Yucatan Day 5: Hidden Worlds Cenotes, Coba

Journal entry from day 5:

We went to Hidden Worlds Cenotes today, snorkeled in 2 cenotes, very cool, many stalactites and mites, zip line, bicycle ride through the canopy, rappelling. Bumpy ride in, they called it a "jungle buggy" and sold it as part of the tour. We saw mot-mots in the cave. Got to touch spider monkeys there also!
We grabbed our bags and got on a bus to Coba. We love it here, people are very friendly, it's beautiful, we saw a crocodile and a beautiful sunset. The man at our hotel made us this wonderful meal with love. Fish, grilled "how he would like it" is what we asked for. Really good. I had quesadillas. We are trying to plan out the rest of our days, going to small towns is making it difficult with less frequent bus service.

This tiny sick kitten was still spunky, one of the Weary Travelers was caring for it.


Hidden worlds. We swam into a back cavern that was huge and gorgeous with stalactites.


The air bicycle things, went through jungle and caves






Our wonderful guide for one of the caves.


Zip line into a cenote. I generally do not go for this tourist crap, but it was all included. And kind of fun. We also did one through the jungle.



Touching spider monkeys! I was a little worried about being bitten, but these guys liked to be scratched and seemed relaxed. They grabbed on to our hands, it felt really cool.




Coba


Crocodiles make good subjects. Especially when they just hang out all creepy like.



The best sunset I've seen in a while


Homemade guac and chips. Yum.

Yucatan Day 4: Tulum Ruins

Journal entry for day 4:

Got up, made breakfast at the hostel - pancakes and eggs with veggies. Took a taxi to the Tulum ruins, it was beautiful there, pretty hot, and lots of tourists. Beautiful beach, we waded a bit and Aaron rock climbed on the cliff. We went back to go to our cenote tour, and found out our Sian Ka'an tour for tomorrow was canceled. We switched our tours around and booked a different tour for Sian Ka'an that afternoon, but the van never came for us. We returned to the shop we bought the tour from, but no one was there. For the next 7 hours. We are currently out $30. We will hopefully go on our scheduled cenote tour tomorrow. We walked around Tulum some more, but we are bored with it, we want to be doing something. We bought a bag for Aaron and a shirt for me. Aaron is coming down with something bad, body aches and he is sleeping for the second time today. He got over his sinus infection a day or 2 ago, but may not have his immunity back yet.
We had pork, cactus and mushroom tacos for lunch.
4 cheese pasta and really good pizza (recommended by 2 Italians) for dinner. Eventually the owners came back to the shop, gave us our money back with no problem and called the other company very unhappy.


The ruins







The beach under the ruins


Tiny, delicious mango




I was obsessed with these...my mom makes this chocolate cake called Wacky Cake, it has all these weird things in it, like vinegar and something else...anyway it's really good and I don't make it very often. Well, down there, all we had to do was go to the bakery, instant delicious wacky cake! I'm still craving them.





Iguana eating a hibiscus


Megan, do you remember the meaning of this? I remember they spin a certain number of times based on their age...or status or something? We didn't get an explanation this time.


Pretty swallowtails


One of the best pizzas I've ever had

Yucatan Day 3: Punta Sur, Cozumel, and Tulum

Journal entry from Day 3:

Cozumel, went straight to Punta Sur. $10 to get in. Very pretty. Climbed the lighthouse, took a shuttle to the beach. We saw a crocodile and some flamingos. Went snorkeling, really long swim, not that great. Barracuda, sea fans, rays. Laid on the beach, got a bit burnt. Then we needed to take the rental car back. We ate fish tacos and chicken quesadillas and finished with an ice cream sandwich. Hopped on the ferry, then on a but to Tulum. Got settled at the Weary Traveler. Very loud at night, dogs barking and fighting, people yelling, cars blasting music, children screaming, metal shop doors slamming. Booked a cenote tour and one for Sian Ka'an.


Punta Sur was beautiful. We didn't get a lot of time here, and were a bit limited by the fact that you needed a shuttle to get in and out of the main park.



The walk out to the look out, where we saw a croc. When I was pulling out my binoculars here, I dropped a piece of paper, which the wind caught and ended up in this swampy area. After debating for a while, Aaron hopped the railing to grab it. Not 20 seconds after getting back onto the walkway, he went to get something out of his pocket and ANOTHER piece of paper flew out and was blown away. This time into the water. It was so ironic, the timing and everything. We felt bad, but had to leave that one.





Aaron and the crocodile below.



You can see the lighthouse off in the distance.



From the lighthouse window...



Does this not look straight out of that Disneyland ride? There was a croc in the pond below as well...but we had a feeling he was placed there as it was pretty land locked and small.



The road in, I love the colors in this picture.


This monkey was at a shop right across from where we at lunch in Cozumel. He was sooo tubby, and would jump off his stool and start swinging around. I wish you could see how big his belly was, you can kind of see the start of it, it was ridiculous. He was not only chewing gum, but stretching it out with his hands and then putting it back in his mouth. Totally a little person. We asked our waiter about him, he said that he was legal and the people had paid a lot of money for both him and the permit. I really wanted to go over and meet him, but after watching him repeatedly bite other tourists, I decided I could do without. I got to touch nice, happy monkeys later on...


Fish tacos for Aaron


A produce market in Tulum. We got some tiny mangoes, delicious.


I believe this is our first bakery...Definitely not our last.

Next stop, Tulum Ruins.

Happy Birthday Megan!

I hope you have a fabulous day! And knock 'em dead on your test!

Yucatan Day 2: Cozumel

Journal entry from Day 2:

Breakfast: Smoothie - watermelon, papaya, apple, pineapple, orange, cantaloupe.
Omelette - queso fresco, poblanos, tomato, onion
Fruit platter with honey and granola
Bus to Playa Del Carmen 720 pesos. Rocky, rolly bus ride.
Playa Del Carmen, bought waterproof sunscreen and a Frida Kahlo bag. Took the ferry to Cozumel, Rented a car, drove around not getting much accomplished. We had shrimp and chicken quesadillas at Playa Rasta. They were very good. Had to drive back to town to get gas, $20 for half a tank. Visited El Cedral. Walked to a good bakery, had Mayan tacos and platanos fritos. Got ice cream bars on the way back from dinner. Had a major allergic reaction to the "pistachios" in Aaron's bar. Walked around town, we felt very comfortable here, but wished we had rented a scooter instead of a car.

Aaron enjoying breakfast




On our way to the next adventure


Someone else's Coke bottle made for a nice shot


Me pretty much the whole trip



El Cedral, the old Mayan church


The new church built right next door





It was not uncommon to see entire families on scooters. Some towns required helmets, others didn't.







I have a severe tree nut allergy, but there are several nuts I can eat, pistachios being one of them. I discovered that I can eat them in the last 2 years or so, I had just never tried them previously assuming I would be allergic to them too. So I thought nothing of sharing Aaron's pistachio ice cream bar with him. But as we finished it, I realized there was some other nut in there as well, one that I was allergic to. I got the normal itchy throat and mouth. Then my throat started closing, so much that I couldn't take full breaths and I couldn't talk above a whisper. My face swelled, my eyes itched. It was awful, I woke up with a stomach ache and a sore throat from my experience. Luckily I don't go anywhere without an epi pen, and also luckily I've never needed to use it.


I'm posting my pictures on my photo site as I go...thankfully I got all my pictures in the correct folders tonight which should greatly speed up the process.