Obligatory gorgeous beach photos!

It was surprisingly worthwhile to get on an excursion to the beach given the PERMANENT RIP CURRENT, SWIM AND DIE signs at the hotel beach.  People swam anyway.  I might have tested it if I had my boogie board with me but baggage fees prevented the presence of my emergency flotation device.  I splashed around about knee-deep on Condado beach at the hotel but the real swimming came with the Elegant Tours trip to Culebra island.

We took a speedy catamaran crewed by rum-touting pirates.  I heard from guests on other tours that sometimes they spotted whales.  No such luck but I did see a school of silver fishies hopping through the wake.  While travelling, we got lunch but when our guides brought out the sandwich fixings a horde of flies came out of nowhere and never left!  We were in the middle of the ocean, where did they come from?!  

The first stop brought us to a reef with a gorgeous view of the surrounding islands.  We snorkled around humongous brain and fan coral.  I expected it to be more colorful but it was all grey-yellow or brown.  When I was little, we went to Hawaii and snorkled by a sunken volcano crater–I remember the fish being much bigger and more colorful (and I saw an eel!) but I may just have been a lot smaller in comparison!  

I did see little iridescent blue fish and rainbow fish.  Wish I had gotten my hands on the reef chart so I could name them!  The yellow ones swam right up to my mask, real friendly!  I didn't notice the jellyfish at first but they were all over–very tiny and floating near the surface whereas I was usually looking straight down.  I really want to swim with sea turtles but I didn't see any.  It's the Ninja Turtle geek in me.  I got a sea turtle shirt later on but I feel like poser because I didn't actually see any.

Next we sailed to warmer waters off the coast of Culebra island.  Unfortunately, people have walked on the coral and killed a lot of it so there was less to see.  But we did get the opportunity to swim from the boat to Flamenco Beach which is supposed to be one of the top three most beautiful beaches in the world.  I haven't seen enough to make any judgments but I enjoyed the warm water varying in shades from clear to aqua to deep azure.  Sinking into super soft sand…forgive the alliteration…was also awesome.  Better than a spa ;)

I should have asked what the bridge was for…maybe an ancient dock?

Wish I had all day here…or all year….or forever (:  (Well, my boogie board would require more waves)

Mud squishing and waterfall rappelling…now that’s a vacation!

Just don't look back, you may not see the bottom… and that sucks when your bladder's about to explode.

Eat a hearty breakfast, they said.  There's a bathroom there, they said.  Apparently I need one every two steps but once I got strapped into that harness there was no turning back.  

Still, our hilariously animated guides (Anwel, Andre, Jorge) made this #1 Ecoquest adventure the cherry on top of my Puerto Rican flan…..or something.  They kept us safe, laughing, and soaked.  Some sage advice from Andre:  be nice!  haha apparently they have mean people on the tours sometimes.  Mean people should stay home!!

We hiked up a sharp incline past guava and banana trees.  Then we splashed through the river to trek deeper into a rainforest laced with vines, each branch speckled with bromides.  I really liked one tree Andre pointed out–it twined its branches in and out of the other tree trunks/branches in a wooden knot.  

The water was much warmer than I expected considering the prep sheet suggested we bring jackets and three changes of clothing.  Exertion helps ;)  By the time we reached a pool of water I sank right in.  There was a waterfall on the opposite side and Andre kept telling us it was only two feet deep there–yeah right!  

From there, we climbed up a rope and I imagined a similar gentle slope for our rappelling later on.  

An uphill slog (I love me a muddy slog!) took us to a green platform made of huge bamboo shoots.  We peered over the edge but couldn't see past the waterfall's main drop point.  

If I had seen this:

…I swear I still would have rappelled.  

Um.  

Maybe.

(The picture is from another member of our group.  I went down second and third was my mom who had the camera.  But I can proudly say, I was *there*!)  They need to hire a photographer/videographer to be the paparazzi for this trip and charge exorbitant amounts of money for the evidence like they did on the excursions in Mexico.  I'd pay it!

I've rock climbed at the gym a few times and free-rappelled into that cenote in Mexico.  That didn't quite prepare me for sliding backwards down a 90 ft vertical waterfall.  It didn't dawn on me how slippery the rocks would be until I was on my way down.  My experience did help though, my muscles remembered that I don't *need* footholds, that I can trust the rope.  So instead of freaking out when I lost my footing, I just re-oriented myself.

