The Ambitious Odometer

Friday, June 16, 2023

{CARIBBEAN} Days Six & Seven - Tulum (Cozumel), Mexico + AT SEA

Yesterday, we made a stop in San Miguel de Cozumel, the largest city on the island of Cozumel, about seventeen miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of the mainland of Mexico...

Now, with this port we were able to walk right off onto the pier, BUT since our shore excursion was set to take us to the mainland, we had to catch a ferry over to Playa del Carmen...

Navigating this was simple, as everything was set up by the ship, BUT adventure seems to await us, always...

Now, this ferry holds a lot of people, like a lot, A LOT, and as we were some of the last to board, we were escorted down into the lower, front area that was airconditioned. When we figured that out, we were initially thinking, SCORE! Well, not so fast.. So, evidently, about halfway through our journey, it got really hot and the televisions stopped working and I thought I might pass out... I was so busy fanning myself and trying not to lose my breakfast, that I never realized that we actually lost power and STOPPED MOVING in the middle of the water (remember, it's a 17 mile trip over), so yes...it was a bit of an undesired "adventure"...

I guess they got things up and running again, but I was hot, and never really recovered from starting off on that overheated foot ~ ha!

Once, we (finally) arrived in Playa del Carmen, we met up with our tour leader, boarded a (very) welcoming (and most importantly, AIRCONDITIONED) bus and set off on our way to Tulum!

When I last visited Tulum in 1997, I was on a cruise with my parents and one of my brothers. I vividly remember that 1) we actually docked in Playa del Carmen (so no, broken down ferry ride over from Cozumel) and 2) my brother was not feeling so well that morning, so my mother stayed behind and just my dad and I went on the excursion. All that to say that they have yet to figure out how to cool the place off ~ ha!

We arrived in Tulum after about an hour bus ride, and got ready for a HOT day of exploring another set of Mayan ruins...

It was just as I remembered...

!!!

We tried to find whatever shade we could, while learning about the history of the ruins...

We climbed up for a gorgeous view of the water...

before my four climbers did a self-guided tour around the ruins...

and encountered this guy along the way...

{see him right between L's & B's heads???}

Meanwhile, as I tried to refrain from melting into a puddle of boiling water, I had this guy to keep me company...

It was a fun (HOT) adventure ~ another day, another set of Mayan ruins...

From the ruins, we headed over to the shopping area to grab lunch at a spot recommended by our guide...

before boarding our (AIRCONDITIONED) bus headed back to Playa del Carmen. Once we got back, we made SURE to secure ferry seats up on the top deck that were open air...

and things were MUCH more pleasant on the trip back to Cozumel!

Today, we enjoyed an appreciated day at sea, and after ALL of us slept in...

the girls went for a run...

and met their brother for a swim (with a side of ice cream)...

and we capped off the night with a fabulous production show...

Tomorrow, we will check back in to Florida before taking on the other side of the Caribbean!

More {CARIBBEAN} 2023 Fun

Days One & Two - Palm Beach, FL + AT SEA

Day Three - George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Day Four - Roatan, Honduras

Day Five - Xunatunich (Belize City, Belize

Day Eight - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Days Nine & Ten - Princess Cays, Eleuthera, Bahamas + AT SEA

Day Eleven - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Day Twelve - Cockburn Town, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Days Thirteen & Fourteen - Amber Cove, Dominican Republic + AT SEA

Day Fifteen - HOME!

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

{CARIBBEAN} Day Five - Xunantunich (Belize City), Belize

What an adventure we had today!

We dropped anchor off the coast of Belize City and took a tender boat ashore...

Now, Grandma is not a huge fan of the tender boats, and today's ride was a bit of a longer one, so she stayed behind on the ship and awaited our return.

Much of the coast of Belize (a new country for all of us)...

is flanked by the second-longest barrier reef in the world.

Once we arrived, we met our tour group and embarked on a two-hour bus ride west (almost to the border of Guatemala, like literally less than a mile away)...

Once we arrived at our destination ~ Xunantunich...

we had a bit of a wait for the (hand-cranked ~ yes, you read that correctly) ferry set to take us across the Mopan River...

so we were extra thankful for the roadside stands where we got some fresh mango!

After our "snack", we quickly boarded the ferry, and continued on our way...

After crossing the river, we boarded park vans and drove another mile or so up to the park entrance...

and then, walked about half a mile up a big hill to a set of steps!

Once we reached the top, we were immediately greeted by "El Castillo"...

I am amazed that they still allow visitors to climb it, but according to our guide, that may not be allowed much longer...

It was very hot, but my climbers were GREAT sports, and went for it...

while I volunteered to stay below and get a picture (they really had to twist my arm, but I took one for the team). In all honesty, I might've given it a try had 1) I dressed better for climbing and 2) it not been sooo hot!

{that's me below ~ I kind of like the angle ~ ha!}

After climbing the first portion (above), they took a few photos on the side ~ notice the carvings...

before continuing on up to the top!

{can you see them up there???}

{just a little mother/daughter photo op ~ ha!}

Once my precious people made it back down...

we checked out the palace area...

and met back up with the vans that would drive us back down...

{loved seeing this mahogany tree}

to the river crossing...

From there, we boarded our bus and headed east to the town of San Ignacio for lunch at a local, family-owned restaurant...

It was delicious, and continuing with the theme of adventure, L even got a little adventurous with the local hot sauce (emphasis on HOT). Don't worry ~ she recovered quickly ~ we just had to document her reaction!