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Rudolf and Larissa Jung Rechtenbacher Strasse 101 Lohr am Main- 97816 Germany |
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To contact us: |
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Phone in Germany: 0170 1089 291 Phone from US: 011-49-170 1089 291 E-mail: flodur54@hotmail.com |
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I. Orovio (July, 2008) I wanted to take a moment to let you know just how much I appreciated the time my family spent at your “Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas”. My wife and I travel a lot and we generally make a point to never go to the same place twice. However, it appears that’s changed as we are already discussing our projected return to your slice of paradise! Every day for the past 2 weeks I used your kayaks to take my 6 year old son and 8 year old daughter to the nearby reef for snorkeling – their lives are forever changed! We saw turtles, rays, rainbows of fish and lobster!! We actually were able to get lobster on an almost daily basis and used your outside grill for them several times – perfect! Your guard dogs were very friendly to us and did their job well by keeping a few other dogs away. My kids made a point to put out extra food and water for them and struck a strong bond with them. The wind at night easily made up for the lack of a/c during the night. The stars were indescribable from the roof – the lack of pollution and complete absence of any city light made them amazingly visible. Mahahual close by offered us easy meals and bottled water, while still far enough away to give us the “Robinson Crusoe” lifestyle we were looking for. Finally, I’d like to drop a special note on your care taker Darvey. This is a special man indeed. He took complete care of all our needs. He even offered to go to town for us to get extra supplies the first night we arrived (we arrived late at night). Every morning he was raking the beach as the sun rose. Thru out the day he was performing various projects on the grounds. I do not speak fluent Spanish and he does not speak fluent English, but thru our combined efforts we easily understood each other with ease. On top of his respectfulness and impressive work ethic (it amazed me that he never seemed to be idle) I want to say on a personal note: He’s a real gem. He and his family gave us our full privacy to the whole property. Eventually my kids and his son found each other and struck a great friendship – Every morning my kids went looking for Jose! On Sunday Darvey and his Uncle even took me out free of charge to hunt lobster! (I told them I was having trouble getting them – “no mucho lungosta” I said, but they knew better) We ate well that night! I couldn’t put a price on that kind of service. The hospitality of his entire family drowned out any mild language barrier we experienced – I actually learned some Spanish! He started as the care taker but he ended up being my friend. Your property is spectacular in it’s own right – but the people you have tending it push it to the next level of bordering on magical. We plan to return next year to enjoy your balcony, catch more lobster, and visit my new extended familia: Darvey! Pictures of our adventure at your Casa can be found online here: Feel free to link to them if you wish: http://fatdow.com/images/Ivan%20Oberon%20Noel%20Orovio/Mahahual%20Family%20Vacation%20July%202008/index.htm Oh, and for anyone else visiting: 1. Little kids will love chasing the crabs on the beach at night with a flashlight. 2. Feed the puppies and they will love you and keep any other animals off the property (they seem to know the boundaries well) 3. Every morning a tortilla man passes by around 7am and you can get fresh hot tortillas for 11 pesos – get some packaged cheese and / or eggs in town and you can easily have nice breakfast every morning. 4. Bring some bug repellent because some nights they might get the better of you, but sometimes not - it just depends on the wind level. 5. If you use the kayak go diagonal right from the beachfront for an amazing set of coral reefs – it’s ¾ to the reef line and directly out from about 3 house structure over – this sounds vague, but you won’t miss it if you go that way. Or you can just kayak straight out and once you’re close to the reef line go right until you see them. 6. Never even saw a shark and Darvey assured me many times that they are not an issue. The barracuda however make frequent appearances on the reef – I hear they taste great but I couldn’t get close enough J they can be intimidating as they are not scared of people but if you move towards them they usually move away… and then they come back. 7. All the appliances worked fine. Make sure you keep the fridge closed to help keep it’s temp low. And if you run out of water (we took a lot of cold showers because we were in the sand a lot) just tell Darvey and he’ll turn on a pump and it only takes 15 minutes to get water again from the gravity fed water tank on the roof. 8. And if you want to do some world class fishing then just drive to Xcalak (30 minutes away) and you can hire a local boat for trolling the ocean or Bone fishing in the bay flats. 