Resort Review - RIU Playacar

Three days of resort life left me full for two days afterwards. I somehow justified my double-dinners by pointing to my active days ('Walking on sand is so hard'). I piled my plate high with salads and pastas on the first night, but moved on to more traditional Mexican food thereafter. Pancakes, fruit, and fresh orange juice rounded out the breakfasts.

Self-serve espresso machines helped counter the effects of the nights before. The drinks from the bar were consistently weak (mojitos excepted). This prompted Pam and Alex to innovate with a technique called 'fortification':

1) Drain excess mix from top of drink into bathroom sink (keep ice);
2) 'Fortify' drink with the room's complimentary wet bar, located to the left of sink.

This approach worked really well, but led to problems as I tried to find my way back to the Hostel El Palomar on the first night.

The Mambo Cafe was a great place for dancing the night away. I tagged along with resort staff just off-shift, and managed to land some basic salsa steps with Brenda's (resort activity coordinator) help. The ten-piece live band also helped, for even if I wasn't dancing well, I could not help but try. Sonja noted my 5AM return from the Mambo Cafe, and decided to rub it in with a 7AM wake-up call.

Of all the activities Sonja enjoyed on our day together, swimming ranked highest. Mention the word 'swim' to her and she smiles wide and breaks into some wild James Brown hand movements. The hardest part of my day was trying to balance Sonja's desire to play with the reality of her being too cold to stay in the water. But, she braved the cold as we blew bubbles, 'popped' the the ball from underwater, splashed me, and pushed me over, etc. We must have spent four hours of the day in the pool.

Still, like all good things, the resort time had to end. It turned the corner from good to bad on the final day, when I realised I was full, fully rested, and tired all at the same time. So, I packed my things, said my goodbyes, and headed off for my second stint at Isla Mujeres. When I arrived, it felt good to make my own bed, stuff my belongings in a locker, and find some fruit for lunch.

Even if I was still full.