Did we buy into all that?

Of course not! That just wouldn’t be us would it? And yes I know that the WHOLE of Mexico isn’t All Inclusive Hotels but the east coast of the Yukatan where we based ourselves has a huge swathe of them. To combat that, first of all we’d booked 12 nights in a jungle retreat. A place called LUMAPI; a collection of yurt type buildings in the jungle, 15 minutes drive out of Tulum Center (2 hours down the coast from Cancun. This was one place we were REALLY looking forward to. It had hammocks, solar power, outside showers, a small pool, kids area, open air kitchen. We envisioned ourselves chilling out here for 2 weeks to recharge before heading onto the grand road trip USA! Then we arrived!

Shittinghell – the mosquitoes!!! We arrived at tea time to a deserted place, no hosts, no other guests and millions of mozzies! After exploring the place, the kitchen, the missing kids teepee, the half empty tiny plunge pool and the 2 half built shelters on the kitchen side of the camp that created that lovely building site feel. We ate and hunkered down for the night after finding the ‘site wide’ WIFI didn’t extend to our yurt. The shower and toilet whilst brilliant being outside (who doesn’t enjoy an alfresco poo) did mean the mozzies would join you and bite you on the arse!

Next day we found WIFI in town and checked out 3-4 other places. We’d give LUMAPI another night and see how it went. Next morning a quick count up of our bites revealed that the mozzies had got us a total of 224 times in 2 days there! Col was already asking about extra charges if we were to head to the US early and the whole Mexico leg was heading towards washout creek.

So we left – emailed the hosts and booked into our new home, Villas H2o. Great rooms, air-con, massive pool and no other guests. We get breakfast and it’s so relaxed here they let us use the kitchen to cook dinner/tea! Within 24 hrs the host had a apologised profusely for the pool filter being blocked and upgraded our room. Meanwhile the jungle hosts had also apologised and offered a full refund (minus Airbnb fees). So all was good, yes? Well, no not quite – we were in a bit of a daze for a while and it took us a while to come round. We used the new place to the max, the pool and dining/ chill out area felt like our own personal space.

We’ve liked Tulum, a more hippy/ bohemian town that has lots of independent hotels, veggie and vegan cafes and decent cooffee. We’ve since done beaches, snorkelled in Cenotes (water filled sinkholes and caves), Chichen Itza and swam with turtles. After a week here we’re finally ready to plan our remaining days, with visits to the Mayan ruins, more Cenotes, other beaches, water and amusement parks. We decided to skip the tours, choosing not to bother with the long boat trip out to the bio reserve to see dolphins, alligators and manta rays. Neither did we venture out to Cozumel Island. It sounds like a tourist trap to serve Cancun hotel dwellers for a bit of snorkelling.

We’ve also decided against a few days at an all inclusive as we’d feel trapped in the resort and we’ve passed on snorkelling with whale sharks after hearing the reports of mass boats and tourists surrounding the poor things. Not for us. We’ve decided instead to relax, bed in and recoup much needed energy. The kids wouldn’t thank us for yet another boat trip to see MORE dolphins, their really excited about the big amusement park day we’ve just booked. They’re lovin’ the beaches and the pool and the Cenotes are always a big hit! so does it feel like Mexico has been a bit of a washout? Not really, we did after all plan this to be a simple 2 weeks by the beaches as respite from chasing the next adventure. The good thing is that the USA road trip will offer up a whole new world of sights and sounds for us all to embrace. For now it’s back to the pool.

The thing we’ve most struggled with/ disliked is the deception. Now I’m well aware that if we’d done what many people do and plumped for a week or 2 at an All Inclusive Resort we may have felt completely oblivious to all this. Staying out in Tulum, wanting our time here to be more independent saw us constantly frustrated by Mexico and Mexicans. It feels like they’re all on the con! Whether it’s the big resorts who reckon the public beach is private or the petrol pump guy who tries to fiddle you. Lots of people try to bullshit you about what you can or can’t do, where you can go and what you need to pay. It’s cheap enough in Mexico, I’m happy to tip and pay what things are worth and treat people right but when so many people try to take the piss it really gets your back up. We don’t want to be dragged around on a sweaty tour bus having somebody determine how long we can/ have to stay somewhere. That’s probably why Cenotes and the public beaches that we sought out have been a hit. Clear waters, great snorkelling and chances to jump into deep blue pools.