Tulum, Akumul, and Bonampak Resort

 

Truth be told, it seems that some bug has been making the rounds of the campground, or the area in general. I doubt if anyone has escaped and that includes the guests that have flown down from Canada or the States. Even when I’m “well”, I’m never really up to snuff.

A few days ago several of us wanted to go snorkeling in Tulum. When I use snorkeling in this case, it may as well mean “Shopping”, as that’s what it became. Brenda first mentioned snorkeling and I didn’t give it a thought and I was along for the ride, along with Helen, Rob, and Shirley. We didn’t find snorkeling but we did aid the economy of Tulum. On the way back north, we stopped at Akumul, where we snorkeled with the turtles once before. I chose to stay behind and “guard” the shore equipment, cameras, purses, and such. I was tired, but I had a great time anyway.

These birds were everywhere in the palm fronds and they were VERY attentive to what was going on around them. I’d watch, and when some person would leave their beach towel, even for only a moment, one of these birds would swoop down and grab a chip, any morsel of food that was unguarded for the moment.

There were many other birds on the beach and I was able to quickly snap the picture below.

Please note that the picture has been cropped to get past the blog censor (Helen).  This girl was not the least bit embarrassed, but that’s OK, I was embarrassed enough for both of us.

On a different note, today I finally felt like taking a walk down to the south point of the beach and the Bonapak Resort just a few hundred meters from our campsite. Gerry, our next door neighbor had written a blog a while back and I was impressed with his work. However, I was unprepared for the total wreckage to the resort.

I don’t even know what hurricane caused the initial damage to this fine resort. The wreckage along immediate coast is very bad, but the main part of the resort looks almost untouched by the weather, as much as I can tell.

This is looking out of the beach-front restaurant. All the doors and windows are gone. Floors are buckled from the water and the inside is totally devastated

.

Walking away from the water, the resort SEEMS to be structurally sound, but the devastation caused by vandalism is much, much worse.

This is all that is left of breaker panels. If it is copper, it is GONE! In each room, electric switches and receptacles have been rent from the walls and and the plastic coating on the wires were often stripped on the spot. In other areas, there ate PILES of plastic where the wires were stripped production style. Door hardware is gone! Ceiling fans were removed only for the copper content as in each room, the fan blades were left behind

For all the damage, this is still a beautiful place. The walls are, for the most part, intact, as are the roofs, floors and ceilings, except where the A/C ducts have been ripped out.

The growth is lush and green and needs trimming, but not a lot of landscaping.

The central courtyard, or one of the central courtyards has ficus trees three stories high, shading the areas below.

And finally, I found this small body of fresh water, with a small rivulet running under the walkway. I dropped a wood chip into the water and watched as a slow current slowly carried it toward the sea. I could not see anyplace where it actually connected with the shore, so at some point is must just sink into the sand. So sad to see such a gem ruined so needlessly.