, many of which were Sargent fish.
We were also able to rent a little palapa there for peanuts to store our gear and hang out when we were not snorkeling.
At the end of the day was my favorite time, which involved toddies and dinner. The dinner venues were quite extensive and included restaurants that served Mexican, Italian, Japanese, International, Brazilian, vegan, seafood and a few others. One of our favorites was the seafood, where we gathered twice. My choice was yellow fin tuna, of course, but other winners included sea bass.
And they kindly supported our families reason to be there at Sandos this time.
And we all gathered for a family portrait courtesy of some willing victim who was waiting to get into the restaurant. For those who don't know the contestants, from left to right are son-in-law Peter, son Jamie, grand Siobhan, daughter-in-law Tracey, grand Ceilah, grand Jakob, daughter Tobi, Nancy, me, daughter Jenifer and son-in-law Scott. And there you have it.
Like all good things, it must come to an end. And so the next morning our two grand daughters were on the beach at dawn to say good bye to Neptune.
Then onto West Jet for our return to the great white north the end of March.
This certainly reduces the pain of winter and needs to be rerun. Not surprisingly, we heartily endorse this location and will be there next year again I am quite sure. Adios amigos....
