The morning, ever-present weather report indicated that Hurricane Mitch was heading for Cancún and would arrive Saturday, the day we were scheduled to fly out of Cancún. We called American Airlines and got our flight moved up one day. That meant this would be our last day in Mexico for this vacation.

Eric went for a swim in the hotel pool. Though the sky was bright, the water was cool and the wind brisk. We headed for a beach in the hotel zone to see what the weather had done and was doing to it. Just beyond the beach called Playa Linda (where boats depart for Isla Mujeres), is a public access to a beach. In Mexico, all beaches are public, even the ones that lie beneath expensive, exclusive hotels. The problem for a person seeking a nice hotel zone beach who isn't staying in the hotel zone is access. To reach those public beaches without cutting through a hotel lobby one must find one of the unmarked public accesses to the shoreline than walk to the beach. Due to this being offseason with a hurricane approaching, we were able to find a parking spot near a public access that led to a rocky shoreline unsuitable for wading or swimming. It seems the only places along the shoreline in the hotel zone on which there was not a huge hotel were the places where there was only rock, no sand. The rocky shoreline has houses that line it. Nice place to live but what are the property taxes in the hotel zone?

The water, though still turquoise, was darker and far rougher than it was a week earlier. Boats are typically plying the waters along the hotel zone but this day there were none to be seen. The winds were strong and the water no longer ebbed to the beach it crashed in waves a few feet high and only a few feet apart. We walked along the rocks to a nearby hotel and its sandy beach. The walk was a little dangerous as one had to be aware of approaching waves that could soak you if not knock you off the slippery rocks. The beach combing (rock combing?) along the walk was fabulous! All manner of sponges, coral, shells, and sea plants had been freshly washed ashore.

When we reached the beach beneath the towering Club Tropical Mayan hotel, we found we were the only ones on it. We played in the sand and in the water but not far from the wicked water's edge. Eric got a kick out of the perpetual pounding the waves were giving him, as if he were Bruce Lee early in a film when he gets beat up by a gang.

Though the beach was empty the hotel pool and lounge area were packed. People who planned their Cancún vacation months ahead could not easily change it even under threat of a hurricane. Now that they were in Cancún their options were limited. All coastal tours to islands, water parks, or other towns were canceled. Nothing was open. Nothing was allowed on the water under double red flags. Presumably one could tour inland to Chichén Itzá, but that may be better saved for the next day when the Hurricane was expected to arrive in force. The most obvious choice, and the one many were taking, was to sit at the pool drinking and people watching. There was a large water aerobics class going through its motions (probably one of the largest sessions they ever had; if not for the hurricane threat how often would people on vacation in Cancún spend time doing water aerobics?)

We exited the beach by cutting through the hotel lobby passing a newly arriving crowd of people checking into the hotel. Perhaps most of those around the pool were just finishing their vacations and they only got "gypped" of a last day or two. The ones worse off would be those just arriving. With tourist sites off-limits this day and tomorrow, the hurricane due to arrive the next, and extensive cleanup and repairs to occur for days afterward, there may be little these people could do their whole vacation except stay at their hotel.

We checked out of our Calinda hotel and drove into the city. We got a nice, center city room in a small, locally run hotel for $30. Having had a "tide us over" breakfast, we were fairly hungry. Half a block from our hotel was a restaurant that served veggie burgers and liquados. We watched the news about the hurricane and talked with the waiter about what might happen tomorrow. The news and opinions were not good. Though we were regretting leaving Mexico a day early, we thought it was the best decision to make.

After lunch, we drove to the nearby city of Puerto Juarez to visit its beach. This is a beach locals frequent. Small, somewhat rocky, and not as pretty as the sand beaches along the hotel zone, this beach was nearly empty of people. Because of the rocks we didn't play in the water. The sand was great for castle building and again the beach combing was excellent! Curt found a large conch shell that we would bring back to NC. Eric was most interested in the half dozen small, wrecked boats crowded together along one end of the beach. Too many three hour tours. (In the US, these shipwrecks would have been considered eyesores and health hazards and would have been removed.)

We drove a little farther north looking for beaches in Punta Sam. A few miles and dozens of speed bumps later we gave up and turned around. Heading back towards Cancún, we passed the Maya ruins of El Meco. We had read of this site but hadn't seen any signs for it so we didn't know its whereabouts. From the road, the ruins, especially the central pyramid, are impressive. We parked along the road (there was no parking lot) and sought entrance. The gate was padlocked and the young woman sitting at the ticket booth indicated the site was closed. Was this her normal job? Sitting behind a locked gate and playing the role of a talking "Closed" sign? Perhaps it was just closed due to the approaching hurricane.

Continuing on to and through Cancún, we went back to our first hotel in the hotel zone. Its beach, part of Playa Caracol, is considered to have the "finest sand" on all the Yucatan. It is our favorite. We cut through the hotel lobby (hey, we stayed here before and at the sister Calinda hotel just last night) to the beach. By now it was early evening. The water was rougher (but not too rough) and higher than we had seen it. A dead fish marked the spot where we usually pitched a chair and towel. Nearby someone had built a beautiful, extensive sandcastle. We swam and castled until it was dark.

We sought to sup at 100% Natural, but that restaurant and the others near it were all closed in preparation for the approaching hurricane. The Hong Kong Express was open so we grabbed a bucket of Chinese vegetables and noodles to go ($3 feeds three people). We wanted to visit the Go-Kart track just outside of Cancún on the far side of Nichupte Lagoon. These karts are driven by two Honda engines and can reach speeds of nearly 70 mph–amazing and dangerous for a go-kart. We didn't want to drive the karts (they seemed too dangerous) but we wanted to watch. When we arrived there were a bunch of kids in the parking lot with the same thought in mind; "we want to watch but not drive." Nobody was driving, we had all come to watch someone else. We left so the kids could watch us drive...out of the parking lot.

Back at our hotel around 7:00, the construction crew was still at work. They were prettifying the place putting in new tile floors, a new sidewalk, and new roof. The late hours and hard work these guys put in was impressive. We wondered why the hotel owner would have construction work being done just prior to the arrival of a hurricane. Perhaps he had already committed to the work and couldn't change it. Perhaps he figured that if the hurricane caused extensive damage in the area, all construction crews would be working on critical repairs, not prettifying anything. If the work was being guaranteed (if only for a few days) then the impending hurricane would not be a reason to postpone it.
 

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