Yeepee - we're here!
Our flights were on time and painless, we had a quick connection in Charlotte, North Carolina, and thank God our luggage made it!
No problem through customs, and finlly got picked-up by our car rental company to get to the car. Another unforeseen expense which I should have researched : liability insurance. Very important here in Mexico - for us it's an additional $800 for 3 months. Okay... now for adding my name as a driver? The guy says at least $500, but he can do it for $100 cash (HA!). While I'm talking Tim is looking at the contract and sees very clearly that spouse can drive under this agreement. So I told the guy that Tim would drive, we're just fine thank you very much : )
Got to our hotel at about 1:30 or 2pm - Occidental Allegro Playacar - beautiful place and very friendly staff, perfect beach. We got in our swim suits and the four of us ran together in the Caribbean. The boys were over the moon with all the perks of the all inclusive (especially the buffet 3 times a day) and as we were walking around Leo and Dylan were chatting and saying 'wow, what more can there be around here?'... that's when we got to the giant chess board and they both stopped and exclaimed 'GIANT CHESS!!!!!' We had a good laugh. I think the guys thanked me one hundred times on that first day. Leo did his homework, and we Skyped with his school tutor on Monday as scheduled.
I thought I had done a great job packing - I usually think of everything and more... but this time to my dismay I realised that the boys had no underwear... another good laugh! So we went to Playa del Carmen to shop, got what we had on our list including a new guitar for Dylan - made in Paracho, Mexico, just like my mandolin. Paracho is famous for its string instruments, mostly guitars. $80 with the case, perfect!
On November 17 we packed our bags after breakfast, installed and loaded the rooftop bag, checked out and hit the road to go grocery shopping. It took about 2 hours. We have 2 styrofoam coolers which we filled with ice together with the meat and other cold food, and we had just enough room in the car to pack the food we bought. Finally... we left to get to our next destination : Xcalak.
It was a 5 hour trip, including one pit stop to eat lunch. Of that 5 hour drive, about 4 is literrally in the middle of nowhere. From the highway we turn on to a road going west (towards the sea) and drive for about 45 minutes, then turn right on to the road to Xcalak for one hour - and it seems like the jungle is taking over the pavement pretty much all along. We finally got to the village as the sun was setting. Great... now we had to find the house in the dark! Got on to the dirt road along the sea shore and about 8km from the village - finally arrived at Casa Caracola. Good thing, we only have 1/4 of tank of gas left in the car! No gas station in town... Oh well, we'll take care of that somehow. We're here for one month!
Settling in, it rained A LOT overnight, today is overcast and we're exploring the permises.
Over and out!
xoxo
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