Resorts

Besides the comfort and good food, even for a vegan, the resort did leave me wondering about such vacation ideas. It in no way felt like being in Mexico other than the holas we got each day and the really good weather and warm water. It seemed like a canadio-euro-american compound, almost like an embassy that is legally part of another country. A server was shocked when I was going to eat some food he cut in half at a buffet to see if it was veggie. I had to insist that he let me eat it and not throw it out.

Resorts are getting bigger and bigger, and are swallowing up the beach front. While I have not yet done much research, it is clear that atleast sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach and that they will not be able to do so successfully if there are no more natural beaches left.

In the USA with the flooding a couple years ago and the tsunami in Asia, the reasons for the mass devastation was in part the lack of natural forest and aquatic plants around the coast. This is supposed to absorb excessive water and when removed will allow flooding. While the Mayan riviera is covered at least in part with beaches, just behind them is or was forest natural to the coast. Now it is exchanged for planted rows of palms, palapas shade structures for beach chairs and swimming pools.

What is the actual cost of vacationing? Having super compounds that take up resources and create lots of waste may be stimulating part of the economy but the workers at these places seemed to have to keep their heads down when not muttering Hola as you pass by. So many people to support so few in a fake lap of luxury. Although that is how I saw it, I did still have a great time, but that was more the company than the area.