Akumal y la Rosca de los Reyes

After New Year's we decided to spend my parent's last days in Mexico on the beach so we rented a condo in Akumal, the place of the turtles. It is a beautiful place with small buildings with condos and huge houses, all for rent, much quieter than the Zona Hotelera in Cancun or even Diego's parent's house in Cancun town.

We were right on the beach on not far was the barrier reef. The snorkeling was enjoyable but not as good as Xcalak. It was a pretty eco-friendly place. It actually had recycling and they were using a wetland lagoon for sewage treatment rather than having a hug treatment plant. The beach was guarded during turtle nesting season and all the lights were red so they don't affect the new born turtles. Newborns follow the moon to the ocean so if you have lots of lights around they will move towards the light and they may never reach the ocean! It is too bad that it was not nesting season when we were there, I would have loved to see one coming out of the ocean to lay eggs or see the little ones dig themselves out and drag themselves to the sea. Diego and I spent most of our time in the water and of course eating delicious food! We stayed 4 days, returned yesterday for my parents to pack and to go to the traditional party for the Rosca de Reyes at Diego's cousin Diana's House.

January 6th is when the 3 Kings arrived to give baby Jesus his gifts. In Mexico they celebrate this by leaving their shoe out the night before so that the Kings bring them a small present. The in the evening the prepare hot chocolate from REAL chocolate and milk...none of this powder crap we get in Canada...and a bread call Rosca de Reyes. The bread is like a coffee cake and has dried fruits on top (looks like licorice in the photo) and sections with a creamy sugar coating (white sections). Inside the bread they hide a bunch of small plastic babies that represent Jesus. The first person to get a baby has to have a party at their house on Feb 2...the day they all tear down their nativities...and evey person after that that gets a baby has to bring some traditional food like tamales to the party. Of course Diego and I both got a baby so we will have to send our supplies via mail...or maybe the Kings will be generous and give us a plane ticket so we can attend the party (wishful thinking!).


Now we have 4 more days to relax and enjoy the heat before we head back to the Canadian cold!
Have a good week!