Guacamole adventures 2014 part tres

The day after the last blog post my sister Kati and her boyfriend Makia arrived. Just before their arrival, I started getting notifications that there was fraudulent activity on one of my credit cards. It turned out that it was a credit card that I had not used in over a year and was supposed to be safely locked in storage back in Colorado. I looked up the activity on another card that was also supposed to be locked in storage and there was recent activity on it as well. Needless to say, I spent that entire day cancelling credit cards, reporting all of the fraud, freezing my credit report, and talking to Kati about the storage facility. The facility was in her name, but they were already at the airport and headed down here when I found out about it. She did not have anything of value stored there so we decided there was nothing else that could be done until we got back. 

They arrived with no other issues and for their first day in Mexico we decided to go to the beach. We had a great day at the beach and were ready for dinner by the time we left. Steve and Kati had left their phones and wallets in the glove compartment of the truck while we were at the beach. When they went to get them on the way back home the only thing in the glove compartment was Steve's wallet, but it was about half as thick as it had been before. It turned out that someone had broken into the truck and stolen the phones, credit cards, cash, and ID's while we were at the beach. Two burglaries in as many days, not a good start to their vacation. The rest of that evening was spent cancelling everyone else's credit cards. The next day was Kati's birthday, but we were all a bit subdued from the international crime spree inflicted upon us. We made the best of it by going to the beach, going to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner, and finishing the evening with a delicious cake. 

One day we went to the beach and the waves were the biggest we had seen since our arrival here. I took the opportunity to use the boogie board and Steve took the opportunity to sit on a tube and try not to get rolled by the waves.

We also took a walk downtown one evening where it seems that they are always having a festival for something or other. There is a very cool lighted display of a Mayan calendar right near El Centro.

I would like to thank Makia for taking most of the pictures on this blog since Whit and I do not take nearly enough (plus he is a way better photographer than either of us). We visited Muyil once again and I got some good pictures of termites building a nest. There are termites everywhere here which is why almost everything is built out of cement. I also found bats and a scorpion in a cave at Muyil.

We spent more time at the beach watching the various sports involving parachutes/kites and soaking in the sun before getting them safely back to the airport.

Next, Whit and I took a long day trip to one of the seven wonders of the modern world, Chichen Itza. The central pyramid is pretty spectacular as you can see in the picture with Whit posing at the bottom. I only wish we were able to climb it, but that is no longer an option. 

The stonework and artistry of the Mayans is incredible. It makes me wonder what it looked like 1000 years ago when it was at it's peak. Everything would have been smooth and painted, so it must have been very colorful and even more detailed than it is now.

Unfortunately, even after the Mayan culture had been on the decline, the Spanish came and conquered them. After decimating the population with disease, converting them to christianity, and systematically destroying their art and culture, not much has survived of a once rich and vibrant culture.

After Chichen Itza, we went to a beautiful cenote just down the road called Ik-Kil. It was very commercialized and touristy, but we still had a good time and the water was clean and cool after a hot day at the ruins.

On the way back, we passed by a large old church in downtown Valladolid and snapped a quick photo. 

We spent a week or so after that making/eating lots of guacamole and torturing Nala.

My aunt, cousin, and his friend arrived last week for a vacation from the frigid weather of Idaho and Colorado. They have been having a great time on the beach and seeing ruins. We went for a fishing trip and I caught a good sized Barracuda (Steve caught a wee one).

We had the captain of the boat filet the larger cuda and were looking forward to a delicious fresh fish dinner. Unfortunately, Tommie ruined our plans by researching and finding out about a toxin called ciguatera that can be present in Barracuda, especially the larger ones. I must say thank you to her for saving us from a delicious meal and possible poisoning.

Today is Steve's birthday and then the visitors will be headed home tomorrow. We only have two weeks left before we have to head back home as well. Until then, we will be getting in all the beach time we can and going to a few places we still have not been. By the next blog, we will be back in CO with our noses back to the grindstone. Hopefully we will not have as cold and snowy of a reception as we did last April. 

Guacamole Adventures 2014 Part 2

After our arrival, we quickly settled into our new home and began exploring around Tulum. We started going to the beach almost every day. There is always a nice breeze, great snorkeling/swimming, and great walking/people watching on Tulum beach. Nala loves to go to the beach and play just as much as we do. 

After a couple weeks here we decided to visit the Sian Ka'an Bio Preserve. It is just southeast of Tulum. The road goes for ~50 Kilometers into the preserve and ends at Punta Allen. We began our journey early in the morning and paid our entrance fee at the front gate. The road was already bad before the entrance, but it got much worse as we continued on. Our average speed was around 5 mph. Below is a good shot of what the road looked like - unpaved, huge potholes, and lots of water.

