For those of you who haven’t seen the video yet of the Grand Palladium fire which occurred a couple of weeks ago, I thought I’d post it so you can get an idea of how quickly a palapa roof fire can burn at a Mexico resort and potentially spread to other structures. Seeing this video makes me realize how lucky it was that no one was hurt and no other significant structures were burned beside the lobbies.
Riu posted that their resorts, for the time being, will not be serving lobsters, clams, or oysters. This is being done with respect to an order from the Mexico Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development–from how I understand it, there is a time of year when capturing certain marine life is banned in order to avoid endangering the species overall. (If someone has a better explanation, please let me know).
FYI: Not a rumor, it’s been officially verified.
I just read on FB that the lobbies of the Grand Palladium Kantenah and Colonial in the Riviera Maya are on fire and guests are being evacuated to the beach….right now this is just a rumor, I will post more if it becomes available.
For those of you only interested in learning about Cancun and the Riviera Maya, you will want to skip this post. For those of you interested in what it was like to travel back to Hawaii during the COVID pandemic, you many want to stick around and read some tidbits about the travel experience.
If you are going to book or have already booked the new Planet Hollywood Cancun, please be aware that there is a fake website out there taking money from vacationers but not really reserving any rooms…the fake one ends with -cancun.com; the REAL website ends with hotels.com. (The first part of the web address is, of course, planethollywood). The company is doing everything it can to remove the bogus website from the internet.
Just one of Aaron Chang’s exquisite photos
There are two general travel magazines I must have–Travel and Leisure, and Islands. I have been a big fan of Islands magazine for many years, and while the content has been streamlined recently I continue to appreciate the excellent showcasing of life on various islands throughout the globe.
Rumor has it that there will be a $10 USD international tourist tax to be collected at the Cancun airport–whether it will be upon arrival or departure is still in question. This tax is supposed to cover the use of “public domain assets”.
I recently stayed at the Riu Palace Peninsula resort in Cancun’s Hotel Zone (my resort review and picture gallery should be up within two days). This was a great suite–a large balcony Jacuzzi with a great ocean and property view, even in my suite which was only one floor up from the lobby. FYI: don’t add too much bubble mixture to the Jacuzzi, you will wind up with a foam party. My daughter and I couldn’t stop laughing as the wind whipped the bubble foam over our balcony onto guests below. Since it was late at night they didn’t know what was going on or who the culprits were; at least resort staff/security didn’t pay us a visit!!
I found a good article on how planning future travel plans or even thinking about travel can improve one’s mental health. The article sites research studies done to support its premise which is one reason why I found it to be interesting. Based on a 2014 Cornell University study, some major mental health benefits involved with planning future travel included the pleasure of anticipating an experience, the pleasure connected with discussing one’s travel plans with others (increased social interaction makes one feel better), and the pleasure involved in a more optimistic outlook on life (I have a future/something to look forward to). If you want to read more about the article and its associated links, click here.