9. Or you can float the kayak over the artificial reef and I let my little boy catch fish on his spiderman fishing rod until his heart was content – the fish action is constant there and perfect for a small child with little patience J 10. In Mahahual, The “Tapas Bar” has the best ceviche, but the no name place next to it with the loud music has everything else better, including the people. (this is on the boardwalk where they put out table in the waters edge). And if you want some amazing Italian food – try the place called “the roots” – it isn’t cheap but the owner is from Italy (doesn’t speak English) and makes fresh pasta daily – it was great! And the inside ambiance and charm of the place was a real treat as well. 11. And if you bring a laptop and need absolutely need to check your email then you can go to “Aroma” café and the nice German owner is broadcasting out a free wireless connection – he also makes fresh sweet spice muffins every morning which we all loved. From Mahahual lighthouse, go inland to the first street and take a right and you’ll find it. Next to him is a good little corner store where you can get dog food, Gatorade, cokes, cheese, eggs, chorizo, candy bars, etc. and a lot of other supply type items. 12. There is one Pemex (gas station) in the area. They will take USD but if you do this then watch your total and do the math yourself – they tried to short me 150 pesos ($15) until I caught it - - I suggest just paying in pesos and if you are unsure then don’t request a fill up, rather just say you’d like a specific amount (300 pesos of Magna por favor = $30 of regular). And you need to go early in the mornings as they tend to run out of fuel in the afternoon. |
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Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas Guest Comments |
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S. Skidmore (January, 2008) We really enjoyed staying at your home. We found the deck extremely relaxing and spent a lot of time there. Darvi was great for taking care of things, cleaning up the beach, etc but was in and out several times to plug/unplug the inverter, fix the toilet, and have the light fixture fixed with the electrician. Darvi was very nice, friendly, and helpful and the house clean and well equipped. We thought the roof deck was great for tanning and star gazing. We hope that the town recovery effort goes smoothly as the destruction from the Hurricane last summer was amazing. We will definitely consider staying at Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas for future trips! |
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M. Wolters & M. Olson (December, 2007) We stayed at this property for a week approximately Nov 28-Dec 5, 2007. The house itself was extremely comfortable and clean and larger than we expected. The kitchen was well-supplied for dishes, etc. but the refrigerator was quite small but understandable considering the solar electricity. The two-burner stovetop had a problem so we only had the use of one burner, a challenge when cooking a meal. The house is very airy with many windows so we were entirely comfortable without A/C. |
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P. Flaherty (August, 2007) We had a wonderful time at the house. it was beautiful and comfortable both day and night. scuba, cooking, relaxing, stargazing - it was an incredible vacation. darvey, the caretaker was very friendly and helpful, and there was nothing about the house or the area that was a surprise. you were also a pleasure to deal with, fair and reasonable, and we were very happy with the honesty in advertising. All in all, it was very rare in my experience of vacation rentals. we will certainly be in touch with you in the future about renting the house again. THANK YOU. |
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V. Golding (July, 2007) Finding groceries in Mahahual was tough, but we managed. Also, the caretaker got the food truck to stop by for us a couple of mornings and we were able to buy fruits, veggies, and tortillas from it. The caretaker was very helpful and took great care of us as well. If we return to the Yucatan, I will definitely rent here again. |
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D. Berrigan (April, 2007) Casa Del Cielos is delightful. The snorkeling is excellent and Majajual is close enough for shopping and dining and the cultural spectacle of global tourism but far enough away so as not to intrude much. Some will find the ATV's that pass each day annoying, but I understand that the owners have received permission to move the road so this should prove less prominent an issue. We particularly liked the design of the house and the shady upstairs deck. |
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L. Linsky (January, 2007) The house is wonderful; the upstairs is very breezy at night so great sleeps always. The kitchen is well equipped and laid out and the whole place is so beautiful that just hanging out is a pleasure. Our two kids (ages 4 and 7) found the reef amazing and it was a short and easy kayak ride to get to. The house was well maintained, very clean, and quiet. A perfect spot to relax. |
