See the World Through My Eyes

Me & my best friend, Jo, traveled to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for one week. We stayed at the Hacienda Vista Real hotel in Playacar (a suburb of Playa del Carmen). It was not all-inclusive, but did include a free pool-side breakfast each morning. It was only $85 per night, booked on Expedia. We felt we didnt need an all-inc resort, as we are huge sight-seers, and would never be at the resort to eat the 'free' food / beverages or participate in any of the offered activities. It was a 15min walk to the beach, which is probably the same distance as walking through a fancy schmancy 5 star resort anyways, lol!


Just outside of our hotel were these Mayan ruins. Pretty sure they were fake though.


The beach!


Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited for my Chunky Monkey!

I have to say, theres not a whole lot to do in Playa del Carmen, unless you love to shop for tacky souvenirs or sit at the beach. There is however, an array of exotic animals you can hold for a photo which they charge you $$ for, even though the photo is taken with your own camera, and is usually blurry & lop-sided. Definately not worth the $20 they were charging, but we couldnt resist the cuteness, and so spent an entire day walking up & down 5th Ave in search of wildlife. The first animal we came across was this adorable, blue-eyed 1.5 month old tiger cub!!


Jo bottle feeding the baby tiger. Look at his big paw!

Snoozing with a milk moustache


Next we came across a little Squirrel Monkey. He was smelly, albeit cute.


Me & a parrot

We found a guy with 2 iguanas ... a momma & baby Jo has 1 on her head!


Iguana kisses - I was terrified it would lick me, lol!


Look what we found next! A 5 month old lion! She was heavy!


I put my finger in the lion's mouth and she sucked on it like a soother! The guy said 'If you feel her trying to move your finger left or right (aka towards her teeth) pull your finger out!' Well duh! Just look at her eyes!

Entertainers on 5th Ave

Here is an odd looking spider we discovered!

I had the urge to try on the biggest sombrero I could find!

And the smallest, LOL!

One morning we took a collectivo to the Mayan ruins of Tulum for only 70 pesos! Significantly cheaper than booking a $100 CAD tour. The collectivo drops u off on the hwy, but just follow everyone else to the ruins ... everyone will be going in the same direction. Its only a 2min walk. There is a train that comes by every few minutes to pick up passengers and take them to the admission gate. The train is only 20 pesos, or u can walk the 1km no problem. At the gate its 57 pesos to get in. There are guides for hire, but we went in without 1 as this was my 4th time there. Guide, or no guide, its still much cheaper than a tour. The grounds are very manicured, and full of tourists. Theres not too much to see other than El Castillo perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the blue Caribbean, a few smaller ruins (none of which you can climb or touch), and a beach for swimming. If your looking for more history, try Chichen Itza. If your looking for pyramids you can still climb, visit Palenque! Theres 8 pyramids there, 7 of which can still be climbed! (This will be in a later post).

When the guards werent looking, I snuck under a rope and climbed behind this small ruin for this photo, mwahaha! (thats my evil laugh)






The beach by the ruins. If you only want to visit the beach, you still have to pay the admission, as the beach is inside the site.

There were iguanas everywhere!


One of the many pathways throughout the ruins.

After exploring the ruins a bit, we relaxed at the beach.



Huge cliffs & boulders on the beach!


Another day we took a bus from Playa del Carmen to Cancun (1hr, 30 pesos), and then a collectivo from Cancun to Puerto Juarez where the ferries depart for the tiny island of Isla Mujeres (10min Cancun - Pto J, 6 pesos; ferry Pto J - Isla roundtrip 140 pesos). Once there, we rented a golf cart for the afternoon and toured the island in style (500 pesos for the golf cart til 5pm).

The golf cart rental company provided us with a map of the town. We headed over to the Avalon Reef Club. We wanted to see the King's Pool, which is a natural pool carved into the rocky shore by the waves. Its located on the resort's grounds, but is a public spot ... you will be escorted to it by a guard, who then stands there and watches you like a hawk til you leave. But it was nothing exciting, I didnt even take a photo. The resort sure is nice though! I would definately stay there!

