We woke up hungry and knew it was our last chance to eat at another “must try” on our list. So we walked north of the hotel a few blocks and towards the beach. We found La Cueva del Chango down a cobblestone street.  It is such a groovy little place with great food!  I had the best oatmeal, yes oatmeal, ever! We couldn’t wait to recreate it at the condo. It had cut up apples, papaya, yogurt, honey, chopped pecans and topped with a large grape cut and laid out as a flower. The fresh squeezed juice we had was so good! And the coffee, oh! The decor is kind of a chic, hippie with bottles embedded into the ceiling made of natural tree poles and some type of covering. The bathroom was even unique with a waterfall coming down for handwashing in a lovely stone basin. Definitely a return trip is in order here sometime too!

We walked by an amazing Mexican tree of life on the way to the beach and walked through the sand back towards our hotel.  Jill and Sara were amazed at the color of the water and were indeed happy to be here!  When we returned to our rooms, we finished packing up and headed to Wal-Mart one last time before leaving this town for a few more things for the condo.  We even had time for one last drive through the subdivision and the town of Chemuyil before checking into our condo on Half Moon Bay.

Our visit through the town of Chemuyil was a lovely walk through the neighborhood.  What a nice, clean community this was.  We ate lunch at La Palapa and it was very good!  We had ceviche, fish tacos and shrimp tacos and oh so delicious and helados which is ice cold beer with lime juice! Sara enjoyed her first horchata. I would definitely go back. The bano is a little….well, little. The people here are so nice too!  We stopped at a couple of little produce stands to get more stuff for the condo and as long as we were here, one more drive through the subdivision.

We arrive at the condo at 3pm to check-in and find a fabulous home with an incredible view of Half Moon Bay.  This is where we hang our hats for a week!  Heaven!  Roberto, our host, was very gracious and a really cool guy.  He was always on top of anything we needed.

We proceed to unpack our clothes, then we unpack the ingredients for making margaritas and settle into the chairs on the patio looking out at the beautiful Caribbean Sea.  This is the life!  After enjoying a couple of drinks and watching the turtles bob their heads in and out of the surf, we decide to head down to La Buena Vida for some dinner.  There’s nothing quite like eating at the seashore…….enjoying a gentle November breeze that tickles our senses with a special joy that we are not familiar with but welcome with all of our heart.  We move from our dinner table to the swing bar and enjoy the music and the spirits.  We could easily get used to this

Back at the condo we arrive ready for slumber and a new day ahead tomorrow…..

Jill and I were the first to wake…..and lucky we were to enjoy the beautiful first sunrise of our stay on Half Moon Bay.  We had brought fresh ground coffee from home as finding it in the stores is a little tricky, but I suppose now you could just go into Starbucks and buy some.  For me, that sort of takes away from vacationing in Mexico when I end up in a corporate American company though.  You can also find beans in several good restaurants like Cueva del Chango in Playa del Carmen and Turtle Bay Cafe in Akumal.  So sipping our fresh brewed beans and watching the turtles bobbing up and down was a great start to another day in paradise.  By the time we donned our gear, the turtles had swam away.  Still the snorkeling in the bay is amazing and we enjoyed a relaxing morning flapping around with the fish in the Caribbean Sea.

We spent this day just cruising around the condo and surrounds of Akumal, visiting the little store for a couple rounds of cold beer.  We did a lot reading, relaxing and good conversation.  Leftovers and some good tequila topped off our 2nd evening on the balcony of our condo as we watched the day fade away from the horizon.   We enjoyed some unusual entertainment from Mother Nature as baby geckos, crickets and ligtening bugs danced all over the floor.  Even a swarm of bees infilitrated us which was a little scary. That didn’t stop us though – we burned a coil that sort of stunned them and Jill promptly smacked approximately 18 bees with a magazine. There never seems to be enough time during the daily grind for just chillin’ so this was a time to recognize this and just be grateful for this simply beautiful day.