Travel Plans

From Thursday to Monday I’m heading down to Akumal towards Tulum for a conference with the RETA Real Estate Trend Alert group. The purpose of the group is to find good RE opportunities around the world - sometimes that might be “the next big thing“, sometimes it’s fire sales that represent good value - the sort of opportunities that the global financial crisis has helped create. Developers whose buildings have been empty too long and now have the banks breathing down their necks. I’m not at all sure I have the finance to take advantage of any of these but who knows? It’s certainly worth finding out more. So when it gets way too hot and humid in Playa I can pop down to my other property in…… Ecuador? Brasil? Panama?

It’s being held at the Bahia Principe, one of those 5 star all inclusives - luxurious accommodation, numerous restaurants, cafes and bars, all you can eat and drink is included. I will probably roll out of there as fat as a pig, but hopefully I can stay sober enough during the day to collect a lot of useful information and some good contacts.

The resort of course offers wifi internet, which is pretty exciting for me at the moment with all my Cablemas dramas, so at the very least I will finally be able to do some research - will probably stay up half the night catching up!

I’m planning a trip south through Central America, from Guatemala through Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and maybe Panama. I will probably do one of those small group things like I did when I came to Mexico in 2008 and first fell in love with Playa Del Carmen. It’s a good way to see all the main sights at a reasonable cost and with someone else taking care of the logistics. The one I’m looking at is about 4 weeks for about $1000, includes local transport, accommodation, a few meals and visits to important sites in each country.

I’m also planning a bit of time in Ecuador. International Living Magazine has voted it the best retirement destination for several years running. It’s tops in climate, living conditions, cost of living, etc. The only thing I am a bit concerned about is the altitude. Quito is the 2^nd highest-altitude capital city after La Paz in Bolivia, and at 2800m it’s considerable. After having spent several days in Cusco at 3400m either lying in bed shivering or with my aching head down the toilet, and then getting another dose when I climbed to 3500m on Lake Titicaca, it’s not an experience I’m keen to repeat. I took Ginkgo Biloba pills and drank gallons of the local coca-leaf tea which is supposed to help, but it only seemed to act as a diuretic for me. A head massage with eucalyptus aromatherapy did really help but I was too ill to take part in some of the planned activities. I believe there are also antibiotics you can take to reduce the effects so I will investigate whether they are available here. And of course not all the cities in Ecuador are so high. Cuenca is at around 2500m which is not much above the 8000ft high altitude mark. I had no problems in Mexico City at around 2400m, so that should be OK. Altitude sickness is a funny thing: there is no telling who it will hit. Age or fitness level don’t seem to make any difference, you are just either lucky or unlucky. So I plan to be better prepared this time, and although I normally hate having to take medications - if it’s going to keep me upright and my dinner down, bring it on I say!