Just look at that water!

Welcome to Paradise!!


After a quick dip in the ocean, we hopped back on our golf cart and headed to Punta Sur, the southern-most tip of the island, where El Garrafon Park is located. It cost 200 pesos for a half day admission. Theres a few restaurants within, that are all-inclusive, alcohol is also inc, as well as zip-lining, snorkeling, kayaking, hammocks, infinity pool, etc.


There were some paths along the cliffs / ocean that we followed for some great views!







After our walk we had lunch at 1 of the restaurants ... nachos & cheese, and quesadillas ... and strawberry daiquiris


Then we did some zip-lining. If you've zip-lined before, then dont bother with this one, lol! But if its your first time, then its a good beginner course. I'd zip-lined before, and found it rather lame, but it was Jo's first time and she was terrified!

The view from the 2nd zip-line platform of El Garrafon
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Well, thats all for the Mayan Riviera part of our trip. Stay tuned for posts on the ruins of Palenque, and Mexico City & the ruins of Teotihuacan

The next day we boarded an even bigger yacht for the 2hr ride out to Bartolome Island. Breakfast was served on-route. Along the way we had dolphins follwing our boat, we saw sea turtles, a white tipped reef shark, and a manta ray jumped completely out of the water!!! I didnt even know they could do that!



Here is a view of the volcanic Santiago Island along the way

This is the volcano we climbed on Bartolome Island for the view of Pinnacle Rock. If you look closely you can see the path we took! Man was it a hot hike!!


One of the views along our hike

Black sand

Ancient lava flows

Lava Cactus

Colorful Lava Grasshopper

Another view along the way to the top of the craters

The famous view of Pinnacle Rock from atop the volcano


We then hiked back down, got back on the yacht and headed over to the orange sand beach we saw from the viewpoint. Kevin went snorkeling here ... this is where the penguins were supposed to be, but he didnt see any He did see tons of fish and a shark though! While he snorkeled I strolled along the beach and found some large seashells





There was a sandy path that led to the other side of the island. There is another beach there, but swimming is not allowed cuz is a protected area for sea turtles. I saw 5 sea turtles swimming in the shallow water I had to climb this little sand dune to get there.

View from atop that sand dune

This is the 'beach' where the sea turtles were

On the 2hr ride back we passed a few large buoys that direct larger ships into the bay ... every one of them had lazy sea lions snoozing on them

Thats all for the Galapagos Islands! I sure wish we could've stayed longer than 5 days, I loved it here! One of my favorite countries

There are tour / travel agencies everywhere along the main drag in Puerto Ayora. We stopped at Albatross Tours and booked ourselves 2 yacht excursions. The first one to North Seymour Island, and the next one to Bartolome Island for $570 for both tours for 2 ppl. So today was the North Seymour excursion. A bus picked us up at our hotel and drove us across the island, through the highlands, to the opposite side, where our yacht awaited us (about 1hr of driving). We took a zodiac to our yacht and set sail. The island was approx 1hr away. Its teeny tiny, all black lava rocks, cactus trees and incense trees. This island is a birdwatcher's paradise!


I cant remember what type of frigate bird this is, but the tree its sitting in is an Incense Tree. These are the trees the incense sticks that you burn are made from.

Magnificent Frigate Birds were everywhere! I was hoping to see just 1 with his chest puffed out, but there were tons of them! The best part about these protected islands is how tame the wildlife is. The birds did not fly away. You could walk right up to them and they'd just look at you. They have absolutely no fear of humans! Its quite astounding actually!


Again, not sure what type of frigate bird this is. Sorry There were just too many types of birds to keep track of! If you are big into labeling your photos correctly, I recommend bringing a small notepad to write down their names.

There were a few Yellow Land Iguanas and little Lava Lizards as well.

We only saw 2 Blue Footed Boobies up close, and a few Masked Boobies too far away to get a photo.



Theres no beach here, just endless amount of black lava rock!


Blue Footed Boobie on the lava rocks

And amongst those lava rocks are sea lions! Baby sea lions! SO CUTE! Also, marine iguanas are camoflauged nicely in the rocks.




