January 1st, 2011 - a banner day

The resort provided a wonderful fireworks show we could watch from our balcony - festive start to 2011!


After breakfast we drove 10 minutes north to the little fishing village of Puerto Morelos where we hired local fishermen to take us snorkeling on the reef:


French Angelfish


Scrawled Filefish


Ocean Triggerfish


Midnight Parrotfish


Anenome and Coral


Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber


Afterward we enjoyed live harp and guitar music (back right) in an outdoor cantina before heading back to the resort:


Here are some more shots from around the resort:

Bouganvillea


Frangipani


Hibiscus


Crocodile


Flamingos


Agouti and friend


Proof I was there:


Another great seafood and fresh produce dinner (Mike must have been the hungriest):


Here's our last view of Quintana Roo for now:


And a "we're home at last" greeting from Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams - a lovely end to another beautiful trip to Latin America. Happy trails!

Happy New Year!

Mariah and Greg had another relaxing pool/beach day. Mike and I headed to Playa in the little rental car with 3 goals in mind: food to celebrate New Years, a Maya chocolate ice cream treat (a return to Ah Cacao for me), and hand made tiles for a backsplash in our kitchen. Success on all counts! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Laid back day

Today we decided to hang out at the resort on the beach and at the pool. The collection below includes a couple of random shots from yesterday, a few shots around the resort, and a close up of our delicious sushi dinner (Gong restaurant at the resort). Happy trails!

Maya ruins and more good food

We rose early in order to make it an hour south to the Tulum ruins when they opened at 8am. Good call - the parking lot was practically empty and we enjoyed the grounds, the ruins, and especially the views with few other visitors. There were a few lizards poking their heads out and the colors of the sea are surreal. It’s disappointing that you can’t really climb on or through the ruins but we enjoyed them anyway. The hoards of visitors from Playa and Cancun were beginning to arrive as we headed out.



Big lizards on wall at left and peaking out on right:




We overcame a minor disappointment when Mike’s and my favorite breakfast spot in Tulum was closed (Azafran), but found another keeper, Rincón Poblano (just north of the bus station) - inexpensive and delicious:



Then we headed west to the ruins of Cobá. I was surprised how many people were there but I loved the jungly setting and you can scramble around and climb the ruins to your heart’s content.






From the top of the big temple:


And from the bottom:


Some little friends:



From there we headed back to Tulum to 3 spots Mike and I enjoyed last summer, first to a popular locals’ spot called El Camello (the camel) for shrimp tacos:



Then to a cool produce market:


and a neighborhood grocery for cilantro, lime, bananas, avocados, chips, beans, and salsa for dinner before heading back to our comfy resort. Happy trails!