Mexican Misadventure

Our Mexican misadventure is over and we’re happy to be home. We had beautiful weather, great food, sandy beaches, and spectacular cenotes to explore but it was hard to relax with all the health problems that plagued our trip.

Our trip got off to a rough start when Emily, Astrid, and I missed our flight to Cancun because Astrid was in the hospital with breathing problems. Luckily she got better and we were able to fly down to join the grandparents a few days later. We contemplated just staying home but we promised our house to guests from Hamilton, and Mairy and Martha were waiting for us in Mexico. When we did arrive, it was great spending time on the beach and relaxing. Astrid had a blast lounging under palm trees and exploring the suite we were staying in.

Two days into our vacation, Astrid took a misstep in a playground and hurt her right leg. It’s the same one she hurt before and we thought she would be back up and running within a day. But two days later she still wouldn’t put any weight on it, so we sought out a doctor and found one at the Centro Medico Cubano (yes, there’s a Cuban medical clinic in Puerto Morelos, Mexico). It cost us 60 pesos ($4) to see a doctor who took a look at Astrid. She didn’t speak any English, but with our limited Spanish and Google Translate we found out her foot was fine but the problem was her hip. The doctor thought it was inflammation caused by Synovitis and told us to give Astrid ibuprofen for 7 days and ensure she didn’t do any walking.

(We saw a pediatrician in Vancouver who thought Astrid’s hip injury was caused by a skeletal muscle injury of some kind and not Synovitis, but he said the treatment would have been the same. And because she was walking within 2 weeks, it likely wasn’t a bone fracture.)

Astrid’s hip slowly got better over the last week of our trip, but we still had to deal with some sleepless nights, trouble with naps, and a frustrated toddler who wanted to explore but had to be carried everywhere. To top it off, Emily picked up traveller’s diarrhea on our 2nd last day, ran a high fever of 41 C for 12 hours until she took ibuprofen, and spent the last 48 hours of our trip in bed. Luckily the pharmacy next door to our hotel had the right medication to fix her up before our flight home.

Needless to say, we were all happy to arrive safely home in Vancouver at midnight of New Year’s Eve. We crashed in our beds at 2 am and all of us had a good sleep, even Astrid in her crib.

The trip wasn’t a complete disaster. Astrid had plenty of new experiences, enjoyed eating Mexican food for 2 weeks, and spent lots of time with Grandma and Grammy. We got to go snorkelling, enjoy the warm weather (and avoid the snow in Vancouver), explore Mayan ruins, and swim in beautiful cenotes.

We spent the first week in a 2-bedroom suite in Puerto Morelos, right next to the beach. We had a kitchen where we could make smoothies every morning and cook dinner when we didn’t feel like going out. There were also a few vegan and vegetarian restaurants in town. We really enjoyed Puerto Morelos and would highly recommend it for visitors to the Cancun area. It wasn’t too busy, the beach was a fine powder, and there is great snorkeling right off the coast. The barrier reef is still in good condition, but you can see some bleaching from climate change and pollution, and there is an unsettling amount of plastic washing up on the beach everyday.

The second week took us to Valladolid where we stayed in a vegan bed and breakfast. The town had a sense of colonial history but also everyday Yucatan life. Our highlights were hanging out in the town square, eating at a food court where the eateries competed for your business, and checking out Casa de los Venados. Our b&b was a lush sanctuary in the heart of the city with six dogs to entertain us so we didn’t mind being held up there a few days while Emily slept.

Astrid would have been happy eating guacamole, bananas, and beans for every meal.

We enjoyed exploring the ruins at Ek Balam and Coba. We didn’t make it to Chichen Itza because of Emily’s stomach bug.

The cenotes (subterranean pools) were magical. The water was so fresh and clear and a perfect temperature for swimming.

Astrid enjoying the beach sunrise in Puerto Morelos.

I was obsessed with getting a photo of Astrid with the Christmas ornament that contains her photo from Christmas last year. This photo will go in a new ornament which will be featured in next year’s photo. It’s so meta.