Mexico Part 2

So I loved the Yucatan the first time and I had to go back, I still want to go back more and more. Molly and I decided to go down for our spring break. So after a long couple of months our spring break finally arrived and off we were! We are not normal human beings and got a little crazy on the plane...

I had just woken up from my nap

RAWR

We arrived in Cancun and then hopped on our bus to head down to Tulum, well technically inbetween Tulum and Akumal. It is about two hours south and the whole ride you just see jungle...it's gorgeous. We arrived at our hotel, which was beautiful (but ya'll know I wanted a hut on the beach) and checked out our room. We had a balcony and a view of the Caribbean.

I am looking over the turquoise water and beaming...I LOVE MEXICO

The first day we were exhausted from traveling so we called it a wash and headed to the beach with its white sands and turquoise water and just general amazingness.

Enjoying the view and the sun

The next day we went to the Tulum ruins and Tulum Pueblo. The ruins at Tulum are Mayan and the only ones directly on the water. It is a larger complex still walled in and with several reconstructed buildings. Iguanas are climbing all over the place...did I mention this place is heavenly?

Main view of complex

This is the main tower from the photo above, but showing you how close the water is.

Molly at the top of the tower with the beautiful water

The most amazing part of this experience? Getting to go swimming!!! I, of course, jumped in the water the first chance I could. It was so surreal to look up from catching a wave or something and see this amazing ancient structure in front of me. Things like that do not exist in real life, it is too picturesque, too beautiful.

See, see!! Isn't it beautiful??


Post swimming, still amazed.

So after the ruins we decided to walk around Tulum Pueblo. Oh, and word of advice for people going to this area TAKE COLLECTIVOS. Collectivos are vans that are like smaller versions of buses. You stand on the side of the highway and they will flash their lights and you put your hand out and they stop. They are way cheaper than a cab. They tend to overcharge tourists, but it is 2.50 for collectivos vs 20 bucks for a cab.

Okay now onto Tulum. It is a very touristy city, but still nice to wander around in. Molly and I got some local food...I had fresh fish tacos...so good! I later had ceviche as well, although I think the one my bowie themed cooking group in Mo'orea made was better, it was still delicious. That was our day out in Tulum! The next day we decided to go the other direction to Akumal. Akumal is a much smaller town. It has some very small local restaurants and stores. It is close to the water and a nice place to visit so I recommend it to anyone who goes to the area.

Next, we went on a tour like thing that took us to a couple stops. The first we visited a Mayan village. I definitely felt like an ugly American at first, but then actually talked to the woman and the people and felt a lot better. They have a ton of fruits and veggies and they had noni which reminded me of Mo'orea. Then we got to make corn tortillas. They soak corn kernels in lime juice and then mash them or grind them. You take the dough and then turn it around using one hand to shape it and the other one to thin it out. Then you put it on their stove. They leave the stoves running all the time. This puts a film on the roof and it helps insulate the thatch and keep bugs away.

Molly making a tortilla

Next stop was a Cenote. Cenotes are underground (most of the time) caves. The yucatan is all limestone, which means when it rains the water mixes with the limestone and forms carbonic acid. After enough time the water erodes the limestone and has created an amazing underwater river/lake system, which provides the drinking water for Quintana Roo. This is part of the reason that we cannot drink the water. There is an intense amount of calcium in the water and that mineral content is hard for our systems. The water isn't "bad" though. So a lot of these cenotes are caves, with awesome stalactites and stalagmites, but we went to one where the cave had collapsed so it was exposed.

Beautiful!

We also got to try some natural chewing gum. It is crazy, no taste but the texture of gum, except the texture stays the same the whole time. They extract it by climbing up the tree and making spirals with a machete that causes the sap, the soon to be gum, flow down the tree. They smoke the sap and wahla! gum! It is pretty cool to watch.

