I'll begin by saying that I did not have high expectations for this little excursion, except some relaxation and some diving. I didn't expect much from our hotel. It was one of those all inclusive deals with airfare, an off-season special to fill rooms and keep the tourist economy going. I was expecting something on par with a bulk vacation house like Sandals Jamaica or such from what we paid, and we got much better. It was am amazing little vacation.
The Grand Oasis Cancun, where treehugging is apparently taken too literally.
The main lobby. Every room is located off of this massive, vine-covered space. Flanking the Grand Oasis on either side are the two buildings of the slightly more basic Oasis Cancun (not "Grand"), but as soon as you walk into the Grand you see the difference without ever entering the other phases. Every room of the Grand is off of this huge and humid greenhouse atrium space, every room also has a great balcony with an amazing view of the ocean.
This was the view from our balcony at sunset Tuesday. That's a distant arm of a remnant of Hurricane Felix in the distance, probably Tropical Depression Felix by the time this was taken. Perhaps even Tropical Mild Annoyance Felix.
When we arrived early Tuesday afternoon, we relaxed for a short while in the room. We ordered some of the included room service which was comically incorrect but managable. After a quick change, we grabbed our books and towels and headed down to the beach. Vanessa has finally given in to the Harry Potter magic, and I'm beginning the His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman that have come so highly recommended for so long. We didn't make much progress on these books during our trip. The pools were huge, winding around everywhere between the many buildings, but why swim in a pool when the ocean is calling? The waters were ROUGH from the hurricane storm surge, which is my favorite time to play in the ocean. By the time I flopped back onto my beach chair every time we went to the water this trip, I felt I had actually been physically beaten by the sea. 
Tuesday night we ate at the Brazilian churrascaria. After several experiences with these in different countries around the world (including, of course, Brazil) I can now officially state that this is my favorite type of restaurant. Since it's usually a fairly pricey event we decided to do this the first night... that way, if we liked it, we could do it again... and again... It was GREAT. We already had reservations for another restaurant the following night, though. After dinner, we found one of the "VIP" lounges that only allowed those with our exclusive black wristbands to enter. Keeps out the riff-raff, don't you know. Can't have the simple Oasis clients polluting the atmosphere for our Grand guests. We shared some drinks and a good cigar... okay, I know, but they're CUBANS. Seriously, it's not smoking, it's like drinking a fine scotch. Which I also did. Wednesday involved traveling downtown to indulge in another favorite sport: haggling. In the local flea markets for gifts for folks at home, we found some nice stuff and added only a few pounds to our luggage. It's amazing how easy it is to haggle there, as well, compared to some places. Then some time at the beach, followed by drinks at one of the swim up bars and more reading in the sun. 6:30pm, reservations at the Mexican gourmet restaurant. It was not actually very Mexican at all. Strangely, of the thirteen restaurants at our disposal, there was little to no "Mexican food" to be found. Still, a good fillet and a nice bottle of wine (too nice to be included, but worth it) and another Cuban procured in town that day (shush, I'm not hurting my voice, I promise) before the weirdest show ever....
I don't even know how to begin to try to describe the spectacle we witnessed in the "Grand Oasis Salon" show lounge / theatre. It was a "Circus" show - Cirque rip-off - called DREAMS; it opened and closed with a seven-foot high African-American... er, Mexican... African-Mexican...most likely African-American-Mexican, I think... anyway, he was a big tall drag queen who lip-synched to Madonna (in the opener) and Cher (in the closer) whilst flanked by some of the worst female dancers I have ever seen. Then we had most thrill-free displays of random acrobatics you've ever seen, a cute but 15 minutes too long silent movie audience participation bit, a random hiphop number done by some fairly talented guys, and a Michael Jackson number done by three guys to a mix of DANGEROUS and SMOOTH CRIMINAL, it was good, but it was set between two horribly pointless aerial / acro numbers. Two of them were in blacklight and the idiots in the reasonably full audience kept ruining what little effect or illusion there was by taking flash photos during the blacklight numbers. I felt for the performers, but the audience ignorance was not the worst problem in the room. I called it CIRQUE DE BORE'. You can sort of see the drag queen in the back of this group of dancers from the closer.
Then Thursday, and diving, which ended with me being more frightened than I have ever been in my whole life. Giant shark, hurricane season currents, etc... there will be a separate entry for this humbling story. Still, awesome.
The rest of that day was... the beach, the pool, body surfing, hammocks, etc. 
All in all , it was an unexpectedly great time which I would highly recomend. I was not as excited as I might've been going into this, as I mentioned before. What with all the travelling and exotic spots we've both been to, this seemed like it might be a simple, typically touristy little trip. We were not interested in the Senor Frogs / Carlos n Charlies scene, and I wondered if there was more to this place. I was afraid this would be a little too... well... Vanessa assured me the area had a lot more to offer than guided 7 hour bar crawl tours during which someone in your group would vomit in your cap (a story I overheard while down there). She was right. Honestly, even had we never left the resort property, we still would've had an amazing time. 
When I was a little kid, my older sister had a sombrero. I always wanted one like it, and I would often take it from her room, run off and play with it. Now I have my own, and while you might say it reinforces stereotypes and there are far more sophisticated mementos I could have purchased, I would counter by saying you are jealous because I have a THREE AMIGOS hat. We had to finish our nice bottle of wine before we left, so we sat in a lounge waiting for our airport pickup finishing it off,... 
There is much more to tell. I will come back and edit this, add some stuff, and maybe talk about the surprising job prospect that might be on the horizon. I just wanted to get these pictures up. There will be some underwater photos on that entry, but not many. In the meantime, while thinking of Mexico, discuss the merits of authentic sugar in your soda versus high-fructose corn syrup. Damn you, corn lobby!
No comments:
Post a Comment