Tulum and XCaret

5.27.08

The agenda for today: Tulum to wander around the ruins, and XCaret (pronounced ish-car-et).
Justin drove us to Tulum which were ruins next to the ocean. We read in our Cancun and The Yucatan for Dummies book told us to ride the bus to the ruins, the walk was supposed to be .75 miles to the ruins. The book was very wrong, but Trey enjoyed the train pulled by a tractor.


Enjoying the shade of the tractor ride






Trey playing in a ruin



The view from the ruins was breathtaking, the water was beautiful. There were “Iggy’s” everywhere, so Trey was in heaven.





As I was taking Trey to the restroom at the end of our excursion of Tulum, a lady came up from behind me and said, “Are you LDS?” I said, “Um, yes I am.” She said, “I could see the smile through your shirt. (I was wearing a white shirt and I guess she saw my garment line through my shirt.) Did you take an LDS tour?” I told her “No, I didn’t know they were offered.” I asked her her name, it was Alma, and told her I wanted to introduce her to my family. She informed us there were 25 LDS tour guides at Tulum, 2 of which were her brothers (named Moroni and Helaman!) and that they were always willing to take LDS groups through. She pointed out several things we saw engraved in the ruins and also gave us a Tree of Life engraving. So sweet, it was a very spiritual experience for us. Justin’s dad even gave her a hug and thanked her for her time.
After a yummy popsicle, we were off to XCaret.









XCaret was specially built ecological and archaeological theme park and one of the most popular tourist attractions. They say it is the closest thing to Disneyland in Mexico you can get. It offered an underground river which was about a mile long, a jungle setting with palm tree lined beaches and snorkeling lagoons.


The first set of animals we came across in Xcaret were beautiful birds


We began traveling down the underground river. We borrowed life vests, and should have gotten the flippers they were offering, but we are used to the Lazy River at Roaring Springs where you don’t need a thing. The current takes you where you need to go. NOT for this river, we actually had to paddle our way through the river, and swimming with Trey attached to you, the men in our group had a hard mile ahead of them. The river was pretty amazing. Justin and his father, both engineer minded men, had a difficult time deciphering which parts were completely natural and which were not! (I guessed the huge room with the stained glass ceiling and the Enya music piped into the walls of the room was NOT natural, but that was ONLY a guess.) We could see wildlife as we cruised down the river, deer and birds. Trey was such a trooper, he was so nervous, and very cold in the 62 degree water temp, but he seemed to enjoy it. There were people taking pictures along the route and lifeguards checking in on you every once in a while. We did end up getting out early, the last stretch of the river was through a jungle-y looking area which was a little too creepy for some of us.
The park offered baby chicks just hatching in one of the gift shops, baby turtles, HUGE, HUGE turtles swimming in little bays, tigers, pumas, monkeys, and an aquarium. Trey got to touch a starfish and a sea cucumber.


Trey touching the Seacucumber


Trey and his "Iggy" hat Justin found for him


We bought him a visor at the beginning of our tour around XCaret that had an “Iggy” on it. He barely took that visor off.
The evening was filled with watching dolphins swim and playing on the beach while we waited for their nightly show.


Trey and Grandma Marie enjoying the Dolpins


Our family watching the nightly show


The show was very entertaining and nicely done. Their costumes were very detailed and the music was all live bands and orchestras. All of the narration was done in Spanish, so we figured most of the tourists we were probably the minority watching this show.


As each dance was announced, the crowd would get so excited. As I watched each performance, I kept thinking to myself, “If this was a show in America, what dance would they perform or showcase that would get us all on our feet?” The Soulja Boy, the Chicken Dance, the YMCA or better yet, the Macarena? Seriously, I couldn’t think of a dance we could really call our own. I am sure there are some out there, but as I was mentioning it to Marie, she had said there was one or two dances America can call there own, but I hadn’t heard of them. Kind of sad.
Dinner was the Auto Mac, which was the take out for McDonalds. That was the best Big Mac I had ever had, Justin got a chicken sandwich, Marie a single hamburger, and Larry, a McFlurry and some kind of pie. He had asked for an apple, but by how long it took them to make it, they either had to pick or peel the apple before cooking it for Larry, or they just slopped any kind of fruit in the pie because Larry said it definitely wasn’t apple. I was guessing Mango possibly, but who really knows.