Campeche, the spirit of Mexico

From an article by Sophie Cook in The Guaradian (UK):

While Mexico’s tourist resorts are still reeling post swine flu, the beguiling city of Campeche and its surrounds is as enchanting as ever.

Mangroves and lagoons stretch along the northern half of Mexico’s Campeche coast, home to countless flamingoes, while to the south the narrow bands of white sand beaches have always been cordoned off for turtles, not tourists. In the aftermath of the swine flu outbreak, Cancún, on the opposite side of the Yucatan peninsula, has been missing its usual planeloads of holidaymakers. But Campeche has never courted vast numbers of visitors and, while welcoming the few that come, can get by just fine without them. Lacking the Yucatan east coast’s turquoise seas and sweeping beaches, this ruggedly beautiful western coast epitomises independent spirit. It’s certainly safe again to bring your body here for healing winter sun; but more to the point, this area has always provided a unique medicine for the soul. Its inhabitants are justifiably proud of their abundant wildlife and rich cultural inheritance, while Campeche city itself is one of the most beguiling places in Latin America.

Beat-up cars rattle through the narrow cobbled streets, a rusting Dodge parked up outside the pastel blue manicured splendour of a colonial house. The whole city centre is listed as a Unesco world heritage site: a perfectly preserved 16th-century Spanish colonial streetscape, where the fierce tropical sun tears shadows through curving wrought-iron balconies and window grilles, across the painted walls. Despite its overwhelming beauty, historical importance, and extreme safety, Campeche city is no stuffy museum piece. The vigorous thrum of Mexican daily life beats everywhere just beneath its stuccoed skin. The streets are filled with independently-owned shops selling pens, or tinsel, or radios. Women and old men pray beneath the chandeliers inside the finely-kept churches, or come to read their newspapers in the pews, finding sanctuary for the flesh as well as the soul in the cool limestone walls. Pelicans dive into the navy waters of the Gulf of Mexico beyond the city’s sea walls, splashing down between small fishing boats, while Mayan women from the countryside sell mangoes on street corners and lanky boys shoot pool at battered green tables in antique colonnades.

Women In Wellness October 24 – November 4 2009

For Immediate Release – Locals are welcome to join in the workshops and classes

Who: Women In Wellness Retreat
What: A whole mind and body fitness trip to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico
When: October 24 – November 4, 2009
Where: Akumal, Mexico
Cost: Varies on Accommodations and Workshops you attend. Prices for rooms start as low as $45 a night double occupancy.

Just Imagine Vacations, Inc., of Mt. Pleasant, SC, and Hotel Akumal Caribe, of Akumal, Mexico, are hosting a “Women in Wellness Retreat” in Akumal, Mexico on October 24 – November 4, 2009. The purpose of the trip is to provide opportunities for women to experience whole mind and body fitness in one of the most beautiful vacation villages on Mexico’s Caribbean Coast.

Wellness activities and programs will include: Water Fitness certification and continuing education classes, offered by WaterARTS International of Canada, Yoga classes offered by top international yoga instructors at Yoga Akumal, Blanca Sanchez-Navarro, LPC, LCDC of Texas will be leading workshops on De-stress for Success and Salsa Lessons.

In addition to these programs, there will be fashion shows, cooking demonstrations, snorkeling, scuba-diving, kayaking and much more available. Trip goers will also celebrate Halloween and the Day of Dead – Mexican style! Side tours are also available to eco-parks and Mayan ruins.

Akumal, Mexico is located on the Mayan Riviera about an hour and a half south of Cancun and just north of Tulum. We will be staying at a lovely family-owned boutique resort, Hotel Akumal Caribe. Other accommodations, villas and condos are available for large groups and families.

