Day 7 - Tulum

Our last full day in Mexico :(.  We spent it wisely, though, on a tour to Sian Ka'an, a nature preserve to the south of our hotel.  Unfortunately, our tour guide had some trouble with his car, so he was late picking us up, but the day was great anyway.  We took a boat through the preserve, which is mostly shallow brackish water, past two cenotes - one with manatees and one smaller one without.  We saw a few manatees break the surface for air, but they were pretty far off (it's difficult to get close to them, as they're very shy), so we couldn't get photos, but here's the underground cenote:

the cold cenote water doesn't mix well with the warm brackish water,
which causes a disturbance on the surface

After the manatee sighting, we motored farther into the mangroves in search of crocodiles.  There are both fresh (or swamp) and salt water crocodiles here and we saw both types.  The biggest one (a saltwater croc) was sitting very close to the edge of the mangrove:

The other (swamp croc) we found farther into the mangrove area and as soon as he saw us, he dove under water.  Our guide turned the boat several times over the spot where he buried himself in the mud and he eventually made a run for it and we got to see him under the boat.

The water in some of the mangrove areas was almost orange-colored, as Andrew aptly described it "like iced tea."  Apparently the mangrove branches are that same orange-brown color, but they naturally shed their pigment into the water.  Usually the color dissipates as the ocean water mixes with it, but this area was farther inland with little current, so was quite iced-tea looking.

these orchids were all over the place in the mangroves

From there, we headed further into the mangroves to a canal.  We parked the boat at a very small dock and walked about 10 minutes across the inland mangroves to another small dock on the other side.  The idea is to jump in and let the current take you back down stream to where your boat is waiting.  This was the best part of the trip.  The canal was very warm, very clear and is covered by mangrove trees on both sides.  We lazed in the current for about 30 minutes and saw jacks, snapper, cichlids and crabs.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.

walking platform to the canal swim

In a hurry to get back to the soccer game, we booked it back to the dock and our guide dropped us off at the hotel, just in time for the start of the second half.  Go Brazil!!!

We planned to try Hartwood for dinner tonight, but arrived a bit too late and they were completely full and had stopped taking names for the waitlist.  Bummer.  So we walked down the street to a pizza place and it was actually pretty good.  I didn't get any photos, but you can imagine what pizza looks like :)  Tomorrow is departure day.  It's been such a great trip - see you guys soon!!!!

Day 6 - Tulum

Interesting day today - we woke up to sun shining and birds chirping and then during breakfast a small shower passed through.  We thought it might have been a fluke, but on the drive to Akumal to meet our cenote snorkel tour guide, it started POURING!

we can't see!

Luckily it stopped just as we drove into Akumal Pueblo, though our guide told us it's pretty cool to do the cenote tour in the rain.  Since the cenotes are underground, you can't tell what the weather is like outside until you hit the cave opening, and when it's raining, the rain comes through the trees and falls on you as you swim.  Back to the beginning, though - our guide was JP and he was great.  He was extremely knowledgable about the cenote, having been a guide for several years and having lived in Akumal for 15 years.  It turns out the cenote we chose, Santa Cruz Cenote, is owned by people who want to keep the area private, so they only allow a few small tours a day (as opposed to the bigger cenotes that are open to the pubic and have hundreds of people going through daily).  We were actually the only two people on our tour, so JP was able to spend a lot of time explaining how cenotes work, how they're formed, how old they are and why they are so special.  Just take a look at how amazing it was:

Small opening to the cave; climbing down steep steps

Inside one of many caves

bats!

the water is so clear

stallagtites

opening to the jungle above us

enjoying the view

pool at the jungle opening

more stallagtites

us :)

So happy from the tour, we asked JP for a lunch recommendation and he blew Andrew's mind with two simple words, "lamb tacos."  We hit up Maya Taco for lamb tacos (Andrew) and fish tacos (me).

After yesterday's thwarted snorkel attempt, we figured we should try out a known snorkeling lagoon nearby called Yal Ku.  We jumped in the water and swam a bit, but the water was a bit cloudy (likely from the rain) and because it was an area where fresh water met salt, the fresh water was really chilly.  I couldn't snorkel for long and we didn't see as much as we had hoped, so we booked it back to Tulum for a beer break.  We were going to try a well-reviewed restaurant called Hartwood tonight, but the sign said it was closed for a private event, so hopefully tomorrow!  Instead, we walked down the road to Casa Banana.  It was a great little place and Andrew had a giant steak and I had a whole fish.

outdoor wood-burning grill

large tree we sat under, with cool hanging lights

Tomorrow is our last full day and we're headed out to a highly recommended tour of Sian Ka'an, a nature preserve just south of the hotel.  Cross your fingers for manatees!  Can't wait!