Sleepy sea lions



Young Sally Light Foot Crabs ... when they are young they are black, as they age they get more colorful.

After about an hour long guided tour, we got back on the yacht. Our next stop was Las Bachas Beach, which is actually on the northern part of Santa Cruz Island. Dont let the clouds fool you, it was HOT! Lunch was served onboard as we sailed to the beach.


A Blue Heron I believe ???


A colorful adult Sally Lightfoot Crab.



After a bit of snorkeling at this beach we headed back to the marina for our bus ride back to our hotel.

On Jan 14th, 2012 (our 4yr wedding anniversary) we flew from Belize City, Belize to Isla Baltra in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Most people assume that the only way to see the islands is to go on a very expensive cruise. Not true. In the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island there are tons of hotels to choose from. Just book yourself a flight from Quito or Guayaquil to Isla Baltra (Santa Cruz Island) or San Cristsobal. $400 roundtrip with LAN Air. We stayed 5 nights at the Casa Natura Hotel for $150 per night. It had a pool & free breakfast. There were cheaper hotels, but we thought we needed a pool. Turnt out to be a waste to pay extra for the pool, as we were never at the hotel cuz we were too busy sightseeing. It was located 5 blocks from the main street along the ocean. Once there you can book yourself onto many excursions to nearby islands. Just do your research and figure out what you wanna see / do. From Santa Cruz we saw everything we wanted (except penguins ... there werent any when we went) ... sea lions, giant tortoises, marine iguanas, lava lizards, yellow land iguanas, blue footed boobies, frigate birds, beaches, volcanoes, lava tunnels, craters, etc. There is seriously no need for a $5000 per person cruise!

Our hotel was within walking distance to the Charles Darwin Research Station.

These Cactus Trees were everywhere ... they have regular tree trunks, but cactus instead of leaves.

Desert Flower

There was a wooden boardwalk you had to stay on that meandered through the park.

Giant Tortoises!!!



Baby Giant Tortoises ... they were so tiny they coulda fit into the palm of my hand!

Darwin's Finch

There were also Yellow Land Iguanas here and lots of tiny Lava Lizards scurrying around



Lava Lizard

We walked along the main street that ran parallel to the ocean. Its lined with shops, restaurants, tour agencies, a marina, etc. We stopped at the Sol y Mar Hotel for a drink, and look who was snoozin' in the restaurant! A sea lion! All animals here are unbelievably tame! They dont run away, or growl, or anything. Half the time they dont even acknowledge you. Even the birds dont fly away! Its the easiest place in the world to get great wildlife photos, they practically pose for you


I was so close to him I could smell his fishy breath!

Another sea lion jumped out of the water right by Kevin, then proceeded to strut its stuff past the pool and onto a lounger and pose for some photos! LOL! There were several sea lions always in this hotel ... they seemed to own the place They'd be in the lobby, at the bar, by the pool, and in the restaurant. And no one seemed to mind. Same with pelicans & marine iguanas. They just wandered around like it was a hotel for wildlife. None of the hotel's employees ever shooed them out ... they were always free to roam wherever they pleased. I loved it here!!!


Kevin hangin' with a sea lion by the lobby.



Sea lion 'feet'.

Me & a sea lion at the bar

Sea lion, marine iguana & birds at the pool. You could approach them and they wouldnt move. Barely blinked an eye! So completely opposite of Kenya last year! I'm sure I could've laid down beside the sea lion all he woulda done is put a flipper around me

Marine iguanas outside and inside the restaurant. You definately dont have to go in search of wildlife here! Its everywhere.


HUGE marine iguana! Look at his claws!

Little guy sneaking into the hotel

Every day after sightseeing we'd head to the town's marina where the fishermen would be filleting their catch. Sea lions and pelicans would be lined up looking for scraps! Tourists were always gathered around taking photos.



40lb Yellowfin Tuna

This pelican managed to snatch a fish head! Theres no way it could physically swallow it, but he sure tried!

