Mayan Riviera

Hola!!  We have moved into our second and a little of the third week (by the time I post this blog) here in the Mayan and we have been going full throttle, we want to make sure we get everything done in this area before we fly out.  We always need a day or rest in between outings, so when we go we go! We had some great adventures last week and were very thankful for the opportunities we had.  The weekends are typically days we don't go out too much because we find it busier and usually pricier because of the amount of people out and about.  On Sunday we did decide to go to a beach just north of Playa del Carmen called Playa Punta Esmeralda, we went specifically that day because Sunday is a big family day for locals in Mexico.  We wanted to be there when they were, we like the vibe on the beach when we are around all of the local families and it is all part of the charm. We find it a better experience, we love the music, children and the smells of all of the local food carts or trucks.  We hit the jackpot that morning with our taxi driver who was so sweet and drove right into the parking lot, taxis are not allowed I guess but we had a rule breaker!!  We arrived at this hidden little gem by 9:30 and found the beach busy already! There is a small exposed cenote just off the beach which was full of children, nothing to big but it was pretty to see. There was another one deeper into the trees we went to look at but you are not allowed in it, a security guard, (who also was selling plant grasshoppers to tourists, haha) told us it wasn't safe.

We spent about an hour at Esmeralda before we decided to leave and walk along the beach all the way into PdC.  We walked for over an hour with stops along the way to rest but we did it!!  We then made our way to 5Th Ave and walked it all the way down to the south end. We browsed around stores and found our way to our favorite smoothie shop just off the beach on a side street.  Super yummy smoothies made fresh and with Mexican prices. Great long day, we walked 7KM! :0

Monday was a rest day, all day!! We were beat from our walking tour the day before se we laid low and schooled all morning and for most of the afternoon.  We rested up enough to make a plan to head out to a cenote just off the hiway about 30 min from here.  We had researched quite a bit about where to find one that was in our budget, there are so many in the area but so many of them are over $50 a person to get in.  We wanted the kids to experience a cenote and to see some of the underwater caves but we also knew they weren't ready to rappel down into a big cave to snorkel through some of the underwater river systems here.  We had read numerous reviews and we also talked to a local here who recommended  Jardin del Eden Cenote. It is known as a local hidden treasure and it also has amazing reviews about being affordable, safe, fun, authentic and a small taste of a centote on TripAdvisor.  All those reviews checked off our list of importance so we went to see for ourselves. The open cenote is about 1km off the highway so we taxied to the gates and then walked in after paying only 100 pesos for Doug and I and 50 for the kids. Very affordable!!

  Some cenotes are in caves and some like this one, the roof has collapsed and so the water is exposed to the sun and open air. There were a few platforms built around the water to sit on and to put your stuff while you snorkelled and discovered the amazing underwater world.  The reviews for this place were bang on!!  Beautiful, not crowded and the kids were so busy all day either snorkelling, jumping off the cliffs edge, we did the safety check, and catching fish.  Another bonus of this place was something called Fish Therapy, lol! The kids had seen it in Huatulco and now it is everywhere here, they wanted to try it so bad but we were not willing to pay for it and they were not willing to use their own money for it.  Big bonus was that the fish in this centote would come to you if you sat still and would eat the dead the skin off your feet, free Fish Therapy! Haha, it was crazy hard to sit there with them on your feet nibbling away, made me squirm!!  Eventually I got used to it but it took me awhile, thank goodness it was free to try. It made me laugh every time I would hear one of the kids say, "Let's go get some therapy!" Super awesome day exploring the cenote and the caves surrounding it!  We used the collectivo to get part way home once we walked out to the hiway and then we grabbed a ride home Mexican style once we hit our road into our development.  We were picked up by a truck heading our direction and enjoyed the free ride in the back home. Life can be so different living abroad, love it!! lol

