Cancun (well not really - we never actually went to Cancun)
So here's the 411 on our vacation.
After lots of flying time and a layover in Phoenix, we arrived to extremely humid conditions at the Cancun Airport. Our travel agency people had us in a car and off to the resort as soon as we walked out of customs (I was quite impressed with how well they handled all of our travel requests - we hoped on vans, exchanged to buses, and back to vans all week and never had a hangup).
The Sandos Caracol resort was nice although the little rivers and ponds they created were great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Our legs were feasted upon whenever we forgot to put on bug spray. One of my favorite things in the resort were the animals. Besides the skinny, nasty stray cats, there were turtles, herons, pelicans, peacocks, parrots, raccoons, crabs, song birds, sting rays, fish, iguanas, and a coati (which we had never seen before, and thought was pretty weird looking).
The first day we spent wandering around the resort and then going to Playa del Carmen, the closest big city, where we got barraged by merchants trying to sell their goods at the market. We mostly looked around and took pictures.
The next day we went on a tour out to Chichen-Itza. On the way we stopped at a cenote (big-watering-hole thing where the limestone caved in above the abundant underground rivers in the area). It was one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen - the pictures are good, but being there is better. We brought our stuff to swim, but we only had a short time there so we decided that it wouldn't be worth it to change, swim, change again, or to sit on the bus in wet clothes. But looking back, I wish we had done it - oh well... maybe next time. Chichen-Itza was hot at first and our tour guide was sweating profusely with the rest of us as he told us about the ballgame the Mayans played and showed us pictures of the glyphs closer up. About an hour and a half before we were supposed to go back to the bus it started raining - then it started pouring - and then it started lightning and thundering like crazy. I'm a little skittish around lightning, but we kept going and looked at the ruins while everyone else ran away (so in the end it was kind of nice because a lot of our pictures didn't have other people in them). It was a very fun day - probably our overall favorite.
The next day was spent at an "amusement park" called Xcaret. They don't have rides, but they have long underground rivers to snorkel in and a mini-aquarium. I liked the marine turtles there the best, but we also saw a bat cave where Brett was brushed in the face by a bat flying around, and a butterfly (mariposa) house. At the end of the day was a big extravaganza show about Mexican history starting with the Mayans, going through the Spanish Conquest, up to the modern day with lots of dancing and songs.
On Sunday we took a long shuttle ride to Tulum and it was our hottest day there by far. There were some nice ocean breezes every once in a while, but it was mostly just incredibly humid and hot. We didn't even stay for 2 hours before we called it quits and went back to the resort.
Monday we spent at Xel-Ha, a natural lagoon that they've made into a snorkeling haven. Brett's favorite part was jumping off the 10 foot cliffs they had on the side of the river. My favorite part was taking pictures of Brett jumping off the 10 foot cliffs they had on the side of the river. Since we spent most of the day in the water it didn't get too hot, but we had some trouble with the sunscreen staying on well enough to protect us (yes... we were the whitest people in the area and the only ones wearing T-shirts to avoid the sun). We had to buy special biodegradable sunscreen to help protect the marine life. Even though I put lots on, my shoulders got pretty burned - at that point I put on the T-shirt. Brett put tons on his face and neck, but it seemed to just wash off - so we just had to keep applying it.
And then we came home Tuesday! Brett likes to think about how amazing it is that you can wake up and go walking on the beach on the Yucatan peninsula in the morning, and be home in your own bed at night. It was a great trip - we're glad we went, and we're glad to be home.
After lots of flying time and a layover in Phoenix, we arrived to extremely humid conditions at the Cancun Airport. Our travel agency people had us in a car and off to the resort as soon as we walked out of customs (I was quite impressed with how well they handled all of our travel requests - we hoped on vans, exchanged to buses, and back to vans all week and never had a hangup).
The Sandos Caracol resort was nice although the little rivers and ponds they created were great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Our legs were feasted upon whenever we forgot to put on bug spray. One of my favorite things in the resort were the animals. Besides the skinny, nasty stray cats, there were turtles, herons, pelicans, peacocks, parrots, raccoons, crabs, song birds, sting rays, fish, iguanas, and a coati (which we had never seen before, and thought was pretty weird looking).
The first day we spent wandering around the resort and then going to Playa del Carmen, the closest big city, where we got barraged by merchants trying to sell their goods at the market. We mostly looked around and took pictures.
The next day we went on a tour out to Chichen-Itza. On the way we stopped at a cenote (big-watering-hole thing where the limestone caved in above the abundant underground rivers in the area). It was one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen - the pictures are good, but being there is better. We brought our stuff to swim, but we only had a short time there so we decided that it wouldn't be worth it to change, swim, change again, or to sit on the bus in wet clothes. But looking back, I wish we had done it - oh well... maybe next time. Chichen-Itza was hot at first and our tour guide was sweating profusely with the rest of us as he told us about the ballgame the Mayans played and showed us pictures of the glyphs closer up. About an hour and a half before we were supposed to go back to the bus it started raining - then it started pouring - and then it started lightning and thundering like crazy. I'm a little skittish around lightning, but we kept going and looked at the ruins while everyone else ran away (so in the end it was kind of nice because a lot of our pictures didn't have other people in them). It was a very fun day - probably our overall favorite.
The next day was spent at an "amusement park" called Xcaret. They don't have rides, but they have long underground rivers to snorkel in and a mini-aquarium. I liked the marine turtles there the best, but we also saw a bat cave where Brett was brushed in the face by a bat flying around, and a butterfly (mariposa) house. At the end of the day was a big extravaganza show about Mexican history starting with the Mayans, going through the Spanish Conquest, up to the modern day with lots of dancing and songs.
On Sunday we took a long shuttle ride to Tulum and it was our hottest day there by far. There were some nice ocean breezes every once in a while, but it was mostly just incredibly humid and hot. We didn't even stay for 2 hours before we called it quits and went back to the resort.
Monday we spent at Xel-Ha, a natural lagoon that they've made into a snorkeling haven. Brett's favorite part was jumping off the 10 foot cliffs they had on the side of the river. My favorite part was taking pictures of Brett jumping off the 10 foot cliffs they had on the side of the river. Since we spent most of the day in the water it didn't get too hot, but we had some trouble with the sunscreen staying on well enough to protect us (yes... we were the whitest people in the area and the only ones wearing T-shirts to avoid the sun). We had to buy special biodegradable sunscreen to help protect the marine life. Even though I put lots on, my shoulders got pretty burned - at that point I put on the T-shirt. Brett put tons on his face and neck, but it seemed to just wash off - so we just had to keep applying it.
And then we came home Tuesday! Brett likes to think about how amazing it is that you can wake up and go walking on the beach on the Yucatan peninsula in the morning, and be home in your own bed at night. It was a great trip - we're glad we went, and we're glad to be home.
Comments
By the way, I think you guys are totally going to win the photo contest, at least compared to the other pictures I saw. Very impressive!
Looks HOT.
Chineese food in Mexico?
Fun pictures
Looks HOT.
Chineese food in Mexico?
Fun pictures
At least we had a room with an AC. The thermostat said it was 76 degrees, in it, but 76 degrees felt very cool and comfortable. It's too bad we don't have an ocean in Utah...