The Journey and the Destination

For now, I'm just loving doing nothing!  The condo we're renting in Akumal is right on the water, so it's an infinity view in sun or shade from the balcony.

But let me backtrack to tell you about the journey.  After trying to book a transport for a few days only to find the shuttles sold out on Saturday (must have been the post-Thanksgiving rush back to the airport), we decided to just wing it!  I'm so glad we did because it saved us a lot of pesos.

We crossed the street from the ferry terminal and grabbed a taxi to the downtown Cancun bus station for 50 pesos.  As we pulled up, I noticed the Playa Express collectivos lined up across the street from the bus station.  The line at the first one was long, so we waved at the driver in the second van and he loaded our bags into the backend of his Mercedes van.  66 pesos later, we were both in the front two seats headed for Playa del Carmen.  I hadn't been in Playa for years, but I figured the southbound collectivos to Tulum couldn't be too far away from the lot where the Playa Express driver dropped us.  A taxi pulled up as we were searching and offered us a 330 pesos fare to Akumal.  About the same time, we spotted the collectivos in the next block and decided to just wing it again.  A handler moved people around in the second van so he could deposit our luggage up front and we climbed into seats in the second row. 

The one blunder we made was having the collectivo drop us at the Akumal Playa exit as opposed to the Akumal Pueblo exit.  After we paid our 70 pesos and left the van, I looked at the pedestrian overpass and knew I'd made a mistake.  After dragging our bags uphill to the bridge over the four-lane highway and back down to the beach path, a taxi came along a block later shortly before I collapsed.  ja ja ja   He quoted 80 pesos to Playa Caribe Condos and I just dove into the taxi before Craig could question the fare.  While it sounded a little high, a friend had told me awhile back that she paid 90 pesos from the Pueblo exit, so I figured what the heck.

So the total for two people from the Puerto Juarez ferry dock to Akumal's Half Moon Bay was 266 pesos.  We figured our dinner last night and lunch today were gratis since we didn't pay $100 U.S. for the ride.

I'll leave you with a few photos from the journey.

 

Leaving Isla Mujeres.

 

Passing Manchionnes reef.

The beautiful blue Caribe.

I'm glad Jesus was watching over us with Speedy Gonzalez driving.

And here's the destination -- Half Moon Bay, Akumal.

Craig enjoying the view from the terrace.

Sunset over the jungle.

Dinner last night at La Buena Vida.  And yes, this is the good life!

Chicken enchiladas in red mole sauce.

Craig's grande steak burrito.

Teaching Miele to shake for steak.

Craig with his new best friends.

Walking the dark road on the way home, we noticed we were being stalked.  Coatimundi?  Mapache?  Hmmmm.  Too funny!  When a car approached, he scurried off into the jungle.