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"Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but pictures. Kill nothing but time". ~ Our journey continues and we have been treated pretty darn good here. Where did I leave off...?
SUNDAY/DOMINGO
Sunday was a lovely day started off by watching the men's final at Wimbledon (what a white knuckle game!) Afterwards, Al & I went shopping for a few items, and our allotment of tequila to bring home as you can guess, tequila is much cheaper here than at home.
Playa is a big town, and given we are in a private community of McMansions :>, we have about a 5 minute or so walk to the entrance of Playa. These neighborhoods are gorgeous; lined with palm trees and shrubs and flowers. Each villa is bigger and more beautiful than the next. There are a few resorts at the end of the community so you see a lot of tour buses, taxis and tourists along the walk. A lot of tourists on bikes that are lent out by the resorts. It is such a beautiful place to take a walk every morning with the huge trees offering shade.
Once we got to Playa, we took a
taxi up to 32nd avenue which meets up with 5th. This is a plaza that has THE best prices in town specifically for alcohol. We ended up getting Don Julio on sale for 50% off, and Kaluha was $12US a bottle. Given a few adults in the house like to pour the Kaluha on ice cream, we'll use it up!
After we stopped at this beautiful elegant high-end restaurant called Maiz De Mar. Well, after we had a wonderful margarita, we were trying to decide on food. Next thing you know, freshly made nacho chips with 2 salsas, pickled onions, and this amazing corn sopa (soup) was all delivered to our table on the house. Wow really tasty. We got to know our server and I wrote a Facebook post for Playa Beach Getaways using our pictures and experience at this restaurant. It is THE best meeting people here.
After, we were walking to get a cab, and saw this beautiful quaint restaurant/bar, and said what the heck , let's stop. Well, another fantastic dining experience. We met Jaime, and he and his friend own the bar/restaurant (Patanegra) and are from Spain, both chefs. So he makes us
his signature margarita and we just chat with him as no one else is there. Before long, he brings some appetizers (one by one) to the table again on the house. WOW. We started out with with tapas which are all the rage in Spain; small plates intended for sharing (unless you are a hog, in which case no sharing). So he brings out these beautifully deep fried stuffed ham, cheese & potato croquettes, and also spinach & cheese, potato croquettes and with a roasted tomato dipping sauce. Holy smoly, call the cops, it was a burst of warm, cheesey, creamy flavor. And Al loved the spinach/cheese ones the most.
So next thing he's pouring us wine, and telling us the next appetizer is coming out. We're like "hey, you don't have to do that" and then he places this beautiful plate of egg plant, with layers of roasted red pepper in between, topped with a crispy goat's cheese. He had me at "goat's cheese appetizer". All this goodness was on the house, with an invite to come back with the family for an evening of wining & dining. YAY. Of course, when we left we threw in some
additional pesos in recognition of their hard work.
What a banner day - we dined at these 2 beautiful spots and paid only for drinks 😊 Ahhhhh...tis the life.
We started out to get groceries for the stir fry, and decided on the way back, to pick up take out. There is this location food institution that makes roasted BBQ chickens that are to die for. They roast them on the spit, and underneath they have baby potatoes and all the spices, juice from the BBQ chickens drip down onto the potatoes. Awwwww, I tell you, it's bursts of flavors and the chicken is SO tender. Included in your meal is the BBQ chicken, baby potatoes, rice, tortillas and pop. All this for $12 which feeds a group. I can only tell you, that the chicken was both crispy and tender and so well seasoned. Amazing.
We ended our night playing cards, floating in the pool under the stars, and then watching some of the Calgary Stampede.
So far we haven't gotten too far on day trips. It's just so hard to leave this amazing comfortable house.
MONDAY/LUNES
We had agreed Sunday night we'd
all get up to go to the Xaman-Ha bird aviary yesterday, which is just minutes from us. It's hard to believe we are in the hub of everything, and yet there's also 1.8 hectares of jungle & lush vegetation, with indigenous fruit trees, over 60 species of birds all living in perfect harmony in an open air sanctuary all nestled close to the Caribbean Sea. It's called the Xaman-Ha Bird Aviary, and it costs about $25 per person to enter, and Rory & Ava were free.
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a group of beautifully colored scarlet macaws (pirate's best friend); they are so colorful with their red, yellow, red and blue with the long tails. And boy do they love to squawk! Next up we saw the keeled bill toucans (the Fruit Loops mascot) which has bright yellow chest and its bill is green, red, orange and blue. We walked the paths through the jungle, with it alive with the harmoniously sounds of all these birds. There were white fronted parrots as well, and when you talk to them quite often they will listen (better than kids!).
The pink flamingos were obviously
so eyecatching. Long & lean, they have no problem falling asleep balanced on one skinny leg. There bill is sharply bent, and they feed with their heads inverted in an inverted position. The girls ooohed and awwwed over them. The snowy egrets are small herons, and brown pelicans, ducks, storks, yellow tailed orioles and a rather large turkey which is called an 'ocellated" turkey which is only found in the Yucatan. It could be mistaken for a peacock.
Upon leaving, we saw a macaw eating an apple, holding it in his claw, then raising it to its mouth, where it would gently pick small pieces off. Elegant eating skills - good enough to dine with the Queen.
It was all a treasure to behold and knowing this is not a zoo, that this is their natural habitat, and they are well fed and watered.
After this wonderful experience, a group went to get beach massages, and Al & I with Rory, Ava and Ray went for a tour and I bought a few gifts for some special people at home, and we had lunch with beef satay, chicken satay, tuna kebobs and steak tacos. Al swears this
place Guatamana has the best guacamole in town. A bucket of beer is only $8.
Another wonderful day spent together doing a little bit of everything. And so far, every day sunny & hot. Hot like burn-the-soles-off-your-feet hot on the tiles around the pool. And when it got dark last night, we sat out listening to the birds, crickets etc., watching the big screen TV. It was like being at a drive-in movie. SO COOL!
It's Tuesday morning, and we've had coffee, orange juice, and welcomed the housekeeper, 1 pool guy, 3 gardeners and Dan, who always checks to make sure that we don't need a thing.
Al's hoping to get a dive in tomorrow and so we'll be just relaxing today, walking to the ocean, lunching, and probably get one of those wonderful beach massages. I think it's my turn now.
Salud & oh yes, lots of pictures at the bottom; may be on two pages. The birds are amazing (mom you might want to show dad).
"In order to see birds it is necessary...to become part of the silence".
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Derrick Hanson
non-member comment
for some reason I couldn't stop laughing when I read that you had a sudden craving for BBQ chicken, either just before or just after the bird sanctuary visit...thanks for (mostly internal, but nevertheless heartfelt) laugh. We love following your vacation blogs...