CancúnTom's Mexico

A video visit to Isla Mujeres just before and after Hurricane Wilma in Oct. 2005

We were able to drive into the Hotel Zone this afternoon. I wanted to check out how the beaches weathered the storm. We arrived at the Royal Sands around 3:30 pm.

I took this first picture as we exited the lobby towards the pool complex……

It is a spectacular day here in Cancun. The sea is calm with the temperature hovering around 82F (28C) . The sun is out and the sky is clear. The humidity is back but that’s expected after so much rain.

The water was smooth and a tad cool but the yellow flags were out and for most of these people today would be their last day to enjoy the warm Caribbean sea.

You can see that some of the beach palapa’s still had not been put back on top of their poles…..

The Sands has a new coat of glossy paint and looks better than ever……

A new ramp and railing has been built to give those with problems navigating stairs a smooth walk onto the beach

Everyone was enjoying the bar and pool after enduring rain for the last 3 days

The Royal Resorts and many other beach front facilities are a wonderful place to spend your vacation

Farewell BBQ sign in the lobby

Enjoy your farewell BBQ at the La Veranda Restaurant in the Royal Sands. Soup and salad included.

This should about finish up my coverage of the Rina Tropical Storm effects on Cancun. I’m really happy that the beach did not get eroded this time. Rina knocked flat the  dreaded sand ledge.

We really enjoy our visits to it and it is one of Cancún’s best attributes.

 

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The wind, rain, thunder, & lightning all stopped at 1:30 am .   The wind was the worst of it. The rain not too bad. I took my dog and camera out for a walk around 11am. The damage in general was very light. We were very fortunate this time.

This is what I saw……

Just a few steps from our front gate………

This young tree didn’t break but it sure is bent………

Debris field on passageway…….

Work crew cuts up fallen tree to free the power lines it caught on it’s way down……….

Old fence on vacant lot that didn’t fare too well……..

Broken upper member of chain link fence

Electric company crew repairing downed wire

This vine covered fence blew down at townhouse complex nearby…….guard is watching over it until repairs can be made

We only had a few plants broken in our garden……

A  broken branch……

We will try to get into the Hotel Zone to check out the beaches this afternoon. The police had closed off the Hotel Zone as of yesterday afternoon and it was still closed this morning. Keep me bookmarked for more information. You might also consider subscribing (free) to my RSS feed so you can be automatically notified when I post a new article.

 

 

 

We have been working for the past 2 days in preparation of Rina’s visit. Below is the beginning of this experience in pictures and words. Also if anyone wants to friend me on Facebook this is the link to my wall: 

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1334112013

Hopefully we won’t lose power and the Internet feed.

Monday at 10 pm at the Royal Sands…….so far the beach still looks good

The pool from the beach stairs

The big pool looks so beautiful and calm on Monday night

Doorway into the Royal Sands lobby from the pool area……….

Poolside restaurant at the Royal Sands @10pm Saturday evening

The sky is getting scary looking this morning…………

Our plants that are against the house are bracketed to the building with U clamps and I put a couple of extras in place with a heavy sisal rope to keep them safe.

I pruned our fan palms to reduce the wind load on them……..

Meanwhile back at the ranch……….our doggies seem unconcerned and are enjoying a late evening nap

Earlier today Rina was downgraded from Cat 2 to a Cat 1 Hurricane and that is good news.

We have been getting intermittent heavy rain off and on all day. I’ll update this posting with more information as long as possible.

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UPDATE Thursday 2:28 PM……..

So far things haven’t been bad at all. We’ve had a lot of constant intermittent rain, some of them very heavy. The sky is overcast and the current temp in the garden is 28 C / 80 F.

All the neighborhood hurricane shutters are closed and if you don’t have them boarding up with sheets of plywood does the job….

Boat owners are pulling them onto dry land

We are debating if we should take our satellite antenna down………….wind strength will determine if we do or don’t…..

School classes have been cancelled until Monday. Also some employers have closed up until then. There is little traffic on the streets. Birds are gone or just being quiet. Which is kind of eerie. We normally have a lot of bird activity all day long until dusk.

We spent all day Saturday, Saturday night, and today (Sunday) at the Royal Caribbean as the quests of our friends Bert & Wendy. Hurricane Irene caused so many incoming flights to be cancelled that the Tri-Royals were like a ghost town. It was really strange to be at the “Welcoming Party” this afternoon and have so few people attend.

One of the locals…..@ the “Welcoming Party” this afternoon

A close up……

The start of the “Welcoming Party”…..not much of a line at the green umbrella bar on the left….

Soft drinks, rum and cokes, and beers are free but now hamburgers, hots dogs etc. must be charged to your villa….

Wendy & Suz chilling………

Plenty of space in the pools………

Need a palapa and a couple of beach chairs…………..no problemo………..

Hopefully vacationers will start to connect and come in for their week starting tomorrow. The weather here is perfect…..and the sea is calm and warm. The beach is still outstanding. It was wonderful. Here’s hoping that most of you can still salvage at least part of your vacation. Good Luck.

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I’ve also been fortunate to meet up with some of my readers, a couple from California today and a few weeks back while deplaning in Cancun from our trip to Colorado. Thanks to all of you for recognizing me and most of all for your very kind comments about my blog…………Cancun Tom