08-09-2008
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
ruined
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 86
|
Redhed's stay in Shangri La - trip report
Hi, all! Well, it's only taken me three weeks to get caught up enough to start my trip report. My boyfriend, David, and I stayed at the Shangri La Caribe July 12-19th. It was awesome! I kept a journal, day-by-day, so I could report back, and hopefully help other newbies (like me) gather info before their trip. I'll post this by day, so it doesn't come off like you're reading an entire book. So, here goes...
DAY ONE OMG!  It's 4:45 a.m., and we've already been to Denny's for breakfast. I'm sitting at the Kansas City airport, babysitting the luggage while David parks the car in long-term parking ($5.50 per day, for those who need to know). We leave at 7:15 a.m. on Frontier.*** We arrived right on time. It's 85 degrees out -- perfect! Customs wasn't bad at all. When we reached the terminal, we were snagged by a guy whom I thought was trying to sell us something. Then, I realized he was with the Tourism Board, and was trying to make sure we knew where to catch our car (which we booked through Playa.Info). Oops, I felt bad that I'd been a little rude to him.  Samuel picked us up in a van, and we had an easy 45-minute drive to the Shangri La Caribe. The highway was definitely interesting, with HUGE speed bumps at intersections. *** The room is awesome!! We stayed in 6P, a penthouse room in the Adventura section. It's large and pretty. The balcony is huge and has hammocks, a small table & chairs, and a lounge chair. The palm trees have grown a little taller since the pictures on their website were taken, but I can still see (and HEAR) the ocean. The salt air smells SO good. We catch a fantastic breeze up here, and even "hot-weather-hater" me can sleep with the windows open and the AC off. The whole front of the room is windows. The privacy is fantastic. No one can see in the room, so with everything opened up, it's like being outside. ***View from the patio:    The first thing we did was walk up the beach to find lunch. We ended up going farther than we planned, and ate at Playa Maya. I had the grilled shrimp tacos (my first), which were YUMMY! (Thank you SuzieQRoo for the recommendation.) David had the beef tacos. The guacamole and pico de gallo were wonderful!!   We walked back along Quinta, but I really didn't want to shop. All I could think about was getting back to the room and getting into the ocean. (Note... Dairy Queen doesn't have cookie dough blizzards down here.) We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming (well, okay, just bobbing) in the ocean or lying in the hsade. Ahhhhhhhh. There was a wedding going on in front of the hotel, which provided lots of entertainment. *** We cleaned up (yes the shower fits two) and walked up the beach and over to Quinta for dinner. We at at Cafe de La Bruno (or something like that). David loved his ravioli. My fettucini and porcini mushrooms was good, but kind of oily. The heat, the oily, and the water I was drinking didn't mix well, and I felt a little woozy. Walking around in the nice, cool breeze helped that, though. We stopped at Ah Cacao for one of their famous brownies and a mocha. (Yes, I know... it's hotter than heck and I'm drinking coffee... what about it?) David ordered a chocolate shake. The brownies were good, but not awesome. Nothing was quite as sweet as we're used to. David commented that we're just not used to eating real chocolate. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night. The cool night air and ocean breeze was amazing. Oh, yeah, I'm in heaven. Last edited by redhed65; 04-26-2009 at 06:57 PM.. Reason: adding pics |
|
|
| register to remove these adverts | |
|
08-09-2008
|
#3 (permalink) | |
|
my own peon
  Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Body in San Marcos Tx....Tankah in my mind
Posts: 37,180
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
08-10-2008
|
#12 (permalink) |
|
ruined
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 86
|
[font="Arial"][size="4"]DAY TWO: It’s a little after 6 a.m., and I woke up to the sound of waves, the exotic sounding birds, and the sun coming in the windows. NICE! I laid in the hammock on the patio and caught up on my journal. We ate at the Shangri La Caribe breakfast restaurant, which is really quite good. There were lots of fresh fruit, pastries (croissants!!) and a menu that included Mexican standards, as well as pancakes, French toast and eggs several different ways. We snagged a table by the windows overlooking the pool and ocean. Loved it!
  We packed up our snorkel gear and walked to the collective stop in town (found it on Mapchick’s map). Stores were just starting to open on Quinta, and it was nice and quiet. We had no problem catching the collective to Xel-Ha ($3 per person). It dropped us off on the highway, and we had about a ½ mile walk to the park entrance. It wasn’t bad, though, because there was a shaded walkway that cut through the trees, all the way there. Very pretty! We had bought tickets on-line ($67.50 all inclusive), so getting in was a breeze. We immediately went to the back of the park and found a shady place to drop our stuff. The lagoon is absolutely gorgeous, and the local iguanas are very entertaining. I slathered myself in Kiss My Face sunscreen (biodegradable) that I’d purchased t a health food store back home. I also brought a hot-pink sun shirt (SPF 50), so I wouldn’t fry. (When you get sunburned just taking out the trash, you don’t mind looking a little stupid to avoid getting burnt.  ) We started off snorkeling by the bridge, because I’d heard there were a lot of fish there. OMG! What a trip! There were schools of HUGE fish. It was freaky.  We ate lunch at the regional restaurant. The food was really good. The tortillas were awesome. David commented that everywhere we went, the tortillas had different tastes and textures. Back home, they all taste the same. We grabbed a couple of pina coladas and walked around the park. Out at the ocean, I expected sandy beach, but it was all rocky. Gorgeous, like all of the other scenery. The river was nice and relaxing. The whole place is just phenomenal. After tubing, we sat in a bar and had a couple more pina coladas. We had fun watching people’s reactions to the big male iguana that was sitting in the middle of a little foot bridge behind the bar. One guy finally just turned around and went back the way he’d come (score one for the iguana).  When it was time to go, we saw an ADO bus in the parking lot, and asked if they were going to Playa. They were! $5 for the trip back to town, in air conditioned comfort. It poured rain on the way back, but it was done by the time we got there. We looked for El Fogon, but couldn’t find it (and didn’t have our map with us), so we headed to the beach and at at La Tarraya. The setting was awesome – palm grove on the beach. I had a fish filet, which wasn’t bad (the fries were gross), and David ordered a burrito that was more like a ham & cheese. ??? BUT… they had Pepsi in glass bottles, so it’s all good. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Since David hadn’t really eaten, we sampled the hotel’s buffet. It was pretty good. Enjoyed some R&R on the patio for the rest of the evening. Last edited by redhed65; 04-26-2009 at 06:58 PM.. |
|
|
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
More!
