I absolutely love eco tours. I like that they are environmentally friendly, and that there are generally fewer people on the tour with you. In Mexico we had two excursions. We visited a Mayan village, had a Shaman ward away our evil spirits, ate food made in a dirt floor hut that was prepared on a stone fireplace, bicycled on a rusty bike down a dirt road, to Coba which is a Mayan ruin, stood and stared in splendor at Tulum and the turquoise ocean that was at its foot, zip-lined over a lagoon filled with crocodiles, rappelled down into a cenote and climbed back out like Indiana Jones, snorkeled in one of the most gorgeous lagoons I have ever seen, tubed down a mangrove waterway, and sat in a cave where the water looks like oil (fresh and salt water mingle). Can you believe this was all done in two excursions? These were some adventure packed and educational days! Here are a few photos with descriptions:
The Mayan Village. They had dirt floors, thatched roofs, some electricity lines ran, no modern appliances, and they drank from the cenote. This is why we had to shower before rappelling down into their drinking water.
This is a game field. The game the Mayans played was called Pok-a-Tok and it was a game to the death. The winners were sacrifices to the Gods because they were the best of the best. Sometimes it was a game against prisoners and sometimes it was for religious purposes, the guide explained to us. The game was played with a rubber ball and much like soccer, the player is not to touch the ball with their hands. The goal of the game is to get the ball through the circular ring. This playing field we are standing inside was small. Some we heard about by our guide are the size of a modern day football field.
This is a picture from the top of Coba. This was a scary climb. Coba is pretty tall and runs around 126 feet high. The steps were very steep and tall where I had to use a rope to pull myself up. Notice the treetops?! That's how high up we were. In the distance, we could see more ruins peeking out from the jungle that haven't been excavated by archeologists yet. Coba is one of the few ruins that you can still climb. If you want to put your hands on them, I suggest you go soon! These wonders of our World will soon be hands off.
Brad is in the white tee shirt coming down. See the rope in the middle? This gave me some security.
Tequila shots after an excursion is a must!
Tulum...There are no words to describe how gorgeous these ruins are.
What I loved about this ocean was the color. the blue hues and the clear water are mesmerizing. It had small waves rolling in and a slight breeze. I noticed that many locals were on this beach. Looking up, you see the amazing ruins of Tulum. Another tid-bit about this beach, is that they have turtle nesting protection sites. There are people who sit with the nests and make sure the babes make it to the ocean after hatching. Kudos to them!
Snorkeling in the bay at Xel-Ha was probably some of the best we have done. It is also the bay most populated by fish that I have ever seen! Xel-Ha was very clean and eco friendly. They do not let people use regular sunscreen and if you do it must be biodegradable.
Brad snorkeling in the distance...See how clear the water is?!
This picture was taken at Xel-Ha by the staff. That was pretty sweet of them. At the end of your tour, you have the option to purchase your pictures on a CD for a minimal cost. We were tubing down a mangrove in this picture and it was pretty great. There was a lot of wildlife living among the mangroves. We saw a ton of baby barracudas. Very relaxing :)
This cave has fresh water running into it, making it look like oil. This was very neat to snorkel in! There were some fish hiding in this cave, as well!
The Xel-Ha staff snapped our photo while snorkeling!
The Shaman getting rid of our evil spirits.
This was a cool experience. We rappelled down about 50 feet and the water was about 50 feet deep we were told. We showered before entering because this particular cenote is the village's drinking water and they try to keep it as clean as possible. Once down, the water was so clear it looked like it could be 5 feet deep. There were little blind catfish (that's what they looked like) swimming around us. Once we were done swimming, we had the opportunity to climb out of the hole by a rope ladder. I felt like Indiana Jones on an adventure!
Above is Brad and I am below. We had a blast zip-lining! We used a stick to slow ourselves down toward the end. Brad was a natural. This lagoon was full of crocodiles. The guides had a little bucket of babies they were showing us. What does my husband do? He sticks his hand in the bucket and a little one latches on. Typical man!
Kayaking in a lagoon!
There are so many pictures, I know. This is the only way I can describe what we saw, felt, and did. I hope you enjoyed them!!!
XOXO...Becky
