After we took quick showers and changed out of our bathing suits into our street clothes, we headed out of the Akumal Dive shop and walked out to the town entrance where we had agreed to meet up with Artenio. Deep down inside, I was quietly hoping he would remember to show up since he was bringing our luggage with us. One taxi after another came by. No Artenio. My brother went off to check a nearby parking lot to see if maybe he was there waiting for us and no luck. Then, in the distance, I saw another taxi approaching. It pulled off into side parking area. I decided to check it out. It was Artenio!! I've never been so happy to see a taxi driver and he was happy to see me because I had fish in hand for him. I waved to my brother to come over. We piled into the cab and headed down the road towards Cancun airport. Of course, the conversation was mainly about the fishing trip we had just been on.
Akumal is about an hour's drive from the airport and along the way, we pass Playa del Carmen and Cancun. I can't believe how both places have changed since I was last here....starting with the fact that there's now a highway connecting Akumal to Cancun. Back then, we had to rent a Jeep to get around because the roads were not so good.
We arrived in Cancun Airport as scheduled. We thanked Artenio and headed inside. While my brother checked in at the United counter, I did the same at the American Airlines counter. We met back up and decided it was time to have our lunch - tamales we had bought from our favorite vendor in Tulum as well as some custard we had bought from a fruit vendor, also in Tulum. We found a table at Starbucks.....yes, a Starbucks. The only one I've been to outside of the US. We didn't order any coffee. We just dove in and enjoyed our last taste of the wonderful food we've had in Mexico and they were two of our favorites. So it seems fitting for this blog to close on this posting.
México, voy a volver a verte de nuevo. Gracias por darme algunos recuerdos muy preciado.
Mexico, I will come back to see you again. Thank you for giving some very precious memories.
