The Great Escape – Margaritas and Mezcal in Mexico

At the start of 2020, my family and I began to plan a trip to Mexico for my Dad’s 60th birthday. At the time, it seemed an adventurous trip to a faraway destination, but as the year crept on and Covid-19 began to spread, it seemed to grow further away in possibility too. 

The trip was postponed time and time again throughout 2020 and 2021 until it took on a sort of unicorn quality. I booked the time off work, but the fast-changing travel rules made it impossible to talk about without a preface of “who knows if I’ll be able to go though”.

Somehow the stars aligned, and in November of 2021, we finally boarded the plane with a sense of incredulity, heading to Mayakoba, a resort close to Playa del Carmen, for just over a week of tacos and tequila.

Ten hours later, we landed in Cancun. Stepping off the plane we were greeted by a delightful blast of humid air and headed for our hotel, The Banyan Tree. We checked in and made a beeline for the bar for the first of many margaritas, celebrating my Dad’s birthday, the dream-turned-reality of finally making it to Mexico.

Each morning we filled the baskets on our hotel bikes with towels and suncream and cycled down to the kind of breakfast buffet where choosing what to eat takes longer than eating itself. From fresh juice to a bloody mary station and pancakes to made-to-order Chilaquiles, we stuffed ourselves silly every day. 

Then, back on our bikes, we would cycle the ten minute trip to the beach, the distance becoming a well-needed way to burn off some of our breakfast.

At the Sands Beach Club, we flitted between the swimming pool and the sea, breaking up bouts of sunbathing with games of volleyball and boules before diving into the sea to cool off again. 

Gazing out across the beach from a sunbed, the paradisial landscape would be occasionally interrupted by the presence of a police officer marching down the beach with his finger on the trigger of a very large gun. This took a little while to get used to.

With all four hotels and their multiple restaurants to choose from, it would be all too easy to while away the days on the resort, recharging and relaxing. But, since it was our first time in Mexico, we were eager to get a taste of local life and hired a car to explore the surrounding areas. 

One morning we packed up and headed into Tulum. Moments after parking, the heavens opened, and we found ourselves running for cover from a torrential downpour. Our plans to spend the afternoon at the famous Tulum beach clubs were quickly scuppered, and we ducked into the first place we could find. Any disappointment at bringing the rain with us from England was quickly forgotten with the arrival of a tray of spicy margaritas and enough guacamole to feed a small army at the table.

A few days later, we headed out once more, this time to the Tulum ruins. Once an important trading centre for the Mayan world, much of the architecture has been preserved within the ancient walled city. Whilst a bit of a tourist trap, the ruins are well worth visiting with a guide, the locals will give you an insight into the history of the area and Mayan life against the backdrop of the stunning Caribbean sea. 

Later, we travelled to the Cenote Dos Ojos, a collection of sinkholes and submerged cave systems formed millions of years ago from collapsed limestone. Here you can take a chilly swim in the crystal clear water as bats circle the dark caves above you or hire scuba equipment and explore the underwater life below.

On other evenings we travelled into Playa Del Carmen for dinner. We tried the local restaurants at random and were consistently rewarded with the most flavoursome food you can imagine. Each night we over-ordered, unable to resist as plates of mouth-watering tacos, vats of guacamole and refried beans and tostadas the size of our heads were wheeled out to our table. Never again will I associate a fajita kit from a cardboard box with Mexican food – no Tex-Mex compares to the colours and flavours of the real thing. 

We were keen to try the Banyan Tree’s flagship restaurant, the Saffron, but had been putting it off as we were hesitant about whether it would be more sensible to stick to Mexican food in Mexico, but after eating tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week were also keen for something a little different. It did not disappoint.

A lush green canal winds its way through the four hotels and El Camaleónon golf course on the Mayakoba resort. The hotel provides a mangrove boat tour (and a chance to gawk at the ridiculous private residences owned by the extremely rich and famous who daren’t stay in the hotel). 

The tour was a true highlight of the trip, slowing down to spot various wildlife that inhabits the canal and its surrounding marshes. We spotted iguanas sunning themselves on rocks and flocks of birds perching on branches just out of reach of the jaws of the cayman that lurked on the canal beds. 

Finally, reality beckoned, and we cycled our trusty bikes to breakfast for the last time. To reward ourselves for a very tough week of lounging in the sun and eating till we burst, we booked a treatment at the hotel spa; a highly-anticipated treat needed to negate months of working from home in spine-compromising positions and on dodgy desk chairs.

We packed up and bid farewell to the friendly hotel staff and braced ourselves for the long flight home. Lugging my heavy suitcase onto the tube in the bitter November cold, the holiday blues set in instantly.

But as I unpacked my suitcase, pulling a bottle of tequila and a bottle of jalapeño hot sauce out from under my clothes, I was glad to have brought a taste of Mexico back home with me.