Wednesday was another rest and school day, the kids had a lot to write about in their journal from our fun day out the day before and we were already planning another trip Thursday.  Some friends of ours we knew from Rhett's AAA hockey team back in Saskatoon were in the area and so we made a plan to meet them Thursday in the Puerto Aventuras tourist area.  We had caught the collectivo that morning to the Puerto Aventuras drop off point but this time the driver had taken us into the local town a block or so before he let us off. We had never been in that far and so it was cool to see but we wanted to see more of the town.  We spotted a fresh fruit stand and bought some mango chunks, (so yummy) and while we were eating a little Tuck Tuck pulled up beside us. We had time to kill before we met our friends so Doug asked if he would drive us around the town. So for 15 pesos we went for a tour in his cool ride!!  We love seeing the real life side of places so this drive around was awesome for us, really great little town with everything you can imagine. Peurto Adventuras is the second largest community in the Solidaridad, first being Playa del Carmen, it has the population of just under 6,000 people. Great fun, felt bad for the motor on that bike though!! Sounded rough!

After our town tour we then walked into the tourist side of Puerto Adventuras to meet the Smith family, the kids were excited to see some familiar faces.  We watched the ever so entertaining dolphins, seals and manatees before grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant near the marina. We then caught a very expensive taxi van to drive us all to our favorite centote, El Jardin. Our family loved it there so much and we felt that they may enjoy the experience as well, we had an awesome time with them!  Sure hope they enjoyed the day as much as we did, it was great to spend time with them!!

Friday was our rest day before we powered up to tackle the longer day trip to Tulum which we did on Saturday.  Tulum is the site of a Mayan walled city which sits on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean. It was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Mayas and it is one of the best preserved sites in the Mayan.  Tulum is a major tourist attraction in this area and that was very apparent to us very quickly once we stepped off our collectivo.  Doug and I were there 6 years ago when we came to this area without kids and we didn't feel it was very touristy but as we arrived on Saturday we saw that there was so much more development in the area than we had seen. When we got off the collectivo so did a lady who walked with us down to the main entrance, she worked in one of the information booths there and she was so nice and helpful. She started chatting with us and then gave us some Tulum tour tips. She told us where to go and she also warned us that the kids should be free, which we didn't know, glad she passed on her knowledge to us and saved us from over paying.  We passed by rows of markets, restaurants and a Starbucks a to find the ticket booth to purchase tickets to ride a tractor pulled trolley into the archeological site.  To walk in wasn't too far but the boys were free and Doug, Adison and I were only 20 pesos so we took the cheap ride. Kind of fun too!! ;)

The kids were free to enter the site and Doug and I were 70 pesos each, and we had to make sure we had the right amount because there was a huge sign in the window stating that they do not give change!!  They NEVER have change in Mexico, never. I believe many people over paid that day because of the sign, I'm glad we had smaller bills.  Even though we arrived fairly early (9:30) we still found ourselves in a sea of people and tours slowly moving their way through the trails and sites. The beauty of the site was incredible! The ruin site is so unique because they are on the cliff over looking the ocean, so amazing! We spent about an hour walking through enjoying the sights and the kids were loving all of the Iguanas everywhere. We had brought along our swim stuff and snorkel gear so we could enjoy the beach that was down from the site after we toured through but it was closed off.  It was a very windy windy day and the red flags were up, no way we could have went in that day.

We made our way back out to the entrance and caught the tractor ride out to the main area, we wanted to check out the markets and then figure out a way to get into the town of Tulum and to their beaches.  We stepped off the trolley cart and we were bombarded by vendors all trying to sell us stuff or get us into their restaurants, it was a bit much!  Very aggressive tactics were used, not a good feeling and certainly turned us off from entering their store. We grabbed a coffee and I went to talk to the guys in the information booth and they suggested a taxi ride into Tulum or go back into the site entrance and turn left.  From there you could walk down to a public beach and then walk along it to find a place to eat or hang out.  So, we hopped back on the tractor trolley and took the ride back into the site interance and did exactly what we were told to do.  We walked down about 11/2km to the entrance of the Santa Fe public access, it opened up to a beautiful sandy beach. So pretty!!  We couldn't go in there either because the wind was so strong, the ocean was just too rough but we did walk down a ways before turning up to go back to the trolley.  The restaurants there were not for us and we were also getting a lot of sand blown at us, on our legs and into our faces, too windy!! I'm sure it would be a great place to hang out on a calmer day, it was very beautiful beach though! ;)

Found ourselves back on the trolley, best money spent for that multiple use bracelet I tell you!! lol Found a smaller restaurant and we split a pizza, grabbed a few things from a market a bit further away from the other vendors, still pretty aggressive there so we didn't spend much time there.

