Mexico 2022
Day 2: KinHa Beach
Rise & shine and the hubby and I sat out on the patio with our dedicated caffeine in hand. I did not sleep well last night. It was so hot (over 80 degrees in the room) even with the fan going and the bathroom door shut. I can't say the hubby complained too much...I completely stripped down to sleep and still wasn't cool enough. I'm pretty sure at some point the threatened to remove the batteries to the a/c after that.
After sitting out on the patio awhile, it was getting humid real quick. I went in to put on my bathing suit and sat by our patio pool to cool down while waiting on hija to get up for the day. She had the ice freezer room and I swore if we put any liquids in her room, they would freeze in a matter of hours. Who needs a fridge when I can just store everything in there.
Hija greeted us with the "What are we doing today?" "Well buenas diaz hija, estamos bien y tu?" I guess I needed to get breakfast in our bellies and I decided to make egg sandwiches. Sakari reminded me of our fiasco in Cozumel with the SAL not really being salt and ended up being garlic salt because I didn't know the word for garlic in Spanish. I doubled checked our "stash" the owners had left for us...yes indeed, it was salt.
After that, it was time to pack. So, I didn't have anything planned for today because we had a big adventure coming up tomorrow. So, today was going to have to be a laid back beach day for us.
But first, I wanted to go into town to the bank and exchange our US dollars for pesos. So off we went in our "Jeep", exploring along the way and checking out all of the neat houses. (Taking pictures along the way...) Man there are a lot of pharmacies on the island. I didn't realize there was a Dolphin Discovery on the Island either.
So I see the HSBC bank across from the ferry. The hubby parked and I went up and they were closed. I wasn't sure what to do so I just stood around for awhile people watching. They had 3 atm machines there and I watched people using their cards to get money out. Ok, maybe I should give it a shot? I had informed 2 of my major credit cards that I was coming here so they were aware. But, when I went up, they were all in Spanish only. I couldn't tell what it was saying. I decided to leave and told the hubby to try the other bank down the road. I had bookmarked everything on the MapsMe before I went and knew there was a CIBanco just down the street.
Off we went to locate it. I went up and....it was closed. Ok, I'm going to try the atm here. It did have both Spanish and some English on it. I tried one card-no bueno. I tried the other card...it looked like I was getting somewhere with that one (or at least further than the last). It let me put in how much I wanted and even told me the fee and ask if I would accept. In the end, all it spit out was a receipt, which I couldn't read. I tried again...I didn't even get as far this time around. I was hot and frustrated. I walked back to the golf cart and told the hubby "they are closed and the atm is not working.
We headed back down the street to HSBC again and I told them hubby I wanted him to try it (I'm not sure why because he knows less Spanish than I do but figured there is such thing as beginners luck right? So off he went.
No bueno for him either. Ok, well...the only other option was to go over to the ferry terminal to exchange our cash and off he went. While he was there, I just remembered....it's SUNDAY! That's why all of these banks were closed. Duh! He came back and was successful in the exchange. I know they say you get a better exchange at the banks, but desperate calls make for desperate measures right?
Since we were down this way in town on the North end, I decided to head over to Squalo (a dive and tour company) to confirm our excursion for tomorrow AND I basically wanted to see where they were located at and if that was going to be the meeting spot for in the morning.
They were pretty easy to find once we were on the road (even though their shop is not on the road but in between 2 roads). The were on the opposite side of what we will call the loudest massages girls on the island! I kid you not. They would scream "massage, massage, massage" non-stop. My throat would be hoarse. Of course despite us saying "no gracias" while we were sitting in our golf cart, the minute we got out, they would say it again, walking past them to Squalo, again...then on our way out again. They were persistent for sure. I remember at one point I said "no gracias, my mind has not changed from the last time you ask". Not sure if they understood or not.
There was a lady sitting outside of Squalo and said that they would be back in about 5 minutes. So, we decided to have a seat at a table in the area and ordered some freshly made smoothies. We would end up finding out they were with Roosters, which is a restaurant on the opposite street.
Sakari and I got the mango smoothies and the hubby got the banana smoothie. They were very good and very cold. The hubby and Sakari both got "brain freeze" instantly. Can you believe I've never had this thing called "brain freeze"? Everyone always says it, but I've never experienced it. The drink goes down my THROAT and freezes it, but never to my head. I guess I just don't understand this concept.
So, 3 smoothies cost 261 pesos, which is around $13 US dollars, so I would say on-par with prices you would find in a tourist area.
A lady at Squalo came back and I told her about booking our excursion with them tomorrow. She confirmed she had us down and that the meeting place would be there in the morning at 8am. It was so cold in her building and felt so good...oh my gosh it's so hot outside!
We decided to go to some of the vendors on the back street to see if we could locate some sunscreen. Blooper #1 for me...I FORGOT TO PACK SUNSCREEN! How in the world did this happen? We have tons of it and we always take spf 100 with us on vacation, even though we all tan pretty good. Wanna protect that skin and not burn and have some miserable days. Well, we would quickly learn the only places that sold sunscreen would be a pharmacy.
We hopped on our Jeep, gave another "no gracias" to the massage ladies and off we went.
This was one of my favorite buildings for some reason. It caught my eye every time we passed it. The pastel colors they used, the worn look. I just kept thinking it would make for a great photo session for someone.
Along the main strip we located a pharmacy and the hubby pulled up and I ran in and I would then find out that the highest spf they have on the island is only 50! Hey said "We're Mexican, we don't need any higher here on the island." He had a point. Well, we would have to make due with that. I paid the overly priced amount of around $20 for it US (yes I had peso's but that what the conversion ended up being: 391 pesos). But, we weren't going to burn at least.
Heading back to the south end to find a beach, we passed by this little landmark for tourist to stop and take a picture with the whale shark.
Now when we pulled up, there were 4 ladies there taking pictures. We got out and waited. They took pictures at the front, at the back, in the middle, different poses, with 2 people, with 3, with 1 each. It was just non-stop. Just when you think they were done and Sakari would walk up there, they would walk back and start again. At one point it got really annoying. It was almost like they would wait for her to walk up and they'd go running back up for more then look at me. Like come on. The last time they did that to her, I told Sakari just go up and stand there and be in their pictures. She wouldn't do it...so....I DID! They did it one more time so I went up as they were running back and stood there. I was about to become their new family member in the photo's. They decided they had enough obviously and walked away giggling. Yea, they were doing it on purpose. I mean come on, have some respect and let others get a picture in. I only needed a few and took me less than 1 minute for that.
Then we were off again and taking pictures along the way.