Cancun mapping adventures #1

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This is the log from a mapping trip in 1999. Most of the landmarks have changed since then, but to this day it remains one of my favorite trips, and a fun read for everyone. Besides, I've been too busy to write about some of the crazy antics that happen on recent trips. Next time, I'll do a report--promise!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one. It's long, but it makes me chuckle every time I read it. I hope you'll enjoy it also.
--Perry

I made arrangements for a taxi driver friend to pick me up at the airport. When I arrived in Cancun, I found that he had taken a few days off to personally escort me around, and he brought his personal car...a Volkswagon beetle. Now, there's nothing wrong with a beetle, except for the fact that I travel with a bicycle and enough computer/camera equipment for a small office. About a half hour later we had miraculously stuffed everything into the bug, and we headed out for the jungle roads south of Cancun.

Raul evidently thought his car was a dune buggy, and the VW was quickly dubbed with the knickname "The Mule" for its ability to tackle any terrain.

Our first destination is an area with small Italian resorts. They lie at the end of a long washed-out road that cuts through a vast Mangrove swamp. Maximum speed should be about 5 kilometers per hour. The Mule however, tackles this terrain at about 40 kilo's per hour. Lizards run for their lives as we race haphazardly toward the beach. One pothole in the road resembles a small pond, and I barely catch my GPS computer as it bounces from the glove-compartment door that I'm using as a desk, toward the open window. We stop, I grab duct tape from my bag (I'm equipped for about anything!) and the GPS finds itself strapped to the glove-box door like Hannibal Lectur to a gurney.

At the end of the road are several gorgeous little resorts with beautiful beaches. The workers speak mostly Italian, and you can only book these resorts through travel agents in Italy.

We head north along the beach and find new construction on a quaint little hotel. Bother the construction workers for about a half-hour until they finally gather together and come up with a name for us--"Mayan plus del Caribe". Whether this is the real name or they just wanted to get rid of us I don't know. But that's the name you'll find on the map.

It's back to the highway as we head for cabanas Aca Maya. This tiny place has two small buildings holding four rooms. They have a restaurant, but you have to order the day before so they can go out and purchase some food. Aca Maya is home of the "pen stealing monkey". This trip I hid the pens, although I am now missing my ATM Card. The young Mayan girl who works here speaks no English and very little Spanish. Her native language is Mayan. As we are leaving a man emerges on the balcony of the main building. His dress, mannerism, and a smoldering cigar remind me of Clint Eastwood in all those old western movies.

It's starting to get dark so we head back toward Cancun. At this point I realize there is only one thing scarier then bouncing through the jungle in "The Mule" and that's flying down the highway--with a bus on your bumper--in "the Mule". As we are approaching Cancun, Raul questions where I am staying. I tell him my friend Xavier has a hide-a-bed waiting for me. Raul offers me the spare room at his mother's house and even offers to pick up an air-conditioner at a friends house so I am more comfortable. Mexican people are amazingly kind!

We arrive at Xavier's and the three of us (Xavier, Raul and I) head out for dinner. In Xavier's car (the VW is stuffed with my bike and bags, and we're not quite sure how we are going to get them out). We go to La Placita in downtown Cancun. I have grilled fish with garlic butter, Raul has some type of cheese fondue with habanero peppers, and Xavier just dives into the chips and salsa. Dinner, four beers, and three cokes later, I fork over a mere 80 pesos (about $8 U.S.) and we head back to Xavier's. It takes about a half-hour to get my bags out of the VW. After E-mailing Laura and telephoning Chris (another friend in Cancun), I put the bike together, then crash on the hide-a-bed. It's close to midnight. Tomorrow Raul and I plan to start at 7am and head for Puerto Morelos.