A Day in the Jungle with Dave & Roz

Last year at Xpu-Ha, Dave & Roz Humphrey from Ontario were camped for the season and were involved in Dog & Cat rescue. Now they bought some land just Northwest of Playa del Carmen in an environmental friendly community. Eight of us decided to go visit them for a day to see what his place and the area looked like. Dave met us out on the highway with his motor scooter and led us back through the pueblo until we crossed into a little gated community in the deep jungle.
They have divided the area into lots, interspaced by parks, caves and cenotes.

Dave built a little bath, shower area, has solar power and a water supply and fit his large Class A rig into the mix.

They had a large Palapa built to house the cats that they are taking care of.

We loved the bench that was made out of a fallen tree on their property.









This is not the gated community gate, but a very pretty gate on someone else's property.

We took a short walk around the area to a beautiful Cenote. (Underground Spring, found in the Limestone all over the Yucatan)

We finished off the day at Dave & Roz’s with our cocktail hour.

And then we had a nice meal at Los Amigos Restaurant in Playa.

 

 

Visit Puerto Adventuras

Claude and Mags invited us to ride over with them to spend the afternoon at Puerto Adventuras. We walked around and watched the tourists swim with the Sting Rays and Sharks as well as play with the Dolphins. Here are some photos.

 

 

 

Boy being pushed by two Dolphins.

 

Girl feeding the Manatees Lettuce

Some Photos of New Friends

Mike & Pat Jones from CO’s RV and trailer to haul their Quads.

Mike and Pat getting ready to ride up to Puerto Aventuras

Ralph & Patti Burns in their small Sprinter, I didn’t get a picture yet of Rob & Shirley in their Sprinter Van but here is the group heading out with Tacho on a snorkel trip.

Tacho pulling anchor, and the group heading out to snorkel.

The Weeks Are Flying By

I can't believe another week has gone by. It was a hot dry week. Highs each day were in the Upper 80's, with lows in the mid-70's. It was partly cloudy all week but when the clouds moved out each day it seemed really warm.
A couple more RVr's found their way to the adjacent campground. Pat & Mike Jones from Salida, CO -MikeJinCO (RVnet name) in a truck camper pulling a trailer with two large ATV's. They are both paddlers and Mike makes wooden paddles (http://cricketdesigns.com/). They have been coming to Mexico for the past few winters and had just come this year through Chiapas. I had some bad experienecs there a few years ago and we wouldn't go back. They ran into road blocks where the locals demanded tolls to let you by based on how much they thought you could afford. They stopped everyone including buses with stop strips and wouldn't release them until you paid. They said they wouldn't go back either.
Another couple from Mass, Rob & Shirley arrived in a Sprinter van. They are eventually heading over to the West coast. They all came over each night to our 4 PM cocktail hours and we all told travel stories. Pat and Mike are heading to Caye Caulker in Belize to meet up with some friends in early February. They hope to leave their RV in Chetumal and take a ferry over.
By Friday they decided to move over to our campground and came out with the gang to our weekly dinner at Pizza Leos in Chemuyil. When we got back from dinner a cold front came though with a little rain but it dropped the nighttime temperature back into the high 60's, very nice for sleeping. It is supposed to be a little cooler this week and of course they forcast a little rain each day like last week but it seldom comes.

Cool Week, Warm Friends

A Norther blew in this week starting with high winds, then a little rain (Our first daytime rain on the trip), then cooler weather. Highs only in the 70’s and lows in the high 50’s.  A chilly end to our friend’s, Claude & Mags, son Stephen and his friend Mary Ann who flew down from Canada to find some warm weather, They both worked on a cruise ship so really liked getting back to some Caribbean beaches. To bad they had to fly out Friday, we enjoyed their company.

People have asked me about what else is on our little 1 –1/2mi long white sand beach. There are private homes, some that rent for a small fortune, boutique hotels, inexpensive rooms, and a large all-inclusive with 288 rooms. I took some photos to show what they look like.

Both ends of the beach have hotels that closed after a hurricane and never reopened. We like to hang out under these abandoned palapas.

This is a low end hotel almost in our campground for under $100.night

About 100 yds down the beach from camp is the Catalonia Royal Tulum, over $300 per night but it is an all inclusive with 6 restaurants and 3 bars.

Next a nice looking new 3 suiter, I’ll have to find out the name and price.

Then some private homes followed by this little place called Al Cielo with an expensive restaurant.

Next to it is the beautiful Hotel Esencia with less than 30 rooms but only includes breakfast for over $500/night. Gets rave reviews though.
So everyday we take our 3 mi walk back and forth down the beach and enjoy the fact that our monthly rate is what these people pay for a night.

Another week of Fun & Sun

Time is flying, been back a week already. Haven't accomplished anyhing except reading a few novels. Got three long paddles with my kayak while the seas were like glass. I even paddled all the way to Puerto Adventuras about 3 mi North of Xpu-Ha.
Yesterday we had lots of wind and choppy conditions but I really haven't found an area that has good surfing waves.
Went out for our weekly Pizza Leos on Friday and have enough left for a piece for lunch every day, thin crust with everything including Jalapeno Peppers, Peggy takes those off.

We will go shopping today in Playa del Carmen with Claude & Mags.
Last week it was a cool 60o each night. Last night it was 75oF. They are forecasting rain tomorrow but we haven't had rain since we have been here.

Back in Mexico

Our direct flight from Cleveland was right on time. The weather when we landed was in the high 70’s. We had to wait about 30 min to catch the Playa del Carmen bus but got a Tulum Collectivo that was ready to go when we walked up. They leave from one block North of where they did last year. When we got to La Playa campground road, one of the sons of the owners, Ramon,  was there to pick up his wife so it saved us a half mile walk in the hot sun with our heavy packs.

The campground road was packed with cars. It’s a Sunday and Christmas holidays so everyone came to our beautiful beach. No new people in our campground. Everyone greeted us and had taken great care to ensure our RV was OK while we were gone. Claude checked our refrigerator every day which was acting up, to make sure that it was OK. They even swept off our patio mat and washed the salt from the windows. The place was looking good.

We met Claude and Mags son Steve, who flew down for a long holiday break. I wish our kids could fly down here some time. I’ll try to take some pictures later.