This trip has been plagued by setbacks from the get-go! First we missed our flight to Lombok, prior to heading to Cancun, Mexico … and then … on Monday night, already in Cancun, we get a letter from the Fairmont Hotel GM informing us that Hurricane Paula is heading straight for us.
Ironically, just the day before I was asking one of the staff if there was such a thing as a hurricane season in Yucatan. Apparently yes. It’s on right now!
So here we have Paula moving slowly towards Yucatan … Cancun and Cozumel … we’re exactly in her path. What are the odds? First she’s a category 1 … then she’s upgraded to category 2 which means winds of 120 mph. I was looking forward to feeling the force of nature. Wanted to stand naked on our balcony and be one with the force.
I had never been in a hurricane. Wide-eyed I observed how they were boarding up the whole hotel. All the big windows were being covered. Outdoor furniture was being put away. Lamps removed. Bicycles stored. Paula is coming. It feels like we’re about to receive a guest.
Paula is to arrive Wednesday morning. Tuesday evening, it was cloudy, drizzling a little bit, but mainly dry. And very calm. Calm before the storm?
CNN, Straits Times, BBC all covered the impending Paula hitting the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Tuesday night we get another letter from the GM informing us that in the event of an evacuation, we will be meeting in the junior ballroom. Food, TV, internet will all be provided.
Outside still calm!
Before we went to bed I was wondering should we pack? Shall we have our luggage ready to evacuate? No … OK, let’s go to bed.
6 am we wake up. I’m listening for gusts of wind. Nothing. I’m listening for objects flying around and hitting our building. Nothing. Is there a massive downpour outside? No. I opened the balcony doors … calm outside. Sun is rising.
Hmm! What just happened? Where is Paula? Did she not show up?
No, Paula decided to head for Cuba, without a warning. I felt like I was stood up by a guest at our dinner party.
So no hurricane experience for us. And because of Paula, our ASAE 5-star weekend event, which is why we came to Cancun (along with 200 other people that were expected) got canceled. Only 17 of us actually made it!
After breakfast I bump into a women in the elevator and ask her if she was devastated that there was no hurricane? I kinda was. And there she said it, she had lived in Florida for 15 years and can remember numerous times when they had received hurricane warnings and had to prepare for the worst, bunkering up in their house. In all those years, she only experienced one minor hurricane.
And that’s how it is ladies and gentlemen. Hurricanes are nature. Unpredictable. Awe inspiring. Powerful. And you never know when they’re going to hit. And in the event that they do, and you’re not prepared … beware …
Follow Bojan’s travel reviews on his blog www.gowithbo.info
Featured image credit (Hurricane Palms): Ockra/iStock
