I.I.VI.II – San Francisco de Campeche: Day Two
SAN FRANCISCO DE CAMPECHE
I.I.VI.II – DAY TWO
22/08/22
The following day, Xavier and I went around the citadel again; this time with a fresh perspective considering he had been here for quite a long while and knew the city through and through.
With him having to go to work at his construction site, we split up and I made my way to Playa Bonita – my very first beach stop on this trip. I paid an entrance fee (didn’t know this was a thing) and then proceeded to the sandy paradise. It was just like in the movies. A tropical beach – finally! Last time I had been to one was in Cartagena five years previously. Palm trees, huts, coconuts, sand and the bluest of seas. Heaven – pure, blissful, tropical heaven. A long stretch of beach cluttered only by seashells and white sand.
I left all my stuff behind me and quickly ran into the water, feeling freer than I had ever been before. I was finally free. I was out in the open water – without any worries, without any troubles. I had no one depending on me, no duties I had to fulfil, no place to call home for the time being. I was free. I finally felt in control of my life for the first time in ages. I was there all alone, floating, as if suspended in a dream. I closed my eyes and pictured what heaven would look like, and then opened them to find one right in front of me. I’d have so many other beaches to visit, so many other things to look forward to – this was just the beginning. I felt ready for it all, reinvigorated, pumped, exhilarated, high. It was like someone or something had just breathed new life into me. And I swore wouldn’t let it go to waste.
Chasing Sunsets
After spending the entire morning and afternoon enjoying the beach and a couple of mojitos, I met up with Xavier again. According to both local and his weather forecast, thunderstorms weren’t on anyone’s radar which meant it would be the perfect opportunity to enjoy the sunset at the Malecon. After a long walk along the promenade, we finally sat down by the Angél Maya; a monument showing a Mayan angel holding a baby in its arms representing the cultural mix between the pre-Hispanic people and the Spanish.
I had read so many travel blogs going on and on about sunset at Campeche and how it’s unmissable. I had read the same thing about sunsets in Santorini, Greece, and countless other places I’d visited and always ended up feeling like it’s nothing special, like the ones we have back home are just as nice if not nicer. All the same, it was on my checklist, so I had to do it!
Lo and behold, as the sun started going down, my jaw went down with it. Red and purple and all the shades in between, the deep, dark blue of the Pacific, the seagulls gliding away. I don’t think I had ever seen such a beautiful sunset in my life. Hell, I hadn’t seen the sun set in ages. Longer than I could remember. Back home, on most days, the sun would set either when I’d be at work or when I’d be at home resting after work. Long gone were the days were I’d meet up with my friends to chill at the beach with a nice, cold beer only to admire the sunset. And now here I was, watching this incredible spectacle of colours right in front of me.
I felt so damn grateful. Not a single day had passed since I had started travelling that I hadn’t looked up to the heavens and thanked this metaphysical entity which I didn’t even believe in. I’d been so grateful for every single moment, every single day that I just had to express my gratitude to something, to someone out there – even if it didn’t exist, even if I didn’t believe in it. I mean sure, I had planned the trip down to every single detail I could think of and I worked tons of one-hundred hour weeks so I could earn enough money to be able to do all the things I had planned, so I could have just as easily redirected that thankfulness to myself.
But somehow, the fact that I had, as of yet, managed to keep up with everything, felt so unreal, so impossible, that it felt like there was this greater force helping me out along the way. So either way, whether it’s God or the universe, whether it’s just luck or faith, I had to express my gratitude in one way or another. And this sunset had me thinking about all the good things in my life, all the things I was grateful for.