Wednesday April 20, 2011

Today was an action packed day. We went on a Tulum Xtreme Tour which included a guided tour of the Tulum Ruins, ziplining, rappelling, snorkeling in a cenote (underground cave) and then a delicious traditional Mexican lunch.

We left the hotel at 8am and drove about 30min south of the hotel. We arrived in the middle of the jungle and pulled up to a nice looking little tour outfit. They had all the amenities we needed included a mesh enclosed place for lunch - SWEET! We were first up on the rappelling so we all got suited up in our harnesses and and headed out to the platform we would drop off of. It was a beautiful drop into an open-top cenote from about 50ft up a tower. We all went through the safety speel and then we were off. It was a great little ride down, a bit of an adrenaline rush and a ton fun.

Our next stop was the ziplining. There were 3 lines to zip, the shortest being about 150ft and the longest was about 840ft....F-U-N!! The lines were all great fun, fast and over some amazing rainforest. The highest one was 66ft at the platform so we had some amazing views as well! We all had a great time and TL only got stuck out on the line once...haha...so it was an uneventful set of ziplines. TL and I decided that we may need some "bigger" adrenaline activities in the future to get the same rush we used to, especially since I was literally running and jumping off the platforms and all TL wanted to do was be able to hang upside down from the zipline while going....I think we need a good scare....more bungee jumping perhaps!! :o)

The final activity before lunch was snorkeling in a HUGE cenote, which is an underground cave filled with fresh water. We heard an amazing story about Mayan history and how they believed that these caves were the link to the underworld and that this was where many of the gods lived, very cool and interesting story since this was where we would be swimming for the next 30 min. Our guide told us the water was beautifully refreshing...AKA Friggin COLD!! We got all geared up and headed down, the cave was AMAZING....seriously was so beautiful. The water was very crisp and chilly but felt nice since it was 30 degrees outside! We swam around for about 30 min checking out all the rock formations and little minnow who lived in the water. They were very interested in all of us and would bounce off our mask and then swim away quickly if we reached for them. Was a very unique experience!

After lunch we drove back about 20 min to the Tulum Mayan Ruins for a guided tour. The place was packed be worth the time and crowds. The ruins themselves were quite impressive (not as amazing as Chichen Itza though). There were several temples, residences, protective wall and the Sacrifical Temple that were still standing. Our guide explained their lives, beliefs and basically how they believed that everything was a "battle" between beneficial and destructive forces and how sacrifices were performed to satisfy the gods and to help promote this balance in life....very interesting.

We headed back to the hotel late in the afternoon. After a dip in the pool we headed to the Cajun Restaurant for supper and it was an amazing meal. TL was in her glory with all the seafood options that she had.

Krista heads home tomorrow so we will meet her for breakfast and wish her safe journey's home. We are planning to meet up in Edmonton for supper on Sunday as well....more good times to come!

TL and I have a couple more days left, nothing too much planned...Japanese Restaurant, perhaps a massage at the spa....and more relaxing!

Check out all our pictures so far on our flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/tonto11