Monday, August 20, 2007

A little off-topic... Hurricane Dean has my attention

Way back in 1998, I had the great pleasure of spending Christmas and New Years at Paamul aka Paa Mul, in Quintana Roo, Mexico. This incredibly beautiful little park is about 60 km or so south of Cancun.

My best friend's brother and sister wintered there for years and had a "palapa" where they would park their huge diesel pusher motorhome from around the end of September until early April each year.

We found a way to serve as her mother and father's caregivers (push them through the airports in wheelchairs as necessary) and got to fly at substantially reduced rates in 1st Class to Cancun. I also was the "designated driver" of our van once we reached Cancun and headed south to Paamul.

What a time we had! I'd never been to Mexico, let alone the Mexican Riviera. The weather was absolutely perfect, not even a breeze coming in from the Caribbean.

While brother and sister stayed in their motorhome, we had rented a couple of condo's about a quarter-mile hike down the beach. Our place was perched right at water's edge. Now I worry about whether that wonderful place will survive the coming storm.

For that matter, I don't even know if it survived Wilma, in 2005.

Jim (my friend's brother) always said that "palapa" was Spanish for "it goes plop when the hurricane comes through". I know they had to re-build in the mid-nineties.

Now my thoughts and prayers are with all the wonderful folks I met when we were there. All the "ex-pats" who retired there (including the folks who owned the condo we rented); Pepe, the owner of the RV Park and restaurant; the folks in Playa del Carmen, where we enjoyed some of the most incredible food I've ever eaten; and the beautiful eco-park, Xcaret, where they are doing exhaustive work to preserve the green sea turtles.

I may never return to Paamul, but the memories from there will be with me forever. It was one of the most beautiful, serene, and friendly places I've visited.

Posted by Shari Thomas @ 11:21 AM

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