Caribbean Travel Dreams Blog

Yes, I actually said that out loud ... "I'm Going To Mexico" tomorrow to spend 6 days in the Cancun & Riviera Maya beach areas.   Over a month ago, I would have gotten the response "I'm so jealous!" ... now it's a hand over the mouth with a little gasp and a hushed ..."Are you really going?" ... "Aren't you afraid you'll get sick?".

I was like everybody else watching & reading media reports of the swine flu ... ooops I mean H1N1 virus ... but I decided to sit back, wait and watch  ... and here are my humble thoughts:

1) While in South Africa this past March I had an unbelievable sinus infection, fever, etc. that came back to haunt me a week after I came home ... sick in bed for 3 days, antibiotics, the works.  Who's to say 500 others who crossed paths during my stay in South Africa didn't get the same infection and bring it home to their countries ... no repots to verify ... no way of knowing ...

2) In all my 49 years I've had what we term "the flu"  and "flu-like symptoms" many times ... can't say I've ever had a blood test any of those times ... but curious to know if I had been tested, would it have been H1N1?  For all I know, I've had "swine flu" many times over the years... but I'll never know ...

3)  A couple of years ago I was on the island of Martinique during an earthquake reported to be 7.4 magnitude.  From the news reports back home, my family thought I was never to be seen again.  The quake got our attention for sure on the island ... but in actuality, some services were interrupted, a road or two were buckled, a church lost its steeple, schools were closed as a precaution to check stability, luckily very minimal damage.   My first-hand experience of media hype.

3) With a population of 26.7 million people in Mexico City (been called the"epicenter" of the epidemic), the relative percentage of people in Mexico City that have been affected is 5 ten-millionths of 1 percent.   Not bad odds.

My heart goes out to those who have been affected with the flu as well as the many who are now struggling to feed their families because of loss of employment.   Tourism is the most important sources of income for the beach areas of Mexico (where there have been no reports of influenza), and those already struggling to feed their families are even more devastated.

So, yes I plan on giving Mexico a great big hug this week ... and I'm saying it loud and proud ... "I'm Going to Mexico"!  Stay tuned ...

Pattie Mitchell, ACC
Travel Dreams
E-mail: traveldreams10@yahoo.com
www.traveldreams.us

Club Med Cancun Yucatan will unveil the latest Passworld for teens.  Club Med Cancun Yucatan recently re-opened after $24 million in renovations as a family resort including programs for children ages four to 10 years and a special Baby Welcome Program. 

In addition to these programs, Club Med Cancun Yucatan will offer the newest Passworld, the Club Med concept for teens. 

Click to read more ...

In approximately two months Riu will open its newest resort, Riu Vallarta, in Puerto Vallarta. The five-star all-inclusive Riu Vallarta will have 550 deluxe guestrooms and suites. The nine-story waterfront hotel will be on Flamingo Beach within walking distance of Riu?s other resort in Puerto Vallarta, Riu Jalisco. Riu Vallarta was built with business guests in mind and will offer two conference rooms and an array of business and meeting services.

Pattie Mitchell, Travel Dreams
www.traveldreams.us
E-mail: traveldreams10@yahoo.com

Cancun Is Back!!  The city of Cancun will host what promises to be the world's largest beach party on August 11-13, 2006.  Cancun plans to officially reopen its doors with a three-day long festival spanning over eight miles of beach.  The activities will include a sand sculpture contest, a kite festival, art exhibits, a sailing regatta, a food festival, aquatic demonstrations and beach parties throughout the entire Hotel Zone.  A fireworks show will be held on Saturday night with fireworks being launched over Cancun's waters at every kilometer marker for 13 kilometers.  The destination has just completed its greatest island-wide revitalization efforts to date, including a US$20.33 million beach recovery project that fully restored eight miles of beach.  Thanks to the project, which was completed ahead of schedule in April 2006, all of Cancun's 15.5 miles of coastline are now accessible and available for use.  In addition to beach re-openings, 83 percent of Cancun's 27,822 hotel rooms have been fully restored and are operating as usual. 

Contact Pattie Mitchell, Travel Dreams for more info
E-mail: traveldreams10@yahoo.com
www.traveldreams.us

Club Med Cancun took a hurricane beating in 2005 and remains closed until November 2006.  Club Med has made the decision to change Club Med Cancun from an adult-only resort to an upscale resort for everyone ... offering the culture of Mexico while pampering their guests.  My husband and I visited Club Med in the "old days" (August 2005 - see item under "Trip Reports"), so I'm very curious to see the "new" resort.  The new Club Med Cancun resort, scheduled to open in Fall 2006, is Club Med’s latest addition to its collection of upscale discovery resorts.

Click to read more ...