Hand Hug: November 2012

Final Days in Cancun: Relaxing, Xplor Adventures, and Saying Goodbye

11/25 – 11/27

Unfortunately my phone, which I used for about 95% of my photos, has officially died. At some point during the trip it must have gotten wet, and now it’s completely useless.

Since these days were more relaxed anyway, I didn’t miss too many photo opportunities. The only picture I managed to get was one poolside shot with my underwater camera.

Most of these days were spent just enjoying the slower side of the trip. We relaxed in the sun, wandered around the city for meals, and took things easy for a few days.

One highlight was Bingo by the pool. Shane ended up winning a bag, a headband, and a cup. Woot woot! Not exactly life-changing prizes, but still pretty exciting.

Other than that, it was just a few peaceful days soaking up the last bits of sunshine.

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11/28

Just south of Playa del Carmen there is an incredible natural adventure park called Xplor.

The park is built around a huge cave system, and all of the activities are designed to let people experience the caves while still preserving the natural environment. The whole place is really impressive.

There were several different activities to try throughout the park, including zip lines, amphibious jeep trails through the jungle and caves, underground river floating, and rafting through cave systems.

It was easily one of the most fun and adventurous days of the entire trip.

The zip lines were amazing. Some of them were incredibly high, and a few even sent you flying straight over the jungle canopy before dipping down toward caves and water.

We also drove through the jungle and cave system in these little amphibious vehicles. As usual, I let Shane do the driving while I focused on enjoying the scenery.

One of my favorite parts was floating through the underground rivers. Before getting in they guide you through a waterfall, which was absolutely freezing, but once you get used to the water it’s a really cool experience drifting through the caves.

The park photographers take pictures of you throughout the day at different activities. They turned out great, but they charge an arm and a leg. Since I’d prefer to keep all of my limbs attached, I might have to pass on buying them.

Thankfully we still managed to capture plenty of our own photos and videos during the day.

Little cavemen explaining our adventure

Walking up up up to our next zip line!

Long way down!!!!

Here we go! (I have so many great videos from this day, but will have to wait until I get home to do anything with them! The video camera on this works great)

On our way through a cave in a Jeep

I always let Shane drive. I prefer to enjoy the scenery..

Helmets on at all times!

Getting ready for some river floating. First they prep you with a waterfall.. colddd waterfall!!

11/29

Today is our last full day in Cancun.

It’s hard to believe how fast this month has flown by.

Today will mostly be spent packing up our things and enjoying one last night in this beautiful place.

I’m definitely going to miss it here, but I’m also really excited for the next part of our trip. Tomorrow we head to Florida to visit my family.

More adventures ahead.

Thanksgiving in Bacalar, Snorkeling Xel-Ha, and One More Night in Tulum

11/22

Happy Thanksgiving… Missing America today!

We decided to take a drive down to Bacalar to see the famous Lake of Seven Colors. Unfortunately Shane had a bit of a cold and wasn’t feeling great all day, so it probably wasn’t the best timing for a long day trip.

Even so, we made the most of it.

Once we arrived, we took a boat ride around the lake and out over a very deep cenote that connects to the lagoon. The water really does live up to its name. Different shades of blue stretch across the lake depending on the depth, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Along the edges of the cenote there were trees that had fallen into the water, their roots and branches stretching down into the deep blue. It made the whole place feel really peaceful and untouched.

After the boat ride we grabbed some lunch, wandered around a bit, and then headed back to Tulum so Shane could get some rest.

Even though it was a shorter day than we expected, the boat ride alone made the trip worth it.

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11/23

We checked out of Hotel Latino early in the morning and decided to take one last quick look at the beach before heading out for the day. Our plan was to visit Xel-Ha and then drive back to Cancun afterwards.

Well… that plan changed a little.

While walking along the beach we ended up stopping at CoCo Tulum, and before we knew it we had booked a room in one of the beach towers for the night.

Oops.

Honestly though, it felt like the right decision. One more night in Tulum, especially right on the beach, seemed too good to pass up.

Since it was still early and we couldn’t check in yet, we left our bags and headed to Xel-Ha Aquatic Park for the day.

Xel-Ha is basically a giant natural aquarium. We spent most of the day snorkeling through the lagoon, watching all kinds of colorful fish swim around us. At one point we even spotted a stingray gliding along the bottom.

The snorkeling there is incredible. Everywhere you turn there are schools of bright tropical fish, and the water is so clear you can see everything.

One of the coolest moments of the day was spotting a manatee. I kept wanting to call him Snooty the whole time.

We also swam through a small cave and around the mangroves. While exploring near the mangrove roots we stumbled across a pretty intimidating fish with some seriously nasty teeth. I called Shane over to look at it, and right as we were watching it chomp down on another fish. That was enough for both of us. We swam away very quickly.

After a full day in the water we headed back to CoCo Tulum. By the time we arrived it was already dark, so we grabbed some coffee and took a quiet walk along the beach before heading up to our room.

The room was incredible.

We left the doors open all night and could hear the waves crashing right outside. At one point during the night I woke up and honestly thought I might be dreaming. Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean was absolutely perfect.

2012

They reminded me of Dory and Marlin.. hehe

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11/24

We woke up to an amazing view from our room overlooking the beach.

We started the morning with a quick swim in the ocean and spent some time relaxing on the balcony. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, but we still managed to enjoy the beach for a bit and soak up what sunshine we could.

Most of the morning was spent just sitting out on the balcony, taking in the view and enjoying the sound of the waves before it was time to check out.

Eventually we packed up and made the drive back to Cancun, where we’ll spend the last few days of our trip.

Hard to believe this adventure is already starting to wind down.

Tulum Adventures: Ruins, Pyramids, and Cenotes

11/20

We packed up and headed to Tulum for a few nights. Since we couldn’t check into our hotel until the afternoon, we decided to start the day exploring the Tulum ruins.

It was a very cloudy day, so I was hoping that might mean fewer people at the ruins. Unfortunately that was not the case. The place was still packed, but we managed to avoid the big tour groups and enjoy wandering around on our own.

The ruins overlooking the ocean were absolutely beautiful.

Even with the clouds, the views were amazing.

Of course, Shane has a serious touching problem when it comes to ruins.
If there is something old and historical nearby, he feels the need to touch it.

And the iguanas… there were so many iguanas everywhere. We started joking that they might actually be reincarnated Mayans just hanging out around the ruins.

After exploring for a while, we headed to the beach to check out the scenery. One thing we learned is that all beaches in Mexico are public. Even if hotels line the beach, you can walk through them and ask for beach access.

We tried it out and walked through a really nice cabana-style resort to reach the beach.

One thing that makes the Tulum beaches feel different from Cancun is a rule that hotels can only be three stories tall. It keeps the coastline from being covered in giant resort buildings, which makes it feel much more natural and relaxed.

The beach itself was gorgeous. The sand had a slight reddish tint, which I hadn’t seen before. Even though the water was warm, the cloudy weather made us decide to skip swimming and just enjoy a long walk instead.

Well.. I sunk..

Shane Swung

and then we walked....

After our beach walk we checked into the hotel, cleaned up, and went out to explore town. We found a cute little bar and ended up hanging out there for a while. They told us they were having a live reggae show the next night, so we decided we would definitely come back.

Also worth mentioning: the bathroom sign had a skeleton dog peeing on it, which might be one of my favorite random decorations I have seen so far.