I looked over my shoulder once.  I COULDN'T SEE THE BOTTOM!  I didn't dare check again so I was still in horizontal position and would have walked my back into the pool of water at the bottom had Jorge not let me know I was done.  He offered us some  of the best mango I have ever tasted, melt in your mouth ambrosia.

After that I was hoping for a lunch break but instead we flew through the canopy on some awesomely long ziplines.  Not as fast as the ones we did in Mexico, but I liked the smoother landing compared to that jerk/recoil.  

We trudged through some more mud and crawled down the river to reach BLESSED FOOD!  Anwel's grandmother made us chicken, rice, beans, and a plate of delicious things I can't name…I think fried corn, mashed plantains, empenadas with sweet stuff inside.  Everything was amazing and we ended the meal with flan that was like cheesecake, mmm.  One of our group members said the food was better than at some of the restaurants!

With full bellys we rode off into the sunset….well, it was only 3pm so I hit the hot tub (:  Cave rafting convinced me that excursions should end in jacuzzis.  

When I grew up, I outgrew playgrounds only insofar as I needed to find a one big enough for me and my 5'10.  

Xcaret

Like Xel Ha, this is an eco park.  Yes, it draws tourists but I wouldn’t call it “touristy” the way theme parks in the US are.  There are plenty of animals to see in habitats designed to look natural.  If I had a choice between Xel Ha and Xcaret, I think I would choose Xcaret.  A lot of the same activities are available but Xcaret’s evening show is what really makes it worthwhile.

The gift shop was weirdcool.  It even had a mine shaft and an area where birds were hatching.

I got sucked in to wandering around looking at the animals but there really weren’t any that were more exotic than what you can see in the US.  I feel like I wasted my time there doing that.  I would have liked to do the snuba, or sea trek, or ride out to the snorkling spot.  Of course, those all cost additional money.  I also missed the House of Whispers, Cemetary, and Village.

This guy is just cool.

There were castle bathrooms =O

I did love seeing the sea turtles <3

These guys were huge!  I wish I had something to show the scale. 4 feet at least.

I’m not sure if it’s good or bad…

…that when they released the sharks, the sharps came right back =O

Chillin'

Though it was pretty cold (again) for water activities.  We ended up doing all the walking just so we’d warm up enough for the underground river to be more tempting than terrifying.  I wish I had had a wet suit!  The underground river was cool but it was built up to be way more than what it was.  I didn’t see ANY fish.  I also was under the impression that it was totally underground and you had a headlamp and all but no, most of the passages open up to the outside so it’s not real dark.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQSY6bmCxM]

Once you get to the area where the cave opens up to a river, you see a few fish.  The lagoon was much more interesting.  There were some silver fish with a rainbow line across them and real skinny fish that hung by the surface.

The sun began to set and lights were lit to lead the way to the night show.  We passed by a horse show ): (I’m afraid of horses!!).  A lady wanted to get her picture taken beneath the lanterns, she was very excited but she got right in front of us and then apologized, all flustered.  I don’t know what language she spoke but it’s always interesting to communicate with people only through gestures and emotions.

Walk past the pre-show…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiJEdJ-J6RA]

We got a candle when we walked in and once most people were seated, fire was passed around.  It was weird.  I can’t imagine that happening in the US with all the lawsuit and fire safety issues.  It was kind of worrying but also beautiful.

The show itself was quite long and very elaborate especially with the costumes and dances.  It was kind of a pageant of Mexican history, starting with the Mayans and moving up to Cancun the party town.  I wish they had done something Day of the Dead related.

While everything they did was impressive, I loved the Mayan stuff best.  The headdresses were spectacular, the drum beat gets into your heart’s rhythm, and the ball game!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0xVZqNcH1g]

I love the ball game not only that, but then they played hockey with fireballs O_O

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWc2K01LYaA]

Riviera Maya - Swimming with Dolphins

This was totally the fulfillment of a dream. But next time I’m fulfilling a dream I hope I’m not freezing.  In both New Zealand and Mexico, I ended up getting rained on nearly the entire two weeks.  You wouldn’t think it’d matter in the water but it gets cold!

