Jeepers!!

We waited in the hotel lobby at about 9:30 for the jeep tour people to swing by and pick us up. We were the last hotel to get picked up, so we just filled in the empty spots in the jeeps. We had hoped to ride around the island with the couple from our hotel, Susan and Nick, but weren't so lucky. We ended up with a couple from Kansas (that actually live closer to the Denver airport than a Kansas airport) named Travis and ...something I can't remember. (huh? what was her name?)

Anywho, our first stop of the day was the snorkeling activity. We sat down and were introduced to Poncho and Santiago, our 2 tour guides. They were awesome...very funny. However, as they were explaining how the rest of the day would work, they mentioned the included food and drinks. They thought it was funny to mention that in Mexico it's perfectly acceptable to drink many cervezas and continue to drive..."It's no problem my friends." Of course I almost had a heart attack as pictures were going through my head of our jeep rolling of the narrow highway into the ocean and being left to drown or die since the air-evac service is most likely non-existent down here.

(Luckily for me, I looked at Mike and he just smiled and took my hand. He already knew what I was thinking...and said not to worry. Luckily we avoided any "scene" because after the second stop of the day...after Travis grabbed 2 more Corona's from the cooler, he asked Mike if he wanted to drive. Whew!!)


We snorkeled for about 30 minutes and saw beautiful fish and even an eel. The water was warm and very clear...I love it!! We had a nice time enjoying the warm water and each other.


After the snorkeling adventure, we headed for one of the Mayan ruin sites. I swore I'd remember the name, but now I can't. I think it was Gustavo? (Oh well...I can't even remember that ladies name and I spent 6 hours with her.)



The ruins, I've decided, are all the same. Once you've seen them, you don't really need to see more of them. Of course they are "cool" and our tour guide explained a ton about the history of the Mayan people and the excavation of the ruins. He was a cute little old Mexican/Mayan man that had the heaviest accent!! Mike and I agreed that if he had spoken slowly in Spanish, we would have understood more!!



From his 30 minutes of lecturing on the people, and 30 minutes of me listening very intently, here's what I got from it: The Mayan people were very peaceful. They traded honey, corn, beans for stuff...but now people aren't as hardworking and they have coca-cola and potato chips. OR something...



Then he talked about how they made white cement (my word) out of white aah and some other products and made white walkways...they did this so they could see where they were going in the dark with the use of the moonlight.


He had a lot more to say, but I was still stuck on the coke and chips and where I could possibly find something of that nature...so I missed some of it. And while trying to process his sentences, I would miss the next portion...I'd ask Mike what he said, but he was just as clueless as the rest of us.


Like I said...seen one...seen 'em all.

Our next stop was the "Tequila Factory." It was more interesting than I thought it would be. We learned all about how tequila is made. We learned all about the blue agave plant and that the crap with the worm in the bottle is NOT tequila. Well, it's not REAL, true 100% blue agave tequila. It's Mescal... Plus, did you know that it takes 7-10 years for a blue agave plant to mature? AND tequila used to be called tequila, because it meant "hard work." I guess tequila has gotten easier to make over the years, but there are several steps to processing everything into tequila. I know, I know, you all wanted to know these tequila facts. It actually was pretty interesting...this knowledge will come in handy one day...I just know it!!

Our next stop was lunch!! It was awesome!! After the tequila factory, we made our way around to the eastern side of the island and saw the beaches we have been dying to see. The beaches on the west side, where we are staying are very rocky and reef like. There really is NO good way to get in and swim in the water. Everyone that does, ends up with cut feet/ankles.




We ate fajitas for lunch...they were fantastic!! Then we walked across the street and played in the warm blue Caribbean water for about 30-45 minutes. None of us wanted to leave!! It was the best part of the tour.



We made one more stop and El Cedal. This is the small site of the first Mayan civilization on the island of Cozumel. All that remains is a small block "temple." Next to the old Mayan Temple, there is the oldest Catholic church on the island. It is very small and is still used by the people that live in El Cedal still.




After that we got dropped off at our respective hotels...we managed to find our way to the pool and meet up with the group we met the other night. The first thing we heard was that one of the guys (Nick I think) caught a white Marlin on his deep sea fishing trip earlier in the day. I thought Mike might actually cry. I know he wanted to catch a Marlin SO bad!! While he was sad, I tool advantage of their freshly cooked mahi mahi...they also took their catch (just the mahi mahi...not the marlin) to the Carlos & Charlies down the beach. They had theirs prepared differently than we did, and it was fantastic!! I don't think there is anything better than fresh fish!! Yummy!!


We decided to hang with the group instead of making our dinner reservation. We thought it would be more fun...and it definitely was. Two new people joined in on the fun too...a married couple from Georgia. He's a pilot and she's an engineer...they are very cool and was glad they wanted to hang out with us for a bit. We played water volleyball until it was too dark to see the ball...then we all agreed to meet up for dinner at the buffet. That is NO BODY'S first choice, but it was the only one we had at that point!! We sat and talked for hours...it was nice.


I'm glad Mike forces me out of my protective shell every now and again. It's been more fun that I imagined to meet new people and share some new experiences with them. I would normally be perfectly happy up here in my private pool...alone, reading and getting tan. I guess I'll keep him around so my entire life doesn't remain so dull. He's cute...I love him.