Thursday, July 12, 2007

Finally - Xcaret!


We did make it to Xcaret - we actually went the day before going to Isla Mujeres. It is an incredible place - lots to do and amazing stuff to see - animals, swimming, maya village, butterfly garden. We don't have pictures of this but we all snorkeled in an underground river. It was kind of cold and a little awkward for the boys, but Bekah did an incredible job with her snorkel gear. I was impressed. Another highlight is the show they put on in the evening - really a first class presentation of Maya culture, Mexican culture, and traditional dances. Sadly, our batteries died out during the performance, but we enjoyed a ball game - Maya style (you know with the hoop on the wall like you see in Chichen Itza), tradiational dances from different regions in Mexico (one called Viajitos or in other words, "senor citizens" where all the male dancers wear masks depicting old men - then at the end they reveal that they actually are in the elders category!), and men hanging from ropes at the top of a huge pole and spinning. Ok, I'm done, I'm not doing the show justice, but you can see some professional shots here.


There wasn't nearly enough time to see and do everything - going with a group kind of lent itself to that, but we really enjoyed what we were able to experience right down to the buffet dinner "included" in our ticket price ;-)
The place costs and arm and a leg, but if we ever save up to go there again . . . we'll get there when the doors open and stay til they kick us out. Enjoy the few shots we did manage to take on the slideshow or check out the photos on this website.

Back to work now . . .

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Isla de Mujeres

The Friday of our Cancun vacation, we "chose our own adventure." Heading out the door of our condo with a picnic lunch, we drove to Puerto Juarez, parked the car and hopped on a ferry traveling to "women island" (I like the name better in Spanish . . .). Once there, we rented a golf cart and explored the island on a gorgeous day - the last of May. As we explored, the kids fed sea turtles, touched a shark, picked up a starfish and shell souvenir, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and swam in the ocean. Later, we enjoyed seafood at a local restaurant and splurged afterwards on ice cream - yummy! The trip back on the ferry was incredible as we took in the beautiful colors of the sunset and felt the ocean breeze on our faces.