Walked out and grabbed a collectivo, we decided to go to a small beach called  Xcacel which wasn't too far from Tulum and it was on our way home. We had read a few reviews recommending this beach because it had an open centote on one side of the main beach off into the trees and there is also turtles there off to the other side.  Sounded amazing and it seemed like an easy place to get to, just had to walk in about 1km from the hiway.  At Xcacel locals are free, but gringos have to pay, we have found this to be quite common on our travels.  It was not expensive, only 20 pesos per person to get in, boys were free because they were under 10.  It was a beautiful place but we were there on the wrong day, the wind was there too!!  No turtles, no snorkeling and no going in the ocean because it was red flagged due to the wind making the water really rough. We did get to go to the small cenote though which was super cute.  They made us wait for 10 minutes at the entrance before we could go in, they only allowed a certain amount of people in at a time.  Once we were in, we snorkelled around and discovered some underwater caves and some fish.  Pretty cool to see! We were whistled at after being there for about 15min and it was time to go. So, away we went!! 

We walked back out to hiway to catch another collectivo after we stood in the parking lot for 15min watching two massive iguanas fight! lol  Very entertaining and they grew quite a crowd, my money was on the brown one!  We figured since we were out and about we would fit one more thing into our already busy day. We thought we would head into the Puerto Adventuras area again to see if we could find this place called Solliman Bay.  We had heard lots about it and when we were in that area last week we saw a sign for it, curiosity got the best of us so we made the stop.  We all were starving and hot, so we grabbed the kids slurpees and beer for us at the gas station and then we ordered some fish and shrimp tacos from a local restaurant.  We had read it was very good and it was!!  They serve you your fish and tortillas on a plate plain and then you can go up to a salad bar stand to put on the toppings you want.  The stand was pretty much full of hot sauces, peppers and jalapenos!!  Too spicy for us wimpy Canadians but it was worth the stop! Very good food!

After we were fed and watered we walked into PA and walked and walked some more!!  We asked a few times about Solliman Bay and how far it was but our answers were all across the board. Some workers we stopped and asked had no clue some and and some thought it was only said only 10min way.  We finally decided to stop near the marina and faced the fact we may be walking forever and get nowhere. I was so tired and I was fading so I can't imagine how the kids felt!!  We turned back and toured around the animal area before we walked back out to the hiway to catch the collectivo home.  We were done, so tired of walking and being in the hot sun and wind so when we started our walk into our condo complex we cheered when a truck stopped for us!!  Walking another 1km home was something we didn't want to do so we were so thankful we didn't have to.  I'm sure if we added up our miles from that day we would be close to 8 or 9 km, a rest day was in our future!!

 We have been on the move and we have been exploring this Mayan Riviera for a couple of weeks now, it has been great! We have been checking off places on our list at a rapid rate, but we have more to do.  We have a week and a half left to put on some more miles and to discover more new things here. Time is flying by, I cant believe it!!  The kids are doing great with their studies and we are continuing to push them through their units.  A lot of their programming is coming to an end but it is amazing to me how much is out there to help us expand their studies.  Doug is a such a great teacher and I believe I'm a pretty good assistant so we as a team, are able to spend some good quality time with each of the kids. We take turns and switch things up for them all the time, we have a good system I believe. The kids may have a different opinion on what it is like to have their parents teach them, but we love it!! Lol It is all good!
We are all happy, safe and our hearts are full!!

   Love from the Steel family!!!XXXXX