Well, the pictures are up!! It was such a fabulous trip! It began in Tulum (the more rustic-looking pictures) which is about an hour and a half south of Cancun. As soon as we walked into the reception area, we ran into one of our fellow guests- Carmindy from the TLC show “What Not to Wear”! We felt so cool because we were staying at the same place as a semi-celebrity.

Our cabana was #1, the closest one to the beach. It was really neat inside, decorated in a traditional Mayan style. The cabanas are pretty rustic, though- you can’t flush your TP, and electricity was only on from 7 p.m.-10 p.m., which meant no AC!!

Here was our typical day: we woke up at about 7:00 a.m. and then lounged around until 8 a.m. when breakfast was served (breakfast was included) The breakfast was amazing! They had all sorts of fruit, granola, yogurt, eggs, pancakes and, best of all, the best french toast and coffee ever! After breakfast we went to the beach (about a five foot walk :)) and that’s where we tanned/read all day. It was the most beautiful beach we have ever seen- crystal clear water and the whitest, softest sand imaginable! We didn’t wear watches, so we got pretty good at figuring out the time by looking at the shadow our palm tree was making. When we were hungry, we walked down the road to a restaurant called Zamas for some really good food (especially the guacamole and fish tacos!) When we wanted to go to the room, we walked the five feet to it (like Eric did one day to use the bathroom only to discover it was “occupado” by a friendly iguana!) We had such a wonderful time- during the day! We both began to dread nighttime, because that meant 10 hours of hot, sweaty, bug-bitten restless sleep. Our cabana really seemed to hold the heat, but you can’t keep the doors/windows open because of the mosquitoes. One night we tried sleeping under the net, but it was 10 times hotter underneath it. So on the morning of what would have been our fourth night, Eric rolls over and says to me “Babe, I think last night was our last night here.” Ahhh, what a man! After breakfast we packed up and took a taxi back to Cancun. Adios paradise, we need some AC!

We arrived at the Riu without a reservation, hoping that they would have a room available for us. When we walked in, we could not believe our eyes- what a culture shock! Quite a difference from our no-electricity, palapas-roofed cabana. Luckily they did have a room and the front desk lady even gave us an upgrade to an ocean view room because we were honeymooners! So for the next two days we lounged by the pool, alternating trips to the ocean to snorkle with trips to the pool to cool off. Eric participated in the ping-pong tournament and drank “cuba libres” while I fretted over tan lines. Unfortunately, the “revenge” took it’s toll on me on Saturday, so I was pretty much out the whole day. Sunday was more of the same- ocean/pool/drink/eat/ocean/pool/drink/eat repeat. On Monday, we had a good 5 hours by the pool before our flight. Eric tried again, unsuccessfully, to become The Riu Ping-Pong Champion, and I gave up worrying about tan lines and tried feverishly to get a tan! At around 2:30 we ate our last meal and headed off to the airport.

It was a wonderful vacation. It had a little bit of adventure, and a lot of relaxation. The question still hasn’t been answered, though- are we “roughing it no-electricity” people, or “big fancy all-inclusive resort” people? Well, one thing’s for sure, we would definitely go back to the cabanas (but NOT in August!) but I don’t think we would go back to the Riu.

Ok, that’s it for my re-cap. Love you!