After the cenote and the gum we were onto the main attraction, COBA. The ruins at coba are 48 sq miles. The pyramid there is the largest pyramid in all the Yucatan. Due to the limestone-ness the yucatan is entirely flat, so when we climbed to the top I am pretty sure we could practically see toBelize!

This is the small one!!

Inside a cave of awesomeness

Ball court

Tallest pyramid in the Yucatan

At the top of the main pyramid at Coba...look at that view!!

Molly and I at the top.

At the base with Molly, we got down safely

This is not even half the height of the whole thing.

I wanna go back!

I love traveling far too much...I am already itching to get out again!

Stay tuned.

Mexico Part 1

So this trip actually happened before Big Sur, but I spaced and did not write about it. So here we go...going back to July 2008.

I went to Mexico with Jillian, Jon, Jim, Westley, and Kelly. We flew into Cancun, spent two nights there and then headed over to Cozumel. This trip was much needed and made me fall in love with the Yucatan.

We arrived at our hotel and then hit the beach!

Jillian and I beaming with joy (Look at that turquoise water!)

Going for a walk on the beach.

The next day we went to Isla de Mujeres. This beautiful island off the coast of Cancun. We walked around for a while and went snorkeling. The marine life is AMAZING (little did I know what was waiting for me at Cozumel).

The crew right after we went snorkeling, actually above where we were.

Jillian and I being nerds (together since age 5)

We then headed to the ferry terminal. However, we got back early and all decided we were hungry so we stopped at an awesome beach shack, sand floors, right on the water, and got some delicious food and fresh drinks. The owner was really nice and was willing to make us whatever we wanted.

Jillian with her banana daiquiri, the owner, and Jim

The crew

We had one last night in Cancun and then it was off to Cozumel. To get there you have to take a ferry from Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen is about an hour south of Cancun. Playa del Carmen is a cute little beach town, which is unfortunately getting more and more touristy. The beaches are white, pristine, and the water is turquoise. You hop on a ferry and it is about 40 minutes to get to Cozumel.

SCUBA diving fountain in downtown Cozumel

When we arrived we head to our condo and see the amazing view. It literally is heaven. We decided to rent scooters to ride around on, they are so much fun!

Our method of transportation.

We had our first night and then we decided to scooter around the island. It was so nice. We stopped by amazing beach spots and then walking around town. We stopped snorkeled our way around the island. My favorite spot on the island was at Punta Sur...so gorgeous. A rocky coastline with turquoise water. The resturaunt there has amazing shrimp quesadillas, the real kind! They also have hammocks. I love hammocks. I want to live in a jungle hut with a hammock, like that is a legitamate life goal.

Punta Sur in the background (but we're facing north)

Hammocks rock!

We weren't satisfied with our snorkeling during the day, so went at night too! We saw shallow water eels in rainbows of colors and patterns, a baby octopus, and an adult, and a cuttle fish (refer to cuteness in Bahhh entry). The next day I went diving. We did two dives and the coral was AMAZING, tunnels and crazy structures, cool fish, including the endemic spledid toadfish! I really think I could live underwater if they found a way.

Next up Jib and I went parasailing. All you saw was jungle and water.

Post parasailing

I LOVE THE YUCATAN...and so I went back!

BBBAAAAHHH

Life is not so nice some days, but then again maybe I am just greedy. Today I had to turn down an awesome field opportunity because one weekend conflicted with an awesome job opportunity. So no more going to Costa Rica but I will be creating and leading a marine biology high school program for National Geographic, which is awesome and something I could not pass up.

I know life is full of decisions and choices are what make us, well us. Your actions speak to who you are more than your words ever can. This decision was hard because I thought I could do both and then all of a sudden I realized I couldn't. New knowledge was given to me and poof up in smoke goes my two new awesome opportunities. I hate letting people down and I hate feeling like I am even slightly unreliable...

I learned something from it all and that is all I can ask, right?

And now to lighten the mood...

Cuttlefish...how can you not smile at a cephalopod let alone something with the word cuttle, which is very close to cuddle, in its name? hu, hu? I know you're smiling.