Xel-Ha, Tulum, Playa del Carmen

Wednesday morning we woke up and drove a few hours south to Xel-Ha (a Mayan word pronounced "shell-ha". It basically means brackish water). I have seen brackish water in Florida. I would never have dreamed it could look like this!

Here is a satellite shot of it:

Xel-Ha is formed via a few cenotes (sink-holes w/ water in the bottom) and a river inlet to the ocean. Here is a web pic of a cenote:

We began the day by crossing over a floating bridge and swimming into the "Mayan Cave." This photo of the 4 of us was taken through a hole in the top of the cave that we later walked around on foot while headed to the beginning of the river.

The snorkeling was AMAZING! This is a web pic from Xel-ha and it is accurate- the water was crystal clear and there were tons of fish of every kind. It was salty enough for the tropical fish yet with the fresh water it was almost sweet. Remember the color of Molly's shirt at Chichen Itza? There were fish that exact same color! We did not see any turtles but did see and chase a stingray for a while. The crabs, both large and tiny, were fun too. They had some manatees in the park that were penned in a little bay off to one side. They were so beautiful. We dove down and got to pet them (and Jen J.- I was totally singing "Barbara Manatee"!) We were the only ones in sight and were the very last last people out of the park. Here's someone's web pic of the cliff jumping wall- super fun. Jason, Vic and I crawled back up to the top via the holes in the wall and jumped again.
As well as swimming and snorkeling and the free (as in you pay for it with your ticket, so maybe not so free) buffet with absolutely delicious food, we went kayaking across a cenote which was hilarious! It was one of those "you had to be there" moments. Sorry we have no photos. We also walked down to the ocean meeting a lot of hermit crabs a long the way (I thought those creatures only came from pet stores). We went on a bike ride through the jungle. The funniest part was not that we were riding bikes in our swimming suits, round belly Molly included; it was when got the bikes, Jason grabbed his, looked down at the pedals and said "Oh you are kidding me." They were not the soft spongy pedals for our bare feet but the spiky kind with grip that grab onto your tennis shoes. And my poor sensitive Payne feet husband... it made me laugh the whole ride! We saw some tapirs (although there is some discussion as to whether they were actually wild pigs) and white-nosed coati, an endangered species of the Yucatan Penninsula, eating in the jungle right off the trail and so many beautiful birds. It was a gorgeous ride.

We loved Xel-Ha and as we mentioned before we were the last ones out of the water and the last to leave by a long shot (nice to have a rental car). We drove another 15 minutes south to check out the ruins at Tulum. We were hoping to some how sneak a peak since it had already closed. Tulum is a gorgeous costal city, a Mayan city, that could easily be seen by night and day for travelers at sea. Here is a web shot.

As it turned out, for less than a year now, the ruins are open at night with colored lights on them. Here are a few wide-angle lens, long exposure shots:

This is how still Jason and I could hold for 30 seconds. Not very still.
Another temple in the Tulum complex...At one point I looked up and saw Molly sitting on the steps of the ruins. It really struck me. There was something so profound about seeing her sitting there on steps hundreds of years old, with her baby belly- new life within and with she and Vic's loss and thinking about the people that once lived there and walked and perhaps sat on those very steps. It was really... wow. No I did not break into singing the Lion King's "Circle of Life" but you get the idea. Here is Molly standing in front of the "birthing center" of the complex. Our guide claimed there is a picture inside the ruin of a preganant woman...

Very far away from Cancun at that point, we stopped over in Playa del Carmen on the drive north for a late dinner. Here is a web shot of a night scene there. It was a really cool place that Euros prefer. We certainly did not see too many Americans around. We ate at a little restaurant. Vic and Jason had milanesa, a grilled beef sandwich popular in Argentina. Yum.
We returned home exhausted that night!