We arranged it at Xel Ha and it is so worth it to get the full experience.  However, expect it to be ridiculously expensive.  I mean, ridiculously.  Go into it expecting to pay $300.  Yeah, the actual dolphin experience is about $100 but they take pictures and a DVD and of course you’re going to want that.  Asking price?  $200.  Two.  Hundred.  US.  Dollars.   D:  I just about had a heart attack when I heard that.  Very, very luckily, my mom decided to splurge.  We got a package of 16 pictures and the DVD which ended up being roughly $180.  Which is still like holycrap!wtf especially after I heard so much how things were way cheaper in Mexico.  Wow.  So uh, please, please make it worth it by enjoying these pictures.

First they showed us a video.  It said this facility had one of the highest rates of survival for dolphins born in captivity.  Dolphins do not like to be touched on their blowholes or their private areas but if they roll over you can pet their belly ^^

All the dolphins had Mayan names.  Kinam  was the one that spent the most time with us and her name means respect.  We learned about some veterinary procedures like checking stomach contents by sticking a tube down the dolphins throat and then sucking on the other end.  With your mouth.  Ew.

Kinam swam around us and we did several commands–usually not having any idea what the commands meant.  Like slapping the water means ‘please splash me!’  Saying “ahh” got Kinam to make those squeaky dolphin noises.  Very cool.

We were in a group of six and there were a bunch of other groups scattered around the dolphin pool interacting with other dolphins.  We each got individual time with Kinam but it was pretty much just photo ops.  Still, it was neat.

You can’t help but laugh when they kiss you.  It’s just such an odd feeling to be bumped but that mouth, especially since they’re just about silent when they move.  They look kinda creepy in profile though =O

It’s amazing to be so close to such a huge bizarrely shaped creature compared to say, a domesticated dog.  I kept thinking of the stories I’ve heard of dolphin rescues, how they come up real close when they’re playing at Tybee’s beach, and how like dogs they can sense/smell/etc things like sickness and pregnancy.

I’ve touched dolphins and whales before, way back at Sea World so I knew they aren’t slimy.  The texture is more like rubber.

They told us to get in a line and say “Ay Caramba” ^_~

The Foot Push is the real selling point of the more expensive experience.  You lay in the water and two dolphins come up behind you and  push you through–no matter how much you weigh!  It’s worth it to watch the video just for this.

The DVD they gave us is nice… if it wasn’t so freaking expensive.  I really don’t think we got the money’s worth there.  It’s not even a recording of the full time we were there, it’s just 10 minutes.  All the posing (and mishaps during it) aren’t on there, just the Foot Pushes, circle, a few commands and lots and lots of time petting Kinam.  I liked petting her, I did, but it’s not that exciting to watch and honestly it was SO COLD that I started to get tired of it even when we were there.  I wanted to be doing something more active than waiting for her to come close enough to touch.  Again, would have helped if it wasn’t freeeeeeeeeziiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngg…..

Coromandel

The road around Coromandel is kind of terrifying.  It’s narrow and drops right into the water.  Narrow enough that when I’d look out the window, I couldn’t see the road, all I could see was water.  For the next few days I ended up jerking away from nightmares that we fell into the water.

We stopped partway for the awesome monster tree.

Hanging from the tree was an ET fetus D: Creepy!

Did I mention the drive was breathtaking?

With a webpage like this you expect Coromandel to be a booming city.  It’s not.  It’s a little place with a couple restaurants, an i-site and…I’m not sure if we found a grocery store.  I expected 309 to be a highway with tons of exits.  It’s not, it’s a dirt road.  However, it is still pretty kickass (or more kickass).

Waiau Waterworks made it all worth while. There’s a sign there that says “poke it, it might do something cool.”  I’m a geek when it comes to machinery that’s simple enough for me to understand and everything at this place is mechanical, mostly hydromechanical, from a music box to squirting bikes. I had a blast and would do it again.

There were also weird sculptures everywhere.

Witches get high tech

And a cafe with very friendly birds and neat tables.

Change your center of gravity and it spins you!

Air bikes go round and round, up and down

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bz4AFEiVsE]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGumwgMkswY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bz4AFEiVsE]

I wish I had more pictures of the gadgets but we were too busy playing ;)

Shell art!  There was one I wish I’d bought, not this but a driftwood frame with shells and and and ;_;

I think we would have enjoyed Coromandel more if we had planned more specific activities to do there.  We went in expecting that kind of thing to be easy to find but everything was so spread out you really have to know what you want to do and where it is.  We were also hoping to have a beach day but it was rainy again.  Notably there are places on some of the beaches where you can dig your own hot spring.