Mexico

We’re lucky enough to have a holiday every year. However because of my work, my Wife’s work, the boys schooling and their football the only time we get to go away is over the Christmas and New Year period. Over the last 5 years we’ve visited, Orlando, Miami, The Florida Keys, a Caribbean Cruise and Mauritius. One place we hadn’t visited ever before was Mexico and a lot of our friends had recommended it to us. We usually use a company called Trailfinders. I know these days you can do it all yourself but you can call these guys tell them what you want and they’ll come back with 2 or 3 options. If you don’t like something they can then fine tune it to sort your needs. It’s all legally covered which after the demise of Thomas Cook shows it’s important to book through a reputable Agency. The other good thing is they accept Spanish credit cards which is something that quite a few UK companies don’t and they give you the option of paying over a period of time. Over the time we have used them everything has pretty much passed off without any dramas.

After my Mum’s 90th birthday bash we headed off to Gatwick to overnight at the Premier Inn. Say what you like about them but to get your head down for £40 for the 4 of us and a free breakfast for the kids, you can’t go wrong. Plus the fact you can walk across the road thoroughly rested and onto the plane. Airline entertainment has improved dramatically over the years, I gorged on documentaries, comedies, music and a couple of films I kept promising myself to watch. Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman were 2 music films I should have watched ages ago considering I’m in the game but just kept putting them off. This time I had no excuse and I wasn’t disappointed. Both were fantastic and featured two singers who had very troubled lives but whose talent shone through. Unlike the entertainment the food hasn’t improved. By the way I’m sat in cattle class so don’t know how much better it gets the further forward you go? I’m not sure why these airlines haven’t gone down the route of the no frills airlines and let you buy your own?

One thing I will say about the Mexicans is how friendly they are. Virtually every sentence begins with the word “family” as in family let me tell you about…and at the end they always say “un placer”(a pleasure). They couldn’t do enough for you. We were staying at Dreams Playa de las Mujeres, 10 miles north of Cancun. An all inclusive hotel with just over 500 rooms with pools, restaurants, entertainment and situated right on the beach.

The hotel was great, the only slight criticism of it was the food which I feel could have been better but certainly didn’t spoil our holiday. The boys had a great time and joined in most of the sporty things with the entertainments team who were also great. We therefore managed to get some much needed chill time.

We pre-booked a couple of excursions before we travelled a private yacht and a trip that we were recommended called Xplor.

Xplor or Xplor fuego is an adventure park that will have you flying across the sky on zip-lines, you go through paths of the jungle on amphibious vehicles and swim and float on rafts in underground rivers Earth created millions of years ago. We decided to go on Xplor Fuego which is the nighttime version. It was all fairly relaxed as we made it up to the first zip wire. We were shown a brief safety video and then kitted out with our harnesses. As we made our way to first wire it suddenly dawned on me how high these wires were. It was dusk so you were still able to see the view. Stunning it was, but to someone like me who isn’t keen on heights I suddenly realised this wasn’t going to be as fun as I thought. I decided to go first just to show I wasn’t scared. There are words I can’t write hear but let’s just say it was definitely squeaky bum time! My eldest came across and loved it and then nothing. The guide told us that my youngest didn’t want to do it and my wife was taking him back downstairs. So me and Jake ventured on. They also don’t warn you too much about the steps and climb to reach each zip wire. After the Christmas excesses believe me it wasn’t fun and I was knackered. The highest I think was number 7 out of 9. I don’t know if was the height(150ft), the wind because of the height, or I was so tired but I was all ready to quit. A little bit of encouragement from Jake and we got round. The last wire has you landing in water which is bit of a wake up. To be honest it was a relief to finish and if you asked me to do it again then I would probably decline. As me and Jake were soaked we moved onto all the water activities. Firstly a Swim across 400 meters of crystal-clear water in an underground river surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites, followed by paddling with your hands on board fun rafts across a 600 metre underwater river and then finally a splash wire into water on hammocks. At this point you should know that we had brought our swimming gear and special swimming shoes so we were adequately prepared for these. The final trip was on electronic amphibious vehicles that wind their way along 3 miles through the wilderness of the Mayan jungle. Great fun especially at night.

All in all a fun trip not quite what we expected but good value.

The Whole time away has been great but it’s always good to get back to the island and get stuck into work.

Real Mallorca lost away just after the New Year in Grenada by 1-0. So at the halfway point of 19 games they are now in the relegation places with 15 points. They’re split on goal difference from Celta in 17th. Last season Girona went down on 37 points and Celta finished in 17th on 41 points so that should be the aim. That’s a tough 26 points to find and they need to turn their away form around. 1 point is just not good enough and something needs to change. I have every confidence that the management and players can turn it around especially after seeing a documentary in Spanish of last seasons run in and play-off victory against Deportivo La Coruña.

The boys return to action this weekend after their Christmas break. So a busy Saturday for Dad Taxi!

Enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com