Vacation in Paradise

From June 2-9, Jeff and I went to Puerto Aventuras in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is just an hour South of Cancun, so it is on the East Coast. Our hotel was right on the beautiful Caribbean Sea with the clear warm water and baby powder beach. The beaches in Cancun are very sandy and go on forever, but the beach at Puerto Aventuras was rocky and had many varieties of fish swimming about. There were SO MANY activities to do at our hotel and nearby. We definitely couldn't say we were bored this trip. We got to go kayaking in the ocean and ride on a catamaran. Puerto Aventuras is a small fishing town, so there was a marina next to our hotel that had dolphins, sea otter, manatees, etc. It was really fun to walk around the marina and see all the wild life and go shopping. They had a coffee shop with WiFi, so we went over there to use our computer a couple times.

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort again. It is SO NICE to not have to cook, clean or pay for food for an entire week. I think that is really the selling point for me!!

Here are a couple shots of our room, and the view looking out the balcony. The last picture was the view from the other side/entrance to the room. It is so beautiful - A lush jungle with rooftops peeking out.

We decided to go on a tour with Almas LDS Tours again. Because we were repeat customers, we got a break on the price (which was really nice!). We decided to go to Tulum again (see above) and Coba. There was so much to learn at Tulum and Jeff and I wanted a chance to hear it again. 

Sarah, Me and Sylvia in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum 

The next stop on our tour was lunch at a traditional Mayan restaurant and then go to Coba, which is a vast archaeological site that you have to tour on bikes. I really wanted to go visit Coba because we would get to actually climb the ruins. 

This is what we were able to climb. It was SO STEEP and TALL, this picture doesn't really do it justice. Sarah started to climb, but then decided she couldn't do it and came down halfway. I thought I was not going to make it because I was getting really scared, but we made it to the top!

Me and Sylvia at the top

Jeff and I at the top. This is the tallest ruins  (and perhaps the tallest point?) in the Yucatan Peninsula!

The way back down. This is a little bit better representation of the steepness. At least the steps were large enough for us to sit on and scoot our way down. 

Sylvia, Sarah and me at the bottom.

Jeff and me after the big climb.

Another set of ruins on the archaeological site of Coba.

After going to Coba, we went and swam in a cenote then visited a traditional Mayan family. That might have been the coolest  part of the trip. They had so many wild animals on their farm. There was even a spider monkey there to welcome us (which just made my day!).

We then went and met the family. This (below) is the mother who is making dinner for the family in the kitchen area. It looked like it would be a really fun lifestyle - almost like camping and making crafts all day! All (8?) of her daughters were named Maria Something (like Maria Lupita, Maria Christina, Maria...) and so I kept thinking that would be cool if they adopted me and named me Maria Amanda ;-)

Like I said, they had so many wild animals living on their property. Below is a Ocelot (which was really cute!) They also had a deer, wolverine looking thing, a bunch of wild dogs and havlinas (pigs).

Other than the tour, we hung out around the resort a lot. Jeff and I had a date night, where we ate a lobster dinner on the beach. It was pretty amazing!! 

Here are some random pictures from around the hotel and the Marina next door. 

The fridge in our room was stocked daily with diet coke and water, which made me happy. 

I also tried a Coke Zero in Mexico, and to my dismay, the Diet Coke (or, coca cola light) tastes better than the Coke Zero. That wouldn't happen in America!

Jeff playing Volleyball. They had a game every day at 4. I played one day, but it was also at the same time as Zumba...

Jeff found a store selling "Local Quickies" (...)

Another view of the resort from our room. 

There were giant iguanas everywhere, which is pretty cool. 

The dolphins in the Marina next door. 

Sarah and Sylvia paid to go swim with the dolphins!

All in all it was a really fun trip. Getting back to the US was a different story though...At around 5pm, we found out that our flight was delayed until 2am the next morning. We had to go through customs and immigration again, get on a bus and was shuttled over to a nearby hotel. We checked in and got to eat and sleep for a couple hours and then at 10pm we all met at the lobby of the hotel and they told us our flight was delayed until 5am, so meet at the hotel lobby at 3am. So Jeff and I put in an order for room service at 2:30 am (which was a lot of fun!) and then we got back to the airport and had to go through security/check in again. It was a hassle, but in retrospect, wasn't that bad. It just created some more memories ;-) 

Now that we got to go to Cancun/Cancun Area twice, we likely will go somewhere else on our next vacation, but this is always such a good deal, it is very tempting!!