Hello Nick and Sloane,
There’s not much I can say about our stay at Casa Rosa which is not ecstatic and maybe a little excessive. But it would certainly not be exaggerated. Robindira, Robbie and I simply drank in your house, your palms, your beach, your pool, your high deck above the water, your moon waxing toward full, the distant roar of the surf, and all other sensual elements of the Gauguinesque paradise you’ve created down there. The warm, soothing wind which blew a soft, healing zephyr across the brows of tired urbanites, made air conditioning irrelevant. The weather, night and day was always pleasing and nurturing. Maria and Bernardino took good care of us, cooked us a great meal, and were always there if we needed them. And every restaurant you recommended worked for us.
On our last night there I was sitting on the deck by the pool and noticed a pile of seaweed down on the beach. On further thought, I couldn’t remember any piles of seaweed a kilometer inside the reef. And this pile, had a shiny top. I walked slowly towards it. The first night of the full moon gave everything a silvery sheen but still I couldn’t tell what I was seeing. Suddenly I stopped. The pile was moving towards me. And then I saw the huge shell and the flippers pushing the sand back. A giant sea turtle, probably four feet long, was preparing to lay its eggs right in front of me. I quickly ran into the house to find Robindira and Robbie and we spent the next hour and a half watching her. She would labor, thrusting her neck out and heaving up the leading edge of her shell, rest for 20 minutes and begin her terrific effort again. Finally her flippers began to flail and soon she had filled in the hole. covered her eggs with sand and slowly crawled off back into the sea. It was a primordial sight none of us will ever forget.
Another great moment for me was when the three of us climbed Nohuc Muul, my totemic spot at Coba and the highest Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan. I’ve come to Quintana Roo several times in the last 30 years and I climb it every time. But for the first time I was with my daughter Robindira and my son in law, Robbie. Wonderful. Great Cuban cigars on the deck at night combined with a shot of Chartreuse, a family tradition which, another miracle, Robindira found, one neglected bottle on a bottom shelf, at a deli-liquor store in Tuluum.
Thanks for a much needed respite from the grind. I don’t have a single suggestion. It was a perfect week out of time. We thank you with all our hearts.