Just Imagine Vacations arranges custom tours for schools, infinity groups and special events to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

To learn more please visit our website www.rivieramayavacation.net OR contact Lydia L. Pontius at lydia@justimagine.net

Help Friends and Family in Akumal and along the Riviera Maya

I have called Akumal my home away from home, and the Riviera Maya has been my playground since I first laid eyes on it. And to many I am still a relative “newcomer”. My first trip to the area was 1998 and I walked under the arch in 1999. I knew the moment I saw it, like so many others, that this was a special place. It only took returning once to make me realize not only was the place unique but the people were unusually friendly. You are a stranger but once in Akumal. That is what makes it so totally different from many other places. That is what I have heard oh so many say over the years.

My question is this. If we so love to call Akumal home, and the people we visit there friends and in many cases even family, then isn’t it times like this that we should be asking ourselves what we can do to help? We in the States have been hit hard with this new economy and money is tight. There is no denying that. But there is a definite trickle down effect and it has touched our beloved Akumal and the Mayan Riviera.

On top of tighter budgets and less people traveling the Riviera Maya has had to defend themselves against a media that has painted all of Mexico with the same brush scaring those of us who should know better about crime wars and flues.

I think now more than ever we need to help our friends and family. Airfares are great. And your visit has never been more needed. This past spring many businesses felt the impact of 80% of their reservations canceled, that includes hotels, transportation, tours, restaurants and stores.

If you can’t afford to book your next trip, then help us out by sharing your stories, photos and memories. Help us to rebuild the reputation our beloved home and home away from home had in easier times. And by doing so maybe we can in some small way reach out and help those who have brightened our life. Whether you call it pay back or pay it forward. It is a simple and fun way we can all help. Now is not the time to be grumbling about a time that has past, and how it use to be; nor is it a time to be trying to negotiate the best deals. Now, in this writers opinion, is the time to show our loyalty and support.

Won’t you please help?

Slide shows and music – Akumal

Akumal’s 50th was an incredibly wonderful 3 days of a multitude of events. We now have a report with slide shows for those who want to relive it or unfortunately missed it. AND hear the new song by Caribbean Soul, Akumal!

Akumal 50th Finale

What a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. The skies were blue, the breeze was mellow and the day as the fishing tournament took off with 22 boats. Meanwhile back at the beach the children gathered to go on their treasure hunt. Thanks to all the volunteers, locals, regulars and visitors alike helped us with nearly 100 children of all ages. We broke the kids into groups according to age and off they went with their guides one group at a time. Along the way they were confronted with some notorious pirates armed with water guns. In the end the pirate all relinquished their weapons to the kids. There were plenty of small gifts so that each of the children got several.

The afternoon’s festivities continued with volleyball on the beach down in front of Budha Garden. With the Fishing Tournament spread out near CEA the entire beach was alive with music and laughter. Wendell pulled in a HUGE Marlin and ended up walking away with all 3 prizes. Congratulations Wendell. Meanwhile on the other end of the beach the volleyball teams were battling it out.

Right in the middle was the sand sculpturing. There were so many wonderful sculptures all depicting Ixchel or Mermaids and created by families that the judges decided all were winners and they got gifts and memories that would last them for years.

The weekend ended with music and margaritas at La Buena Vida. Happy Anniversary Akumal! Many more, may you never change and always be that special place you are!!!

Again, thanks to everyone who helped and participated.

Akumal’s 50th update Sunday Morning

Saturday was an incredibly fun packed day, thanks to the hard work of many Akumalians. There was a dive festival that was run between the two dive shops in Playa Akumal. The cancha was transformed into a wonderful bazaar with booths selling new and used items, art work, food and more. The stage was busy all day starting with a fashion show, followed by the Tulum dance group and later in the afternoon a puppet show.

The evening activities started with happy hour at Lol Ha. At 6:30 there was a beach picnic with a variety of delicious tacos all prepared on open fires. During dinner there was dancing to Latin Music. At 8:30 the entertainment moved under the Lol Ha Beach palapa where there was dancing to Jurassic Band, a 70’s band that had the crowd dancing and singing until midnight. The turn out was wonderful!

Sunday starts at 9:00 with a presentation on the Maya Calendar, the fishing tournament, a treasure hunt for the children, sand sculpturing, kite flying and a volleyball tournament. The festival will close with live music at La Buena Vida.

