In Search of Chupacabra

The legend of the vampiric goat-sucker Chupacabra hit California a few months back with sightings throughout Orange County. I have a good friend here who's a loyal fan of Chupacabra and thinks goats are OK too.

 The legend of Chupacabra worked its way from Puerto Rico through Mexico on its way to California; therefore, I suspected I could find something chupa-like in the Yucatan for my friend. For all I know, Chupacabra could have entered Mexico via the Yucatan: it's geographically closest to Puerto Rico, not to mention that Cancun has those incredible all-you-can-drink specials.

 I asked far and wide, from the street vendors of downtown Cancun to the jungles of Coba, where I could find a C.C. relic. However, no photos, no statuettes, not even a T-shirt could be found depicting the fresh-from-the-farm fiend. The closest I got was from a storeowner in Cancun who handed me a picture of Mexico's president Zedillo. Wrong kind of bloodsucker, though.
 

Punta Bete and Things with Big Teeth

 The partial day of tropical beach exploration at Xcacel (see Part 3 of the Tales) did not satiate my appetite for wide-open, sandy beaches. Highly recommended from "The Cancun-Tulum Corridor" (on an otherwise commercial web site not nearly as interesting as this one) was Punta Bete, located about midway between Cancun and Tulum.

 Punta Bete is reached down a rocky 5 mile "trail" from the main road through the jungle. Although the Geo Tracker wasn't 4-wheel-drive, the extra ground clearance definitely helped. The trail terminated on a beautiful stretch of beach that went for miles in either direction. Empty hammocks swung in the breeze between palapas outside an empty restaurant. And that was about it. The wreckage of a couple of houses, presumably from this past summer's hurricane that crossed the area, was the scant evidence of civilization.

 So on the white sand and in the tidy-bowl-like turquoise water, a spectacular day passed in a private, tropical paradise, with only four other people visible for the whole day. I'd recommend Punta Bete to anyone who wants the ultimate Caribbean experience, sans the wall-to-wall sunburned body count and the noise of civilization. It also seems like a fine place for nude sunbathing, or whatever else might occur on an idyllic, deserted beach.

  Just before the military checkpoint at the entry into Cancun is Croco-cun, a crocodile farm and zoo. I had no idea of the type of zoo experience I was in for upon entering -- I was expecting a couple of cages of the toothy beasts, some minor ooh-in and ahh-ing, and then a trip on back to Cancun. Instead, I was led into cages of crocodiles, given crocs and snakes to hold, played with spider monkeys (even though they were BAD they did not get spanked), was decorated with parrots, and fed deer. Basically, our guide opened up all the cages and either let guests in or let the animals out. Not something that they encourage at the San Diego zoo.

  The guide appeared to have his fingers, arms and legs all still intact, so I wasn't too concerned when he handed me a 3-foot long crocodile for photos. When he let us in a pen with these fully grown carnivores, I was a little more nervous . . . until I saw a group of men patching holes in the croc's pond with their backs turned to the reptiles. The guide assured me that all of the animals at Croco-Cun are well fed and have more of a taste for chicken anyway. He also explained that all animals in the zoo are native to the Cancun area . . . and that's when I really began to wonder what that splash was the day before at Xel-Ha.

 All this was for a 50-peso entrance fee (plus the guide got a well-deserved 50-peso tip for the most outrageous zoo experience I've ever had).

 *She Mango, She Tango*

 Cancun had its share of very good, fairly inexpensive restaurants. I had great Italian food at Savios, located in the Caracol plaza, and ate well at my hotel complex. The coconut shrimp at the Captain's Cove on Kukulkan had to be the best rendition of shrimp I've ever had (and the Sexy Coffee, to be described shortly). The most fun dinner, however, had to be at the Mango Tango, located across Kukulkan from the Ritz Carton.

 I went there with the kind folks from Tennessee. Mango Tango features and outdoors show stage and indoor/outdoor dining. It's best to reserve a table early to get a fun spot by the stage (just ask for Ricky Ricardo . . . really!). The show began at about our dinnertime with a Caribbean-style dance show, continued with reggae music and lots of audience participation, then a limbo contest, then dancing, then more cocktails, then more dancing . . . well, it was a lot of fun. Incidentally, you don't even have to dine there to enjoy the show; there's a bar overlooking the stage.

 The Mango Tango staff was definitely a fun bunch, and yes, the tequila-slammers were administered in the manner I'd mentioned in Tales Part 3. The staff also did a great job handling the intermittent warm rain showers that briefly wetted us outside-sitters: we'd grab out plates and drinks and run for cover, and after the rain stopped, usually only a minute or so later, they'd wipe off everyone's chairs and tidy up the table. The acts on stage would continue, and the limbo-in-the-rain contest was hilarious. One of the finalists looked like she was sliding into home.
 

Fire Made It Good

 Other dinner entertainment can be had a the Captain's Cove by ordering the Sexy Coffee.

 I couldn't tell you what all the ingredients are that go into Sexy Coffee, but it involves sugar, some sort of liquor potent enough to be flammable, fire, and of course coffee. Two waiters begin the preparation by dusting the rims of glasses with sugar and rotating them over a flame until the sugar has melted. Then ladles of liquor are set on fire and poured well above the glasses, creating a cascade of blue flame that pools in the glass. Next thing you know, there's a waiter diving off the deck into the lagoon with his arm on fire (OK, I lied, they had an extinguisher). Anyway, the end concoction is wonderful . . . and as in the words of the grand philosophizer Homer (Simpson) "Fire made it good."

 Delicious and bordering on dangerous, that's Sexy Coffee.

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