With my towels clipped onto the lounge chairs I walked to the far north end of the beach to await the sunrise. On the way I stopped by the snack bar and picked up a latte. (Coffee is also available at the main bar for early risers.)
It seemed to take forever for the sun to come up over the horizon, but then once it made its appearance, it rose quickly into the sky. I played around taking lots off photos hoping at least one would turn out nice.
Four years ago on our last visit to Akumal, Bob had gotten his cavern diving certification so he contacted the same dive shop and set up a cenote dive for Saturday morning. This time he was to go to a cenote called Dreamgate.
The dive instructor was to pick him up in the resort lobby around 8 am which gave us ample time to eat breakfast in the buffet. The snack bar where we had eaten the past two days had a decent breakfast, but as Bob's mom used to say...the buffet was DE-LUX. ;-) Lots of different food offerings, breads, fresh fruits, made to order omelets and even crepes! Beverages included about a half dozen different kinds of juices, coffee, mimosas, and even smoothies.
After breakfast I sat with Bob in the lobby until his ride showed up and then I went back to the room to change into my swimsuit for the day. The resort now has working elevators which made being on the third floor a little less strenuous. Sometimes I still took the stairs, but when I was lugging an overweight beach bag, it was nice to just push a button.
The button labels in the elevators were a bit confusing to us. The top floor was designated by "PH" which we assumed stood for "penthouse." Below that was our floor which was designated #2, although we were on the third level from the ground. Floor #1 was below us and then the ground floor button in the elevator was marked "PB." We jokingly referred to this as the "Pent-basement," but really we had no idea what the initials stood for.
I took advantage of the free wifi in the room to make a Facetime call to my son & daughter-in-law back in Minnesota. When they answered, they were sitting in front of their fireplace wearing sweatshirts and drinking coffee. Strange to see when it was so hot and humid in Akumal.
After a nice visit, I put on my swimsuit, gathered up my beach stuff and went down to claim my spot in front of Building #3. It was then that I discovered the flaw in my chair location. Through most of the morning, the sun is at such a low angle that the shade from the palapa is actually behind the structure...not underneath. However the chairs were up against a hill so there was no way to move into the shade. Rats...my plan backfired on me.
Instead, I took my towels and went in search of an empty palapa in the snack bar region. It was just a little past 8:00 am and all of the palapas had been claimed...except one...and I snagged it immediately. After that long hike down the beach :), I was in need of some liquid refreshment. While I was waiting to get my insulated mug filled with sparkling water and lime, several people came running up to the snack bar yelling "Call a medic!" Getting my drink was certainly not a priority at that point. I walked back to my chair only to find a small crowd around my palapa and a man on the sand next to my chair having what I presumed to be a seizure.
From talking to others, and his daughter, I learned that the man had fallen hard and hit his head the previous day while playing volleyball. He had been complaining that his head and neck didn't feel right since that time. He did not have a prior history of seizures so I can only assume that the injury was the cause. Eventually the family and medical personnel were able to get him back to his room (although he refused to be placed on the backboard.)
I talked to a lady that had gotten to know the family at the resort later in the afternoon and she said that they did not seek medical care. Instead they were leaving the next day and would wait to see a doctor once they got back to their home in Canada. I have not been able to get the incident out of my mind and just pray that he made it home OK.
I went back to our room around noon and Bob showed up about a half hour later all excited about the dives he had done at Dreamgate Cenote. He refuses to take a camera when he dives, but here is a photo I found online that shows a little of the cave. He could not stop talking about all of the stalactites and stalagmites!
We had lunch in the buffet and then went back to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. As we were leaving the room, Bob spotted a small gecko crawling up the wall. Here he is on Bob's sunglasses to show just how small he was!
I'm sure a "beach nap" happened at some point, but we also did some snorkeling directly out in front of the snack bar.
Staff were very busy setting up lights, tables and chairs around the pool area for a wedding reception later in the evening. Marianne had mentioned to us that there would be a couple of weddings over the weekend when we had chatted with her on Wednesday.
We stayed on the beach till late afternoon and then went back to the room to clean up for dinner. It was fun watching two little girls enjoying the hammocks below our balcony.
Dinner the past two nights had been around 6 pm and I decided I wanted to eat a bit later so we could see a sunset...if possible. Turns out the sunset wasn't particularly colorful, but the cloud formations were very interesting over the jungle.
Following dinner we walked to the snackbar and the wedding reception was just getting underway. The area was beautifully decorated with lights strung through the palm trees and elegantly covered tables. Overall it looked like ABBWR did a nice job. Wouldn't it be fun to attend a wedding there!!
As was becoming our routine, we got drinks at the snackbar (one of the few that I actually ordered with alcohol in it!) and enjoyed looking at stars in the night sky. Other than musicians in the main bar area, there was really no entertainment in the evenings, but it wasn't something we missed. Most nights we were in bed by 9:00 pm!
From talking to others, and his daughter, I learned that the man had fallen hard and hit his head the previous day while playing volleyball. He had been complaining that his head and neck didn't feel right since that time. He did not have a prior history of seizures so I can only assume that the injury was the cause. Eventually the family and medical personnel were able to get him back to his room (although he refused to be placed on the backboard.)
I talked to a lady that had gotten to know the family at the resort later in the afternoon and she said that they did not seek medical care. Instead they were leaving the next day and would wait to see a doctor once they got back to their home in Canada. I have not been able to get the incident out of my mind and just pray that he made it home OK.
I went back to our room around noon and Bob showed up about a half hour later all excited about the dives he had done at Dreamgate Cenote. He refuses to take a camera when he dives, but here is a photo I found online that shows a little of the cave. He could not stop talking about all of the stalactites and stalagmites!
We had lunch in the buffet and then went back to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. As we were leaving the room, Bob spotted a small gecko crawling up the wall. Here he is on Bob's sunglasses to show just how small he was!
I'm sure a "beach nap" happened at some point, but we also did some snorkeling directly out in front of the snack bar.
Staff were very busy setting up lights, tables and chairs around the pool area for a wedding reception later in the evening. Marianne had mentioned to us that there would be a couple of weddings over the weekend when we had chatted with her on Wednesday.
We stayed on the beach till late afternoon and then went back to the room to clean up for dinner. It was fun watching two little girls enjoying the hammocks below our balcony.
Dinner the past two nights had been around 6 pm and I decided I wanted to eat a bit later so we could see a sunset...if possible. Turns out the sunset wasn't particularly colorful, but the cloud formations were very interesting over the jungle.
As was becoming our routine, we got drinks at the snackbar (one of the few that I actually ordered with alcohol in it!) and enjoyed looking at stars in the night sky. Other than musicians in the main bar area, there was really no entertainment in the evenings, but it wasn't something we missed. Most nights we were in bed by 9:00 pm!
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