Tulum, Mexico

Tulum was the next, and not quite last stop on our tour.

The main hotel strip by the beach in Tulum is known for its push to be clean and green, whether this was wind power, salt water showers, or electricity only from the hours of 5pm - 10pm. The hotel we stayed in was our least favourite, with a general damp feeling taking over as soon as we walked in. Luckily, the hotel was about 20 metres from the beach, it was close enough to not stay in our room.

Hung about the hotel were a number of hammocks, which we spent a large amount of time in, in the shade of the trees. As part of the relaxation that was the last part of the tour, we spent a large proportion of time lying, reading and sleeping.

Tulum is known for it's ruins, which are right on the coast (and can be seen at the end of Tarantino's 'Planet Terror') were fortified with the sea on one side, and stone walls around the other 3 sides. They were very small in relation to the others we had seen on the trip. To get to them, we hired bikes, and a group of us cycled down (keeping with the green theme).


Our guide had suggested that we go out early as large tour buses arrive dropping people off 50 at a time. It was good advice. We were practically the only ones on the whole site when we arrived, and leaving was particularly difficult with hundreds of people flooding in.

We were starting to realise that the tour was coming to an end, with only one more stop left on the itinerary, the very touristy Playa del Carmen was up next.

Caye Caulker, Belize

25 January 2009.

We arrived at Caye Caulker after a ferry ride from Belize City. This was the start of the laid-back, relaxing part of the tour after the first part of hectic travel and quick stops.

It was certainly a different style to what we were used to, blue, blue water and white, white sand - the Caribbean as you would expect it.

The first afternoon that we arrived was hot and sunny, so we went swimming down at the split. The island used to be one, but after a hurricane, was split in two. There was a concrete pier, with a bar along side and everyone was parked up enjoying the sunshine.

Dinner that night consisted of a BBQ lobster dinner at Jolly Rogers Grill. His grill was a converted 40 gallon drum, and the restaurant was little more than a corrugated iron shack.





































We picked up some beers from the local bar, and sat down to enjoy. It was good!





























During the afternoon the group had arranged a snorkeling tour for the next day, where you sail out to three reefs, and spend the day swimming with the fishes, and the promise of rum punch on the return journey.

We woke the next morning to pouring torrential rain. Snorkeling cancelled, rain pouring, we thought it would be a good chance to catch up on the news of the world outside. There was Canadian sports bar which had wireless internet. Unfortunately, the power on the island seemed to be out. The Canadian bar was still where we ended up, playing cards and staying dry - reality pushed aside for another day.

The weather promised to be sunnier the next day, so we were hopeful that we would get our snorkeling trip. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty close, so we decided it was a go.

There wasn't a lot of wind so we mostly had to motor out, but had the sails up for a short while.

I, due to some irrational paranoia about not being able to breathe with a snorkel, stayed on the boat with a book and took some photos of everyone lazing around in the ocean, leaving Ruth to it.



















At the first stop however, the weather started to turn, so we knew we were in for some rain. It was still really warm though, so we were not too worried.















It was patchy, but everyone still managed to get in and see the sights - it miraculously cleared up each time we stopped with the sun breaking through.

A highlight was standing on the bow of the boat, motoring along, with the rain pelting down. There was just something about the feeling that is hard to describe.

After everyone had exhausted themselves with the snokels and swimming, we made our way back home. The rum punch arrived with a freshly chopped shrimp cerviche, which fought off any chance of anyone getting cold. There was a lot of punch...

... and the sun came back out, just as we were arriving back. Everyone was a little wobbly from their time at sea, so we headed back down to the split for more swimming, and a cooling beer.

At some stage in the proceedings, we decided that a full scale sea battle needed to take place, leading to shoulder fighting - and generally a lot of hilarity.















The seabed was quite uneven and the extra height we had was hugely beneficial. Needless to say, Ruth and I were victorious.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, then a second lobster dinner finished off our time on the island, heading back to the mainland and Tulum, Mexico the following morning.