Woke up a bit early so we could Skype home while having breakfast! Then informed ourselves about the whereabouts of the famous Cenotes (underground water caves formed by the erosion of limestone)...
We walked in the opposite direction to yesterday as there were 2 small Cenotes close to our hotel... We had to walk along a rickety wooden pathway literally through a type of jungle marshland - when we looked around us there was just jungle as far as the eye could see! We got to the little cenote and then headed back.. We had learnt about the mini bus taxi system of Tulum (called "Collectivo's") so we caught the Collectivo to Tulum town and then another one to the second biggest cenote in the world called Dos Ojos... At the entrance, we of course had many a Mexican trying to sell us tickets and tours.. We opted for just the ticket - not the tour- but this involved- you guessed it- walking for 2,5km's to the cenote! So off we went - but the problem was today we never put our takkies on and the heat was even more incredible than yesterday! Thankfully a kind-hearted Mexican man stopped his bakkie as he drove past and offered for us "chicas" to hop on the back... Problem solved :) When we arrived, we headed to the "First Eye" of the cenote - so so cool! We jumped right in the cool, fresh water to cool off and experience this phenomenon from within! We swam for quite a while then headed to the Second Eye which was bigger than what we had just seen.. We also walked into the one Dry Cave and came up close and personal with some of the limestone formations... We started, however, getting attacked by mozzies now that the repellent had washed off so we eventually could take it no longer and made our way back out.. Now the problem of getting back to the entrance faced us! Taxis were wanting to charge 50 pesos for this ridiculously short route... So we chose to sit and observe :) We then saw a car which was heading that way so we flagged it down, politely asked the driver if he was heading to the entrance and them asked if we could please catch a lift with him! Winning haha... After catching the Collectivo to Tulum, waiting aimlessly for the Collectivo to the hotel strip (and then eventually catching a taxi because the Collectivo didn't stop for us!!), we made our way to the one hotel called Coqui Coqui as my cousin Adrian had recently stayed there and he recommended the fish tacos... We had been dying to try this since we've arrived and we finally got there and it was so worth the wait!! Fresh fish, peppers, onions in mini wraps... Delicious and healthy!! Worth the wait...
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach outside our hotel just resting our weary feet... We called it a day a bit earlier today given last night's restaurant situation ;) Showered! And headed to our initial spot last night... Closed! Obviously! Then a 2 hour wait at La Zebra... So after another mozzie attack we headed straight back to our hotel restaurant and enjoyed a yummy meal (which included a Nutella pizza for dessert - cheat night!!) overlooking the gorgeous ocean! Tulum has really been special... Am so excited for the rest of our adventure!
Lesson of the day: Don't leave any part of your skin exposed to mosquitoes on Tulum!
Moment of the day: Swimming in the world's second largest cenote!