We made it about halfway to Punta Allen before we decided to turn around and find the nearest beach. It turned out to be a beautiful beach, and we had been thrown around in the car for 3 hours so we were grateful for the respite. 

We got back on the road and began the long, bumpy ride home. They were all in relatively good spirits, but I had been driving the whole time... Driving a car with a manual transmission through stop and go potholes for 6 hours is not conducive to a good mood. They decided to record the overall mood of the group at this point and snapped the picture below. I think it was captured perfectly.

Needless to say, the car was making a lot more noise after this trip than prior to it. It turned out to be a broken sway bar link. We took a trip up to Playa Del Carmen a few days later and ordered it from Autozone. We picked it up a week later, installed it, and have not had any issues since. We did end up seeing quite a bit of wildlife in the preserve, but unfortunately none of the really rare animals that the preserve houses. Below are a few pictures that we were able to take from Sian Ka'an. 

There is even an abundance of wildlife right in the front yard of our rental house, the most interesting being a mated pair of striped basilisks (the last two pictures below). 

There are a couple of other animals that occasionally show up inside the house, and Nala is never pleased about it. The first is geckos. We tolerate them because they eat any bugs that might get in and because they only wake us up with their squeaking a couple times a night... Nala, on the other hand, is constantly hunting for them and never succeeding in getting even remotely close to catching one without help from us. The other animal in the house we might call Nala's nemesis, or maybe her alter ego, since it is literally made up of pieces of her. Nala has been continually shedding her winter coat since we arrived down here, so Whitney has to sweep up the hair every few days. Nala thinks the hairballs are alive and will not leave them alone until they are thrown in the trash. I really don't know where she gets it from (Whitney). 

Whit and I got up early one morning and headed to the beach to catch the sunrise. It was nice and cool out and the view was not disappointing. 

I was bored on the beach one day so I decided to rent a stand up paddleboard (SUP) for an hour and try it out. It turns out it was quite fun, and not just for me. Whit and Steve tried it out and liked it as well (even when falling off).

We liked it so much that we decided to buy one instead of wasting our money by continually renting one. Easier said than done. If I had known how hard it would be to buy one down here, I probably never would have tried. I began by calling/visiting all the rental places I could find and seeing if they had any for sale. After 2-3 days and no luck, I moved on to other avenues. There was a dealer in Playa Del Carmen that said they sold them and could get me one in a bit over a week. I told them to go ahead and order it, which they promptly did not do. I could not go to their shop since it was located within an all inclusive resort that you can not enter unless you are a guest, go figure. After a few more days of trying to deal with them via phone/email I decided to go to Playa and Cancun to see if there were any available. It ended up taking Whit and I an entire day of driving and visiting four different stores before we finally bought one at Costco in Cancun. We are now proud Costco members and owners of an SUP! We have been taking it out almost every chance we get. It also serves as a good base to snorkel from.

We had been following the NFL playoffs and could not miss the superbowl since Denver was in it. We caught the game (if you can call it that) at a local seafood restaurant. 

Nala is a die-hard Seahawks fan and was very happy about the win.

We went to a smaller set of ruins last week called Muyil. They had a very cool "castle" and a nearby boardwalk through some marshes that was very scenic.

One of my favorite things about the Yucatan is the Cenotes. They are literally everywhere. Cenotes are freshwater pools formed in the limestone bedrock. They are usually very clear and great for swimming/snorkeling/exploring. We even found an undeveloped one while exploring along a road near our house one day. 

Even though we are very close to the ocean, there is an abundance of fresh water all around. There are many cenotes as well as large lagoons. We drove two hours South of Tulum a few days ago to a town called Bacalar. It is right on the shore of a very large freshwater lagoon. We stopped by the town first to see the old Spanish fort, which is ~300 years old. It was built to protect the locals from pirates and marauders.

Next we headed to a nice quiet campground South of town for a day of relaxation on this beautiful lagoon.

The water is crystal clear and best of all, fresh! There are some very interesting and weird looking fossils called stromatolites in the lagoon. They look a bit like big stone mushrooms.

The diversity of wildlife down here never ceases to amaze us. Bacalar was no different. 

Whitney had never been to the Tulum ruins so we visited them yesterday. She got to hold a very large iguana before we went in which she was very happy about.

The line to get into the ruins was very long and the ruins themselves are very commercialized. They are still worth seeing at least once in my opinion. 

Even at this crowded place, the wildlife is flourishing. Below is the only picture I have been able to capture of the elusive Coati (plus a very colorful snake). 

The rock formations on the beach of the ruins are very interesting. Large pieces of the cliff have fallen off and are slowly marching out to sea.

We will be picking up two new vacationers at the airport tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be good stories to tell soon enough. Until then, you know what to do.