Day 5 - Tulum

Today we slept in a bit and had breakfast at our hotel - La Zebra.  The food was really good!

french toast

huevos rancheros

world cup armadillo mascot taking a walk on the beach!

 From there we got our things together and headed to Akumal Bay for some snorkeling.  Upon arriving in the small beach town of Akumal, we were surprised to see so many tourists.  This place is really becoming discovered.  We found parking and bee-lined it to the beach, starting on the left side of Akumal Bay.  We saw some cool stuff - a school of large bone fish(!), a sting ray, a huge box fish, several turtles and even a small school of squid!  We hung out with them for a bit, but they didn't seem keen on making friends.  They changed color several times and one even spread out his tentacles toward us, as if to say "Come at me!  You'll see what happens!"

After about 20 minutes, a guy in a kayak came after us and told us the area we were swimming in was restricted to tours only, and that if we weren't with a tour, we had to stay within a designated area.  Unfortunately, that area was mostly sea grass :(.  We saw more turtles, though.  Figuring we wouldn't see much else, we headed back to the car for the next half of our adventure - Turtle Beach.  When we were there several years back, the beach was absolutely deserted.  We were two of four people on the entire half-mile stretch of beach.  The place is also a turtle sanctuary, though it's not currently turtle season.  

We were hoping for the same isolation we enjoyed last time, but it seems our luck has run out.  There were quite a few people on the beach, so we decided to check out the cenote that is also on the property.  Bad luck again.  There was a line of about 20 people ahead of us to get in and they said we would have to wait, as they only allow a certain amount of people in at a time.  So we hiked back to the beach, hoping to find a quiet spot among the tourists, but as soon as we picked a spot and jumped in the water, a lifeguard ran over and told us we couldn't swim on that end of the beach due to rip tides.  He told us the only swimming we could do was much further down the beach, and then you could only go in just over waist deep.  BUMMER.  Since we were both quite hungry and feeling a bit defeated, we gave up on Turtle Beach and started the search for El Pollo Bronco for lunch.

Pollo Bronco logo over the chicken grill

Super yummy.

We had planned to rent some bikes and explore the main beach road in Tulum, but got hung up relaxing by the beach for the rest of the afternoon, which wasn't so bad :).  We then got ready and headed out for dinner at Posada Margherita.  We visited this place last time and the food was amazing.  Turns out they still have the same exact menu, and everything was excellent again.  

Andrew got the lobster covered in house made pasta

Tomorrow is centoe snorkeling!

Day 4 - Cancun/Chitchen Itza/Tulum

Day four started out with a sunrise (one of maybe five I've seen in my life):

We packed up and hit the road for Chitchen Itza, eager to arrive before the huge tour buses.  It took just over two hours to drive there, but we beat the crowds and it was totally worth it!  We were lucky enough to get Ray as our tour guide and he explained why Chitchen Itza is so special.  

Main temple

Temple of a Thousand Pillars

Ball Court

Observatory

Skulls engravings near the ball court

Symbol of the ball with a skull and snake engraved

Ball court player - holding the severed head of another player

From there, we drove straight to Tulum (which was supposed to be 2.5 hours drive, but took us just over an hour in our rented Dodge Attitude, oh yeah!).

Road to Tulum

Upon arrival, we drove through the center of town hoping to find a place that was showing the US/Belgium game, but to no avail.  Instead, we headed down the main strip of Tulum's water-front resorts to find our hotel, La Zebra, but were a bit sad to discover that the place was not as we left it back in 2008.  More tourists, more eco-chic hotels, more restaurants, more shops.  It's fantastic for the people in the town, but disappointing to find that it's so much more discovered than before.  Anyway, upon checking in at La Zebra, we found that not much had changed, so we settled in with a margarita while our room was being prepared.  The soccer game was on, so we watched in anticipation.  Ultimately, it wasn't our time to move on, so we sulked to our room and got over the loss quickly with more margaritas and a dip in the ocean :).  

Cheers to the game

View from our room

Our dinner destination tonight was El Tobano, a place written up in the NYT, Chowhound, etc.  It was good, but not what we expected with all the hype.  I had habenero shrimp and Andrew had roasted chicken along with a bottle of wine and some sparkling water.  

avocado salad appetizer

Off to bed we went, drunken dreams awaiting us.  Tomorrow is snorkeling and beach day.  So excited!!!