Yellowfin Tuna

One day we hired a taxi (all the white trucks you see everywhere are the taxis, not the traditional yellow cabs you see elsewhere) and ventured into the highlands to see the Giant Tortoises in the wild! Before we even got to where we were expecting to see them, we came across this guy on the road!


There were about 30 Giant Tortoises roaming around!


Me + Giant Tortoise

Pond full of Giant Tortoises!


Kevin and a Giant Tortoise

Eating grass

Tortoise bum

You really had to watch where you stepped ... tortoise poop was everywhere! And it was the size of my foot!

Tortoise foot

Me inside a tortoise shell

Kevin beside a tortoise shell

Less than 5min from where we saw the tortoises, was a lava tunnel! Get your driver to drop you off, and then meet you at the other end. Theres lights along the way, but its still quite dark, and slippery. This is the entrance to the lava tunnel.

Me inside the lava tunnel

At one point we had to get down on our hands & knees and crawl through this narrow part! If you are claustrophobic, or quite large, theres a chance you wont make it through. But the good news is that this narrow part is only about 4 or 5ft long and then it completely opens up again.

We spent 2hrs at Garrapatero Beach. Theres no shelter for shade here, and its incredibly hot (thats what happens when at the equator). Theres also no where to buy h2o, so be sure to bring some along. Our driver dropped us off and it was a 15-20min walk down a hot trail. We were the only people here! Now this is the kinda beach I like! I hate crowded beaches with fat guys in speedos and beach vendors hassling you to buy their crap non-stop! Get your driver to wait for you, or if you trust him to pick you up a a designated time, you can do that also. Theres no way to call another cab, we were literally in the middle of no where.



Busy sand crab

Marine Iguana struttin' down the beach

Cactus Trees and lava rocks at the beach instead of palm trees

Colorful Marine Iguana. They were everywhere in the lava rocks. At first we didnt see them, but if you look hard you will see them everywhere!




Marine Iguanas are the only sea-going iguanas in the world, and they only live one place ... the Galapagos Islands

Thats it for Santa Cruz Island. We did 2 boat tours to the nearby islands of North Seymour and Bartolome, but those will be in the next post

While staying in San Ignacio, Belize, we were only 30min from the Belize / Guatemala border. So we went to Guatemala for 1 day to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal, only 2hrs over the border. Crossing the border was a breeze! Some countries are such a hassle & take forever, but it only took about 10min. Mind you, we were there bright & early so there werent too many travelers there yet. The drive through the rainforest was incredible! It was a gorgeous foggy / misty morning!

Truck load of oranges.

We made a pitstop to use the bathroom and grab snacks in a small village along the way. Here is a villager weaving blankets.

Wooden masks for sale in a gift shop.

We finally arrived at Tikal and our guide led us through the rainforest to the pyramids. Theres ALOT of walking required so wear good shoes.

This is a HUGE Cieba Tree - Guatemala's national tree.

Looking up at the tree.

There were Spider Monkeys swinging everywhere in the trees

And noisy Howler Monkeys! Their howl is terrifying! It sounds like a jaguar. Its quite scary listening to them howl at eachother if you dont know its just a little monkey!


This is the back of the main pyramid that you see on every postcard. Can you find me? I look tiny next to it!

The front of the same pyramid in the above photo.

There are 2 pyramids facing eachother. You are only allowed to climb one though. This is the view from the top.

Me climbing some of the smaller surrounding ruins for a different view.


Our guide found a tarantula and for some crazy reason I held it!!


I was calm until it started climbing up my arm!

Busy Leaf Cutter Ants were everywhere!

'Highway' of Leaf Cutter Ants


The view from the tallest pyramid. I guess a scene from Star Wars was filmed here.


On our walks amongst the ruins we spotted a coatimundi.

And we also saw some Wild Turkeys!


Just before the entrance to the ruins is a zip-line course! So we gave it a go. It was the first time for both of us!! The first zip was scary because we didnt know what to expect, but after that it was fun!!


We zipped over & through the tree tops


Well, thats all for our day in Guatemala. We then headed back across the border. Spent a few more days with Jedd & Amanda before they flew home and we flew to the Galapagos Islands.