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H. Naigus (May, 2006) Thank you so much for allowing us the time we spent at your villa. Your house is amazing and Mahahual is beautiful! I have about a year left in school and am thinking about moving there with my education degree to help with the education down there. I would love |
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Comment 12 |
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L. H. (March, 2009) It is hard to express what a wonderful time we had! The house was lovely and the gardens beautiful - you have made a wonderful place to escape! We loved the people of Mahahual as they were so kind and friendly. There were great restaurants which surprised us for such a small town. You were so lucky to have the hurricane mostly miss your place. We loved sitting on the upper deck in the evening, surrounded by palm trees. We seemed to spend the rest of the time under the palapa or in the water snorkling. |
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S.D. (February, 2010) ... Most importantly, let me tell you that we had a wonderful time at your house, beach, and reef. What a special place you have built. The information on your web site as well as the additional information you provided via email all led to us knowing what to expect and what not to expect. We loved Mahahual and the surrounding environs and that it was mostly (except when the cruise ships were in) off the tourist track.
What few issues we had, Darvey was always there to assist. In addition to putting the part in the refrigerator, he had to do something to the water pump one day because we suddenly had no water. Darvey is definitely a "keeper" in my book. Not only did he check in every day, and early on checked in 2-3 times a day, to be sure everything was going O.K., he spent a fair amount of time drawing us maps to stores in town, explaining about that coconut beetle in your window sill, taking my husband fishing the first time (and gave him 3 of his fish), and just generally chatting with us. He's a hard worker and certainly watches over your house. He's personable, cheery, resourceful, and just an all around nice guy. I particularly enjoyed him because I speak Spanish and we could converse quite well.
The first 3-4 days were overcast and pretty cool. But the last 4 days were warm, clear, we had the windows open all night, and we soaked up the sun. We used the yellow 2 person kayak to go to the reef a couple of times and snorkeled. We also used the same kayak to do some additional evening fishing and my husband and our friend managed to get enough fish for a dinner for 3 as well as to make ceviche for a lunch. Having the big ice chest available really helped as no matter the weather, we managed to consume a fair amount of cerveza. After all, it was vacation!
The first night we had dinner at the Travel Inn which was very good. We didn't get to the house until a little after 7 PM since we had stopped in Playa del Carmen to do the main grocery provisioning. We took a day trip to Xcatel and had lunch there. Other than that we did all meals at the house. We used the BBQ several times. Getting that carbon to light was a bit of a bear, but we managed each time to get it going.
We used the roof top for some sun bathing as well as one night of a spectacular electrical light show and star gazing. ... You have been great to deal with and I would certainly recommend you and your great house for people who want to get away from the usual touristy setting. I know that some people would never want to go some place like this but then, I imagine they wouldn't go looking for someplace like this. ... But thanks again for letting us rent your place. I would do it again, though now we're talking about taking our travel trailer from Georgia to Mexico for a winter. If that's the case, we won't be renting a place we'll be in our travel trailer. However, if we don't do this, we may be checking in with you again next year. … S.D. |
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Lee family (May, 2010)
I would like to extend a very warm “Thank You” for your hospitality and use of your vacation home. What an absolute treasure you have built there and Darvey was fabulous. We had a truly fantastic time, from just relaxing to the extensive snorkeling we did at the reef. We usually did two trips a day out to the reef. We did take one day to go to Chacchoben and Cenote Azul, and this was a great day as well. As you stated on your website the fresh pineapple is not to be missed. I could go on and on, but suffice to say that all of the information you have noted on your site is extremely helpful and accurate. All in all I cannot speak highly enough of the home you have built, and the Lee family will treasure our memories of your home and the reef. You have been a pleasure to work with and thank you for all of your help in the process. Maybe we can return again next year, we enjoyed it that much. Regards, The Lee family |