Week 10 Plus January 24th To Feb 05, 2021

 

Week 10 Plus - January 24 to Feb 5, 2021

Little did we know on Sunday January 24th that we would be home 7 days later.

On Sunday we went for a walk along Zetina Gazca and came upon this "Pollo Estilo KFC" - Kentucky Fried Chicken Style Chicken - we must stop by one day for a purchase. Hopefully it is still here or at least in the Colonia when we come back.

Now this is a truck load of bananas - Do you see the sprayer on the sidewalk in the lower left corner of the photo? The bananas that were taken into the street market were sprayed before taken in. I expect the spray is an insecticide to kill banana spiders and the like.

A Cactus growing along the roadway - I am anxious to see how it will be when we come back. Will it still be there? How tall will it be?

Louise, Gaston and Foxy dropped by to say their farewells.

Allan had time to show Claudia how to use a jigsaw,

although time was limited, she was able to cut out one reindeer, just two more to go. Now that she knows how to follow the pattern for one the others will be easy. 

Chucho came by to fulfill my final wishes for this winter

We had him plant succulents in planters which were placed on the rooftop of the bathroom to act as a barrier from the sight of the tenaco and the neighbours rooftop.

We made another visit to the Pink Elephant "el elefante rosa" for brunch. We enjoyed it so much the first time we had to make the second visit before returning home. Erica and Kris joined us. They enjoyed a tasty dessert each following our delicious brunch. I only took photos of theirs because I wanted it to look like they ate more than us. 😀lol

Our friend Rudy helped to finish up some paining before we headed back to Canada. He is an awesome painter!

We were able to squeeze in a little time to have a quick visit with friends before leaving Puerto Morelos. We met Maurice and Susan Gogal and friends of theirs at La Cabanas Puerto Morelos. 

I had my favourite burger and 

Allan had the BBQ ribs - they are so good too.

The forgoing was a normal relaxing and enjoyable part of the week, just like any other until our chaos began.

Friday January 29th our Prime Minister, Trudeau, made an announcement regarding travel back to Canada - we were expecting what we heard but to actually hear it was a shock. I guess we were in a somewhat state of deniel until that point.

The main part of his message was told us there were major changes to affect incoming travellers to Canada after January 31st.

We are so grateful to have friends we can call on in an urgent situation. We were able to call on Claudia - our next- door neighbour and Emilio our favourite and most reliable taxi driver. With their help and calming natures, we had our flights booked AND PCR COVID tests taken and we were back home ready to start packing within 1 1/4 hours - yes that is exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes. We recieved Prime Minister's message on the 29th, received our negative COVID tests on the 30 and  were in Toronto on the 31st!

The day of our flight it was pouring rain when Emilo took us to the airport, he said Puerto Morelos was crying because we were leaving - Awe..... he is so special.

Everything at the airport in Cancun went smooth, we had the proper paperwork for COVID testing, completed the necessary COVID questionnaire for the Mexican government and had time for a relaxed lunch before boarding the plane. 

We treated ourselves to one last burger and cervezas before departure. It was tasty but not as good as the one I had a few nights before at La Cabanas.

When we boarded the plane, the announcement was made that this was the last scheduled flight out of Cancun destined for Toronto. We also found out at this time that the plane had made its flight from Toronto to Cancun that morning empty - they came just for us and the few other travellers on board.

Our flight arrival in Toronto was 45 minutes early, again everything went smooth after landing - we had the appropriate paperwork for PCR COVID testing therefore not requiring another test upon arrival. Our luggage was waiting for us at the arrival carousel and we were on our way.

When we left at the end of November to come to Mexico, we left our car with a family member in Sudbury. At that time our plan was to fly back into Sudbury when we returned home, that was not possible due to flight cancellations put in place by Air Canada between Toronto and Sudbury. We rented this little Volkswagen Jetta at Pearson Airport and drove it to the rental lot in Sudbury. Family had dropped our car off earlier in the day, so when we arrived, we changed over to our car, left the rental keys in the drop box at the rental lot and headed on to the Island.

It was a long day.

Many have asked what the COVID quarintine regulations are - 

This is the document given to us at customs at Toronto Pearson and we were required to register with ArrivCan which can be either an app on your phone or a download to your computer. We chose the App, it is to be completed every day during our quarintine and they phone us occasionally with more automated questions.

We certainly feel relieved that we are back home among our family and friends - it is a feeling of calmness and love.

Even the weather has welcomed us back, our first 4 days were like this - it reminds us just how beautiful winters are in our part of Canada.

We look forward to life without the fear of COVID. As much as we love our home country we  anxiously await the day  we can go back to our second home, "Puerto Morelos, our Paradise", and the wonderful friends we have there which include locals, expats and winter vacationers. Miss each of you already.

Until my next post, stay healthy, stay happy,  stay safe and keep smiling.