To all who helped create and orchestrate this wonderful festival, we say thank you and congratulations for a job well done. But what really made it special was the turn out of people and the smiles on their faces, which reminded us all why we love Akumal.

Akumal 50th Saturday Update

Akumal’s 50th Celebration kicked off with a great first night. Close to 200 people arrived at the CEA Center for the wine and cheese reception and was thoroughly entertained with wonderful multi-media presentations from video to slide presentations and a song written about Akumal. Laura Bush began the evening by introducing some of the very first Akumalians. The presentations were heartwarming and brought back a floor of memories for all in attendance. We want to thank everyone who worked so hard on those presentations.

The evening continued over at the stage to a packed crowd who came to eat, drink and dance the night away. There were Latin dance performances and dancing to Latin music followed by Bandikoro. Everyone who worked so hard to put this portion of the festival together saw the fruits of their hard work in the smiles on everyone’s face.

This night was a very special opportunity to visit with old friends, share memories and have a great time, knowing Akumal holds many more great memories in its future.

If you are around check out our schedule so you don’t miss a single thing! http://www.sac-be.com/akumal_50.shtml

Akumal 50th Friday Update

It’s Friday morning. The final touches are being set up around Akumal, the CEA Center is getting ready to host the opening ceremonies, people are waking and getting ready to rehearse and prepare for their roles in the celebration. And there is an over-all sense of excitement. We have 100 children confirmed for the Treasure hunt on Sunday. Kite-flying has been added to the list of Sunday’s activities. Charlene and several other locals arrived yesterday, just in time! Nancy Poor arrived with LOTS of new necklaces and earrings that will be for sale, money going Frida Khalo Library and SPAY.

This evening’s program will have something for everyone starting at the wine and cheese reception at CEA where there will be a multi- media presentation depicting Akumal over the past 50 years followed by Salsa and Bandikoro at the stage. It is sure to be an evening to delight everyone.

Check out the schedule by clicking here.

http://www.sac-be.com/akumal_50.shtml

In Tulum, the un-Cancun, look for calm instead of crowds

From an article by Robert DiGiacomo in The Washington Post:

For some, Cancun may be nothing more than a built-up, Americanized playground, albeit a convenient one. But for me, it’s much more than that: a perfect escape route to other, less-traveled parts of the Riviera Maya, a string of beach towns fronting the Caribbean Sea on the Yucatan Peninsula.

About a two-hour drive south is Tulum, which is the name of both a town and an eco-conscious resort area nearby. Both are a world away from the spring-break crowds — and chain hotels and restaurants — of Cancun. Originally the site of a walled Mayan city whose ruins are a popular tourist destination, Tulum boasts the same gorgeous white sand beaches and sparkling Caribbean waters as its overbuilt counterpart but with many fewer tourists and a far more chill sensibility.

Santa Elena, Yucatan Pueblo

From a post on TripShake:

This last weekend, we escaped the city of Merida and drove one hour south to stay at the Flycatcher B&B in Santa Elena. We might as well have traveled in a time machine. The Flycatcher, owned by an American-Mayan couple, Kristine and Santiago, is a lovely collection of rooms and casitas that are clean and have all the modern amenities. But stepping outside the door of our little casita moderna was like going to another place in another time.

The town of Santa Elena is mostly on the northeast side of the road that leads to the Mayan archaeological zone of Uxmal. The Flycatcher is on the other side of the road, mercifully distant from early morning crowds of crowing roosters and late weekend night fiestas in the center of town. After a quiet morning watching birds and a grueling day ruin-hopping, we took a nap and then ventured across the road to explore the town itself.

The town is laid out on a grid that mostly expands from the foot of a hill, which is topped by a very large church, freshly painted when we were there in a rich colonial red. The church can be seen miles outside of town… it dwarfs the buildings around it. A series of concrete landings leads up to the church from the main square, and at the top, huge stone pave the courtyard in front of the church that were placed here hundreds of years ago.