Monday morning, we were scheduled to have our sales presentation at 9:30. Before that started, I went out to walk around the grounds and take pictures.
The hotel complex consists of several buildings, but the main hotel building is the Tikal Tower, with a large central atrium and fountain:
...and a large, spacious lobby with lots of comfortable seating:
The whole place is done in a Mayan temple motif, starting at the front gate:
...with lots of statuary all around:
...even in the rooms. This little fellow lived in a niche in the entrance hallway of our suite - I dubbed him our "room god:"
I wandered out the back of the hotel:
...where I found this amphitheater - apparently, they occasionally have shows in the evening. In fact, there was one while we were there, but we didn't go:
They also have a few wild animals on the grounds - specifically, three tigers: Diego, Daisy and...
Chloe
As well as some parrots:
Out back, as you might imagine, there's a swimming pool, although this one has its own unique touches:
Those alligator (crocodile?) heads (there are two of them, but the one on the left is a little harder to see) are actually water slides.
Of course, since the hotel is right on the water, there's an extensive beachfront:
Those things that look like little grass shacks are actually beach umbrellas, each one covering a small bar table and lounge chairs:
...and of course, there are several bars right on the beach.
I also noticed a jetty with a small building at the end of it, and was amused to read this sign:
This resort has everything, including tennis courts and a golf course, as well as shuffleboard and (I think) bocce:
As I wandered around, I also took some pictures of tropical flowers:
And a real live banana tree, with real live bananas growing on it. Quite a thrill for a city boy like me, who thinks bananas come from a bin in the supermarket:
Actually, I've seen live banana trees before. But Joanne never had, so a little later in the day, I made sure she got a chance to have a close look:
Well, enough meandering - it was time to pay for the trip. In other words, it was time for the sales presentation. Actually, as I discovered, it was PAST time - remember, I said earlier that the hotel keeps to Puerto Vallarta time, even though it's actually in a different time zone. But I didn't know that. I thought it was 8:50, and I still had 40 minutes to go. It was actually 9:50, and we were 20 minutes late!
It was OK, though - let's face it, when they're trying to sell you something, they'll wait for you. We had a very nice buffet breakfast, and the sales pitch wasn't as bad as I feared. Our sales lady was Maureen, and she wasn't Mexican, she was Canadian - the resort is actually owned by a Canadian firm. The presentation was only supposed to be 90 minutes, but it stretched out to over 2 hours. She tried hard to sell us, and came close to succeeding. But the truth is that we just couldn't afford it. And once we managed to convince Maureen of that - and it took some convincing - she relented graciously, and the rest of the trip was our own.
On the way out of the dining room, I saw this model of the resort complex:
The circular drive at the lower right is the entrance, and the large triangular building at the back is the Tikal Tower, where we stayed. The Mayapan restaurant is between the Tikal Tower and the building to the right.
We then went for lunch to a restaurant called Ocho Tostadas:
...where I amused myself watching dozens of butterflies flitting around the flowers. I tried to get a picture of them, but they moved too fast. But I did take this picture of tropical greenery:
The strange thing about this restaurant was that despite the name, there were no tostadas on the menu. Go figure...
After lunch, we went for a drive. I headed north up the highway, and then turned off on a side road that followed the curve of the bay. A few miles up the road, I came to a turnoff where I parked the car, and enjoyed some magnificent views:
As I looked out over the bay, I saw several pelicans flying around, and diving into the water for their lunch. I tried to take some pictures, but they were too far away, and only one picture came out:
We drove back to the hotel and rested for a while, and then went out for the evening's entertainment. The resort has "theme nights" every night, and on Monday evenings, it's "Feria de Pueblito," or Mexican Country Fair. To begin with, each of us was given a little tequila drinking cup:
...and then we all went out to the pool area at the back of the hotel. There were stands selling souvenirs, waiters handing out free drinks (pina colada, rum punch, etc.), booths handing out snacks (I had some corn with butter and cheese), and games (dart throw, ring toss, etc.). There was a band playing:
...and a buffet dinner:
...and a balloon artist - except this guy wasn't just doing your standard balloon poodles. Check out the headgear he made for me and Terry and Joanne:
Terry says: All of a suddem, I heard the squeaks of balloons, and a man in heavily accented English kept saying "Oh, my goodness!" When Grinnell showed me what he had done to make the two of us one via our headdresses, I was truly amazed.
Later in the evening there was entertainment, presided over by a fast-talking high-energy gentleman who claimed to be from England, and said his name was Robin Hood:
...although I'm fairly certain that wasn't his real name.
Terry says: If his name was Robin Hood, my name is Pancho Villa!
There were performances by a mariachi band:
...and a variety of folklorico dances. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures of the dancers. It was evening by this time, and my digital camera compensates for low light by holding the shutter open longer - which meant that all my pictures of the dancers came out blurry. But you've probably seen the style - the women wear elaborate lacy dresses which they twirl around, and the men wear large sombreros and dance with their hands clasped behind their backs. There was also a dance in which a long ribbon of fabric is laid on the floor, and two dancers (a man and a woman) tie it into a bow with their feet as they dance. And then, of course, there was the Mexican Hat Dance, in which the men put their sombreros on the floor, and everyone dances around (no, not on) the hats.
After the dancers, the band came back, and there was more music and dancing:
...including a conga line, and a lively rendition of The Macarena - to which I added my own lyrics: "Spaghetti, fettucine, manicotti, rigatoni - Hey, macaroni!" And then there were a couple more fun activities - the Boat Race and the Tequila Walk.
First, the Boat Race. There were six toy boats in the middle of the pool, each attached to a long string, wound around a spool. If you look back at the picture of the mariachis, you can see the boats in the lower right corner, and if you look a little further back, at the picture of the band, you can see a couple of the strings in the lower left corner. In each of those pictures, you can also see bridges over the pool on either side of the band platform.
"Robin Hood" called six volunteers out of the audience - I was one of them - and had them stand on the bridges, three to a side. When the signal was given, each of us picked up a spool, and started winding up the string, pulling in our boat. The winner - the one whose boat reached the bridge first - would win a free spa treatment. Well of course, I had no interest in a spa treatment, but I hoped to win one for Terry. Alas, someone else won.
And finally, the Tequila Walk. Again, if you look at the pictures of the musicians, you can see a narrow board projecting out over the pool from the front of the platform. At the end of this board was a small basket, into which was placed a bottle of tequila. The idea was that anyone who could walk out to the end of the board and get the bottle, without falling into the pool, got to keep the bottle. Many tried. None succeeded. All got wet.
Terry says: There was a lot of banter between "Robin" and the crowd. With every one who fell in the pool, "Robin" would say in his Mexican accent "Bye bye! Next one..."
Later, I asked one of the waiters if anyone ever actually got the bottle. He said, "Once!"
And that was enough excitement for one day.