Mayan Riviera

June 27 to July 4, 2009

For our Snow Family Reunion this year, we all got together on the Mayan Riviera at a place called Taninah Private Jungle Retreat.  It is south of Cancun about an hour and a half, near the town of  Puerto Aventuras.  Taninah is built on about 5 acres of land.  It is only rented to one group at a time and includes a number of bungalows, fitness room, game room, library, kitchen and gathering area, swimming pool, miniature golf course, zip line, playground equipment, and hammocks scattered throughout.  There is a staff of about 10 Mayan men who maintain the grounds, prepare and serve the meals and will tromp you in volleyball, if you ask them to play.  It is about a mile and a half inland from the shore of the Caribbean Sea.  There is also a cenote (pronounced “sa no ta”) on the property – which is an underground cave you descend into and has a natural pool of water for swimming.  They have added a waterslide.  There are stalactites and stalagmites and what look like very large spiders with spindly legs that span about 10 inches, but they don’t spin webs – we later learned they are Tailless Yucatan Whip Scorpions.

Our travel day to Mexico was also Katie’s 16th Birthday, so it was evening when we all arrived (23 attended the reunion).  We celebrated with a very yummy Tres Leche cake – very moist and delicious.

In the middle of the night it started to rain really hard.  All the bungalows have thatch roofs and they didn’t leak, but in our bungalow, where the thatch roof structure met the cement roof of the adjoining closet/bathroom, we had a waterfall pouring onto Laurie’s clothes she had just hung up and the head of the girl’s bed was being splashed on.  We pulled the beds away from the screen walls and the staff was there before long and adjusted the thatch to stop the waterfall, but we were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.

The next morning, the manager told us that the intensity of the rain was very unusual and they took all of Laurie’s hanging clothes to be laundered.  We laid around in hammocks because the rain continued off and on.  Then in the afternoon, we had a wonderful Sacrament meeting in one of the bungalows and felt the Spirit very strong.  After that, the rain let up and never really bothered us again.  That night, because of all the rain, a wide variety of frogs started making LOTS of NOISE.  Even with ear plugs, it was SO LOUD.

On Monday, the ducks helped take care of the frog problem and we hung out and played at Taninah.  In the afternoon we went to Yal Ku – a cove on the Caribbean Sea that is protected from big waves – and snorkeled!  It was really fun and even Grandpa Snow was able to snorkel with Mike Snow’s assistance.

Tuesday we hung around Taninah and played volleyball, board games, etc.  It was Mike and Gareth Snow’s last full day before they left for a wedding.  We learned how to play Battle Croquet – a fun variety of croquet, which is not as violent as it sounds.

Wednesday morning was volleyball against the staff – the tallest of whom was maybe 5 foot 7 inches.  The tall Snow family lost all three games – but it was fun.  Mike and Gareth left for the airport and the rest of us went to the ruins at Tulum, which is a site right on the shore of the Caribbean – very picturesque.  We hired a guide who came running to us offering his services.  He was wearing a baseball cap with a “Y” on it and his name was Mosiah.  Needless to say we got his interpretation on the site from his own LDS perspective.  All over the ruins are stone carvings of the Descending God and on the main temple are 3 panels at the top, which Mosiah referred to as representing Heavenly Father, Christ and the Holy Ghost.

That evening we had another Tres Leche cake to celebrate Rebecca’s 14th Birthday!

Thursday afternoon found us at Xpu Ha Beach (pronounced “Spoo Ha”).  Beautiful white sands and a great time body surfing.  Steve Browning cut the bottom of his foot pretty badly on some coral though.

On Friday, most of the family went to Puerto Aventuras to shop and swim with the dolphins.  Laurie, Sam and Katie from our family chose to swim with them.

That day, the three sons-in-law, Steve Browning, Mike Forkey and me, went on a tour to Chichen Itza – Tres Amigos!!!  We were on a tour bus with about 20 people.  It was three hours away, three hours there, lunch and stops going and coming.  Chichen Itza was very neat, though the Toltec influence was very evident, with lots of depictions of human sacrifice.  I wish we had had more time to look around.

That night we had a piñata, played games and packed.

Most of the group left about 7 am the next morning.  We didn’t leave until about 11.  We were flying into Las Vegas just after dark on July 4th and could see literally thousands of illegal fireworks bursting in the air all across the valley.

Though the week started out very wet and we were damp from the humidity the rest of the time (no AC), and we had to communicate with the staff with our limited Spanish, and it was so nice to be back on US soil, where you don’t have to tip everyone or barter to get a descent price – we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, spending time with family and getting to know the Mayan staff.  The slower pace of life was rejuvenating and our stay on the Mayan Riviera, at Taninah, will always hold a special place in our hearts.

PS – In a day or two, I will be loading short movie clips of our trip onto Youtube, at the following site: http://www.youtube.com/user/ksmedley78