Trystan
Well-known member
Between jobs, I found myself in a position where I could take a birding trip during June, but with no income, it would need to be at a reasonable cost. Having made a few enquiries, I found that either the time of year, or cost was prohibitive to a number of my ideas.
In the end, I modified my plans, instead opting for a ‘non-birding’ trip to Mexico with my wife, hopefully doing a birding trip later in the year instead.
We wanted to avoid the busier areas around Cancun and Playa del Carmen and found a nice hotel with its own private entrance to Chichen Itza which we both really wanted to see.
The usual method seems to be to take a coach trip from the aforementioned resorts arriving later in the day, or to stay over at one of the nearby hotels for one night. As a result, we found that we had the advantage of having the hotel to ourselves during the day most of the time as guests tended to turn up only in the evening and spent the next day in the ruins.
Renting a car seemed to be the cheapest way to get to and from the hotel from Cancun airport and gave the flexibility to then take other trips, particularly to book a bird guide for a couple of days out. I ended up using a company based in the nearby city of Vallidolid called Yucatan Jay Tours to do this.
On the whole, the trip was very positive. The hotel was great, the people friendly, Miguel and Ismael who travelled with me from the Yucatan Jay Tours could not have been more friendly and helpful.
One negative from the whole trip was the petrol stations. We only filled the car twice and on both occasions, were scammed. On the first occasion, when paying with a 500 peso note, the attendant insisted we only gave him a 50. We weren’t sure until my wife checked the remaining money and calculated how much we had withdrawn and how much spent.
The second time was to fill the car before returning it to the rental company. This time, we told him, either full, or not over 1000 Pesos, as this was all we had left. This time I heard the pump click as full at around 750 pesos, but the attendant pressed something on the pump so the display said 1000 then insisted that this was what we had to pay. I tried to argue about what I saw but he simply played dumb and kept pointing at the display.
Here’s a link which I found after the event:
http://everythingplayadelcarmen.com/how-to-avoid-scams-at-the-gas-station/
Pity that this was not on the UK travel advice site instead choosing to tell us ludicrous things about being kidnapped.
Anyway, on to the trip. We landed about an hour late from hour Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to Cancun. Car rental was arranged via an agent with a company called Carflex. We found their stand outside the airport where a few Great tailed grackles were plodding around. We were shuttled a short distance to the pick up point. The process was a bit slow but no problems. Tropical/couch’s kingbird was perching on car aerials but had to remain unidentified without the call. We were soon on our way.
My wife being wary about travel in a new country, we opted for the toll road. This was probably the right choice as the reception at our hotel closed at 10pm. We arrived at 9pm and the standard road is about an hour slower. Along the way, a single Cattle egret flew over and I suspect, a few Yucatan jays but in failing light and being a lifer, I wasn’t putting it on the list.
At the hotel we found out that the next day was a free day for Mexicans in the ruins so, fearing how busy it might be, opted to stay around the hotel grounds on the first full day. We stayed at the Lodge Chichen Itza, a series of bungalows in extensive landscaped gardens which shares its reception with the Mayaland hotel, which has apartments blocks at the front of the grounds.
Beyond this, there are two more hotels and some trails and roads between them to follow. Each hotel has security at the front but none of them stopped me from wandering round the grounds of the other hotels while I was there. I think it is more to control access to the private entrances to the ruins.
In the end, I modified my plans, instead opting for a ‘non-birding’ trip to Mexico with my wife, hopefully doing a birding trip later in the year instead.
We wanted to avoid the busier areas around Cancun and Playa del Carmen and found a nice hotel with its own private entrance to Chichen Itza which we both really wanted to see.
The usual method seems to be to take a coach trip from the aforementioned resorts arriving later in the day, or to stay over at one of the nearby hotels for one night. As a result, we found that we had the advantage of having the hotel to ourselves during the day most of the time as guests tended to turn up only in the evening and spent the next day in the ruins.
Renting a car seemed to be the cheapest way to get to and from the hotel from Cancun airport and gave the flexibility to then take other trips, particularly to book a bird guide for a couple of days out. I ended up using a company based in the nearby city of Vallidolid called Yucatan Jay Tours to do this.
On the whole, the trip was very positive. The hotel was great, the people friendly, Miguel and Ismael who travelled with me from the Yucatan Jay Tours could not have been more friendly and helpful.
One negative from the whole trip was the petrol stations. We only filled the car twice and on both occasions, were scammed. On the first occasion, when paying with a 500 peso note, the attendant insisted we only gave him a 50. We weren’t sure until my wife checked the remaining money and calculated how much we had withdrawn and how much spent.
The second time was to fill the car before returning it to the rental company. This time, we told him, either full, or not over 1000 Pesos, as this was all we had left. This time I heard the pump click as full at around 750 pesos, but the attendant pressed something on the pump so the display said 1000 then insisted that this was what we had to pay. I tried to argue about what I saw but he simply played dumb and kept pointing at the display.
Here’s a link which I found after the event:
http://everythingplayadelcarmen.com/how-to-avoid-scams-at-the-gas-station/
Pity that this was not on the UK travel advice site instead choosing to tell us ludicrous things about being kidnapped.
Anyway, on to the trip. We landed about an hour late from hour Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to Cancun. Car rental was arranged via an agent with a company called Carflex. We found their stand outside the airport where a few Great tailed grackles were plodding around. We were shuttled a short distance to the pick up point. The process was a bit slow but no problems. Tropical/couch’s kingbird was perching on car aerials but had to remain unidentified without the call. We were soon on our way.
My wife being wary about travel in a new country, we opted for the toll road. This was probably the right choice as the reception at our hotel closed at 10pm. We arrived at 9pm and the standard road is about an hour slower. Along the way, a single Cattle egret flew over and I suspect, a few Yucatan jays but in failing light and being a lifer, I wasn’t putting it on the list.
At the hotel we found out that the next day was a free day for Mexicans in the ruins so, fearing how busy it might be, opted to stay around the hotel grounds on the first full day. We stayed at the Lodge Chichen Itza, a series of bungalows in extensive landscaped gardens which shares its reception with the Mayaland hotel, which has apartments blocks at the front of the grounds.
Beyond this, there are two more hotels and some trails and roads between them to follow. Each hotel has security at the front but none of them stopped me from wandering round the grounds of the other hotels while I was there. I think it is more to control access to the private entrances to the ruins.