Wow, what a trip.  I don’t think I can possibly come up with enough adequate words to explain and describe our trip to Mexico.  Such an amazing country with the most incredibly warm and friendly people I’ve met in a long, long time.  Suffice to say that it took me until Sunday (1 June) to feel normal again and not all dazed and confused!  We got back home at 1am on Thursday morning, and after a few hours sleep it was off to work for me!  No wonder I felt dazed and confused, lol!  Lots of photos here, I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum, and probably do a second post later in the week.

 

[Swimming pool at our little hotel ~ Posada Yum Kin (the sun god)]

[Iguana at Tulum Mayan ruins]

[Part of Tulum ruins.  The only Mayan city to be built on the coast]

[Snorkeling at Grand Cenote.  The Yucatan peninsula is completely limestone, over the years all these caverns and fissures have appeared due to acid rain, erosion and cave roof collapse, they’re a diving mecca, people come from all over the world to dive there as they’re the largest cave system in the entire world, and a lot of it remains unexplored.  We’re not divers but we had a lot of fun snorkeling in one.  You can just see the entry ladder in to the water. This particular cenote was partly open due a to a roof collapse hundreds of years ago.]

[It rained at some point every day during our first five days there, but only for a short time.  The temperature averaged 86F during the day but only dropped to 78F at night and was relatively humid all the time.  A rain storm anywhere usually drops the temperature down but not so in Mexico.  If it rained during the day the temp would stay at 86F but the humidity would go through the roof!!]

[Ooh, that pool again.  I was in the little spa, behind me is the breakfast area and above that is the sun terrace.]

 

[After Rosea, our housekeeper, discovered we were there for our Silver Wedding Anniversary we would return to our room each day to the most amazing towel sculptures on our bed!  I could do a separate post on them as there was a new one every day!]

[A day out to Coba, another Mayan city close to where we stayed. These building are all temples of some kind, the Mayans lived in traditional houses made of wood with a palm or grass roof and all trace of these personal buildings has completely disappeared. ]

[These cities would have been completely cleared of all growth, now though, there are more ruins that have been reclaimed by the jungle than there are available to see and look around.  Andrew is standing next to a banyan tree with it’s amazing roots.  It puts these roots out from branches, if it finds ground it roots, what it’s really looking for is another tree to grow around as it’s parasitic, eventually covering the entire host tree and killing it.]

[There is one very tall temple at Coba that you’re still allowed to climb.  I can’t begin to tell you how steep it is and how hard it is to climb in the heat and humidity.  It’s much worse coming down and you can see that a lot of people choose to sit and bump down each step.  I walked down, a step at a time and had legs like jelly by the time I got to the bottom, plus I couldn’t walk down stairs properly for about three days afterwards!]

[From the left: Andrew, Liz who is the manager of the Posada we stayed at, Rob a cave diver from Alaska who has been coming to the area for over 40 years, me and Claudia, Liz’s best friend who was taking a college course in the are and stayed with Liz for a couple of weeks.  What can I say, I suspect there may have been alcohol involved!!]

[Snorkeling at Akumal Bay with the sea turtles.  Akumal means Turtle Bay in English and this is a normal, open Caribbean bay, not a staged area where they keep turtles.  It’s protected about 1/4 mile offshore by the world’s second largest reef and the turtles come into the bay to breed.  We also saw tons of amazing fish and a few stingrays too.]

[We went into the bay with a guide from the bay’s ecological centre and a small group of people (six).  They make you wear a life jacket for the simple reason that it keeps you horizontal in the water; being in a  vertical position and potentially damaging the reef with your flippers, disturbing the wildlife of stirring up sediment with your flippers is strictly forbidden.]

[Andrew and Liz in the Posada.  The Posada is a large white building with everything arranged around two central courtyards inside.  Apart from some pretty flowers, nice wooden doors and the white washed building you have no idea of the paradise that awaits you when you step inside and close the door.]

I think that’s enough for one day, I’ll do another post later in the week with more pics.  Adios!