We are playing tourist guide this month. Two days after John’s parents left, our friends Mahesh and Nikki, arrived for their third trip down here. Apparently, we guided these tourists a little too well on their first trip. We can’t keep them away now. It’s an affliction that affects many visitors to Playa del Carmen. Can’t Stay Away from Playaitis.
Before they even saw the beach on their first trip, they were enamored with our neighborhood (which reminded them of Mahesh’s birth country of India), tacos al pastor and our bath towels. Yes, I said bath towels.
“Where did you get these bath towels?”
“Um, Sam’s Club.”
“These are awesome. We can’t find towels like this in Chicago.”
“Really?!”
So, on this latest trip, we made a little exchange. Six brand-new super white bath towels from Playa del Carmen’s Sam’s Club for 4 shakers of popcorn salt. Well, there was some cash involved too. Towels aren’t THAT cheap in Mexico!
After we made the exchange, we did some more normal tourist things. Nikki, Mahesh and John went scuba diving in Akumal. Libby went snorkeling. Nikki, Mahesh and John saw about 5 turtles and a lobster along with the usual coral and myriad of fish. Libby saw 5 turtles, 2 stingrays, and 1 spotted eagle ray. Hmmm … considering Libby didn’t pay a cent for snorkeling, she made out.
The next day was to be a beach day. However, mother nature decided to finally provide us with a much needed downpour. It had been over a month since the last rain. The drought combined with dead vegetation downed by last year’s hurricanes resulted in wildfires all over the Yucatan peninsula. Although we were unaffected in Playa del Carmen, areas of Cancun and Mérida, were polluted with smoke and ashes.
Tourists were understandably dismayed by the cloudy and rainy weather, but locals welcomed it. Our group made the best of it. We parked ourselves on beach loungers under palapas (for a fee) and drank the day away. It would rain off and on. Libby discovered that if you are in the ocean when it starts raining, you don’t get any wetter. Funny how that works.
