JANUARY and February are the most miserable of months – far worse than November and December. Because at least during the back-end of the year we can look forward to the Christmas and New Year festivities. And even if it snows in the run-up to Yuletide, everyone welcomes it.
But in January and February there are no pleasant distractions. The weather changes from lousy to intolerable – with sub-zero temperatures, arctic winds and freezing rain. And a fall of snow makes everyone curse – except the children, who still tire of it after a day.
That’s why, back in 2014, during my 60th journey around the sun, Janet and I decide that we’ll spend a couple of weeks somewhere hot. We agree that early February would be the best time to go because the anticipation would immunise us against the January blues. Then, we figure, by the time we return home, the days will have grown longer, with the delight of spring just around the corner.
We want somewhere that is cheap (we are from Barnsley), hot (in the 80s during the day), safe and luxurious. All-inclusive is a ‘must’ and if possible we’d prefer to explore an environment of historical interest and unusual fauna and flora.
The Yucatan Peninsula, on the eastern coast of Mexico, ticks all the boxes but will it be as idyllic as the travel brochures suggest, at such a bargain price?
The Peninsula is covered with dense tropical jungle, and the hotels – each about 15 miles apart – sit right on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. All are connected by one straight dual carriageway running from north to south.
On arrival at the hotel, we’re in awe. Our spacious apartment has everything one could wish for – a magnum of champagne on ice, a refrigerator burgeoning with cool drinks, a giant TV, full air-con, and a wall-safe for valuables. There are also two white towels artistically fashioned in the shape of an elephant and a monkey.
We change into appropriate clothes, slap on the anti mossie cream and go to explore the grounds and beach. Twilight is just about to descend like a soft blanket as we set off for an Irish coffee and pass the most unusual of wild animals. One moves slowly, is similar in size and shape to a guinea-pig but with long vertical legs. Another is dog-like and moves in timid packs.
Its tail and snout are so similar it makes us question whether it’s moving forwards or backwards. At the side of the path is an old wooden sign that reads, BEWARE THE CROCODILES. We both laugh but soon discover it’s no joke. Then a young deer strays into the hotel grounds and allows us the privilege of taking close-up photos. A Canadian couple point out a giant iguana, and warn us not to invade the privacy of the temperamental monkeys, or else!
The sea is a flat piece of turquoise glass and clearer than any mountain spring – the sand is as white as virgin snow.
The restaurants and bars are all free, of course, and easily the finest we’ve ever known. In the evening there’s a choice of restaurants that serve food from around the world: French, Indian, Chinese, etc, with live music from the Mexican Mariachi bands.
The night-life is a cultural heaven.
Public transport is dirt-cheap and regular, and can take you to Cancun, Puerto Del Carmen, or the spiritual ruins of Tulum.
We book separate excursions to see the ancient pyramids of Chichen Itza and the amazing Xcaret Park. We journey by sea to watch the crocs, manatees and dolphins as they show-off to the nesting ospreys. We bathe in the cenotes, visit and lunch in a Mayan village, and ride the zip-wire across a crocodile- infested lake, like an aging Tarzan and Jane.
If our friends could see us now!
We revel in our holiday of 2014 so much, we repeat it in 2016, then again in 2018 and again in 2020.
Sadly, because of issues beyond our control, we haven’t been able to go abroad since 2022 but now I’ve been given the all-clear by urology…
A close Scottish friend says to me: “I bet even during the depths of winter, you miss England a wee bit.” And I reply: “Oh, yes, I do miss England in January and February – like a nail sticking through the sole of my shoe.”
