Well fort out: The fortress
city of Tulum looks out over the sea
While lying on powdery white sand in the dappled shade of a palm
tree there seemed to be nothing in this world to entice us away from our Caribbean
paradise.
But, there was
something...
It was a reef teeming
with exotically coloured fish just a 15-minute swim away from Islas Contoy,
the tiny dot of tranquillity we had sailed to from bustling Cancun in Mexico.
The reef didn’t
disappoint as shoals of fish, every colour of the rainbow, encircled us. An
impressive grouper passed by like the king of this underwater metropolis while
French angel fish eased their way through the coral, swaying in the gentle
surf.
But, just as
everything seemed at peace, our guide Larissa called out: “Shark, shark.”
In the shallows below
we could see a 6ft nurse shark. We just hoped it had no no plans to devour
Larissa, me or any of the others invading its territory.
Suddenly, it made a
swift move. Fortunately, towards much smaller fry.
Out of 20 Thomson
guests on this day-long excursion only three of us went on the reef swim, which
was a real miss for others in our party.
Still, those who felt
safer on terra firma were not disappointed either. They saw some of the 1,500
fork-tailed frigate birds that nest there.
When they use their
huge wingspan to soar from mangroves it feels like a scene from Jurassic Park.
While catching glimpses of some of the other 150 bird species we
had lunch on the beach. Barbecued fish, gutted on the boat by a deck hand, was
washed down with an ice-cold Superior lager before we returned to Cancun then
carried on south by road to our luxury resort – the Thomson exclusive Sensatori,
which has a Travelife gold award for being environmentally friendly and
committed to local communities.
Guests staying in its
435 suites on the Riviera Maya can soak up the sun at several swimming pools
and the beachfront too.
For the more
energetic, there’s volleyball and football along with circuit training. You can
follow core and back exercise regimes at the water’s edge.
Rooted out: Paul at Sian Ka'an
A good way to start
the day is at Spoons breakfast buffet, where fresh papaya, pineapple and even
more exotic fruits are served up. The really health- conscious stick to
yoghurts and bircher muesli while the rest lap up syrupy pancakes, fried eggs
cooked sunny-side- up, omelettes to order and Mexican pastries.
To burn off the
calories tennis coach Armando put us through our paces before a visit to the
luxurious spa.
It’s a place of
absolute calm with a hot tub, a cold tub if you feel the need (I didn’t) and a
steam room before a stress-busting massage.
For lunch there’s a
Mexican restaurant overlooking the Caribbean. It serves up freshly cooked
tacos, burritos and fajitas (watch out for the chilli peppers). But for the
really culinary adventurous it’s got to be dinner at the Heston
Blumenthal-style Le Chique, which is next to the resort’s butler-run premium
section.
We sat at a table in
the kitchen watching about 20 chefs preparing what must have been close to a
thousand courses in one night.
Beef dishes melted in
the mouth, pork belly with roasted eggplant was so delicious we didn’t want it
to end, but parts of the 22-course Experimental (with a capital ‘E’) dinner are
not for faint-hearted foodies.
While I found the
dried worm salt sticking to the lip of my glass of tangerine aperitif
interesting, others declined.
And cricket dust with
cheesy puffed corn was very memorable.
Pairing fine wines
with the food meant that we sampled half a dozen different vintages so well
chosen there wasn’t a hint of a hangover the next morning, despite a nightcap
in the Mojito bar.
Elsewhere, Sienna’s
Italian chefs served up lovely pasta dishes, fresh fish and desserts along with
good house wines.
But by far our
favourite eating place was the Caribbean restaurant Zavaz, which overlooks the
beach with a wraparound balcony. There’s a swim-up bar where you can take in a
rum punch too.
Head waiter Javier is
a master at making guests feel special and will do his best to adapt the menu
to meet your requests. Grilled grouper, sea bass and shrimp were served for
main courses, along with a full salad bar including ceviche (fresh fish in
lemon juice). The Mexican honey and aniseed digestive with an espresso cortado
coffee was an enjoyable way to end lunch or dinner.
Creative: Le Chique restaurant chefs producing
22-course meals
When we felt a little complex-bound we
had a day out to Coba, the centuries-old ruins of a Mayan jungle city.
The Maya people settled there for the
freshwater lakes and underground rivers and our guide Raul explained farms are
still being uncovered today.
The centrepiece is an 80ft pyramid
rising through the jungle canopy and we climbed its 120 steps in 28C heat to
the temple on top. This gave us views of smaller temples popping through the
thick jungle in the distance.
After a lunch of spicy beef and pork we
visited a Mayan-descended family in their palm-thatched house where the mother
cooked corn tacos on an open fire and an auntie worked a foot-propelled Singer
sewing machine to make colourful blouses.
We also rented a car for a couple of
days to travel to the Mayan city fortress of Tulum, which is perched on a cliff
top above a turquoise ocean.
Walking around the “castillo” it’s easy
to transport your imagination back 700 years to a time when it was a port where
merchants traded the volcanic rock obsidian and honey farmed from stingless
bees.
From there we drove another 30 minutes
to the Sian Ka’an biosphere, where mangroves line a sand bar stretching for
many miles into the sea , interrupted only by palm-fringed coves of pristine
sand and crystal-clear waters in a true paradise.
Our evening was spent in the town of
Tulum eating a feast of grilled mixed seafood served on a tin platter set above
a small fire on our table.
Chilled Superior beer was a welcome
accompaniment again as we people-watched from our pavement setting, knowing we
would surely return one day.
Get there
Thomson has 7nts
a/i at the 5* Sensatori Resort Mexico in Riviera Maya from £1,092pp based on 2
adults sharing, inc Dreamliner flights from Gatwick on Apr 27; Manchester
departure on May 6 from £1,115, E Mids on May 9 from £1,128pp, Newcastle on May
1 from £1,062. thomson.co.uk 0871
230 2555.
Coba Mayan archaeological excursion
£72.50 adult/£36.50 child.
Contoy Island excursion £82.50
adult/£66.99 child.
Car hire booked locally – around £65
(inc essential CWD) a day.
Tourist info: visitmexico.com
Time zone: UK -6hrs
Currency: Peso £1 = 21.6 (US$ widely
accepted)
Best time to go: A feast for the holiday
senses year-round
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