Day 3--Cozumel & X-Caret

April 28th

Today was our 3rd day on the cruise and it was our first excursion day.  Brace yourselves--there are a lot of pictures!

Our excursion was to a Nature Preserve type of park called X-Caret near Playa del Carmen.  We were supposed to disembark the ship at 8 am, so we set our alarms for 6:30. Actually, I set an alarm everyday--not that early everyday, but it is SO DARK in those rooms if you don't have a window that I would sleep all day and not know what time it was.  So anyways, we went up to the buffets and had breakfast and then met in the Princess theater with our group that were going to X-Caret. 

 Waiting in the theater to start our excursion

 Getting off the ship

 This is the island of Cozumel

 We needed to get to Playa del Carmen, so we took another boat--about a 30 minute ride to get there.  

 Getting off at Playa del Carmen--it was very windy!

We then had to hop on a bus that took us to the park.

 When we got there, we had to go on a walking tour of some of the park.  This park must be huge, because there were a lot of things we didn't get to see.  

This is from the internet:  "Known as ''nature's sacred paradise,'' Xcaret is one of the world's most famous eco-archaeological parks where you’ll find Mayan ruins, a dolphin show, horses, tropical birds, wildlife native to the region, crocodiles, an island with jaguars, a deer refuge, a butterfly sanctuary, bat caves and a beach. You can go also snorkeling in the famous crystal caves and underground rivers. Visit the colonial-style main plaza, the wine cellar, a traditional hacienda, the Mexican folk art museum, the living museum of orchids and bromeliads, the chapels of Guadalupe and San Francisco de Asi, the Mayan village, the pre-Hispanic ball court, the edible mushroom farm, the sea turtle farm, the manatee lagoon and the Mexican cemetery, or “bridge to Paradise.” Visit the rainforest, the reef aquarium and enjoy the horseback riding show."

These other activities cost extra:  swimming with the dolphins, horse back riding, snorkeling tour, and scuba diving.

 This is like an old 'arena' where they played this ancient Mayan ball game.  I don't know what it is called,  It's kind of like basketball, except they couldn't use their hands.  This is what I found on the internet:

     "One of the ways that the Mayan peoples competed against each other was by playing what has been called the Ball Game. They used a rubber ball, about 20 inches in diameter, to play the Game, which was played on a stone "court" whose measurements varied. (The largest one found so far measures 459 feet by 114 feet.) The court had walls that sloped inward, and hanging high on the walls were stone rings.

     The goal of the game was to pass the ball around, without having it touch your hands, and then get the ball to pass through one of the rings. (Our guide said they used their hips and feet) Since the rings were so high and players were not allowed to use their hands, it was extremely difficult to get the ball through a ring. In fact, when a player did manage to get a ball through a ring, that usually ended the game. The game ended otherwise when the ball touched the ground.

     The Mayan Ball Game was a solemn experience, filled with ritual importance. Religious leaders attended, as did most chieftains and other government leaders. Sacred songs were sung and played. Other religious activities took place as well.

     The winners of the game were treated as heroes and given a great feast. The penalty for losing a game was sometimes unusually harsh: death. The leader of the team who lost the game was sometimes killed. This fit in with the Mayan belief that human sacrifice was necessary for the continued success of the peoples' agriculture, trade, and overall health."

     Our guide also said that sometimes, the Leader of the winning team would offer himself up to be sacrificed, since the death would be a great honor.  Sounds a little crazy to me!

 This is a better shot of the arena.

 The bleachers

 I got these two pictures off of a thumb drive of our pictures that they took of us there.  These were 'bonus' pictures of the game being played.

 This model was also on our tour and I think they have ruins there, but we didn't have time to see it.  I would love to go back and see everything if we are ever in Cozumel again.  

 Picture of the ruins that was on our thumb drive

 Lots of parrots there.

 Lots of beautiful flowers--especially orchids--they had a greenhouse where they were growing them.

 Lots of flamingos

 A view from our walking tour

 Still walking.

At this point, the tour was over and we could do whatever we wanted.  They all wanted to float down the river, but that's really not my thing.  But, I decided to be adventerous and do whatever they did.  There were two rivers to float down--one completely in dark caves and one that was out in the open.  So, I said I'd go if we went on the one that was open.  Being in water where it was dark was really nightmarish to me.  So we changed into our suits.  What was really nice was that they have these huge duffle bags that you can put all of your belongings into and they lock them up with a padlock and then they drive them down to the end of the river where you get out, so that your stuff is right there waiting for you.  That was pretty handy.  The only downside was that I didn't bring any water shoes, so I had to leave my flip flops in the bag and walk barefooted until we were done.  That completely grosses me out to walk around a public place with no shoes on.  But, I survived.  So we get down to where the entrance to the water is and this is what I see:

 It starts out in the open, but then you have to go into a cave.  So, I'm thinking that we're at the wrong river and I don't want to go because there is a cave!!  Plus, the water is ice cold!  So, I'm thinking about going back.  But, Garrett pulls me into the water by my life jacket and we start swimming.  Luckily the cave ended and we were out in the open.  But along the way, we do go through 3 or 4 caves--which freak me out.  And in one of the caves, I see bats flying above us and they are swooping down towards the water.  I had been hanging on to Garrett so he could protect me :), but then I wanted out of there and started swimming. Some of those caves were pitch black and my imagination started running wild about all the things that were in the river that were going to get me.  So, in those places, I swam like crazy to get back out into the open.  

In the places where it was open, I have to admit that it really was quite fun.  It was a really long river and we guessed that we were swimming/floating for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Georgia was really tired and at some point, Garrett had to pull her by her life vest as she floated to help her along.    

 We didn't have a water camera and they wanted a ridiculous amount of money for one--like $60, so we said forget it.  So, I was so grateful when we figured out that there were cameras all along the river and all you had to do to get it to take your picture was scan your bracelet.  I love pictures and I thought these turned out great.  I know there's a lot, but I thought they were fun.

 They had a couple of people dressed in character along the way.

 We finally got out of the river and rinsed off before we went to get our stuff.  

 Then we found this lovely beach, but we didn't get to stay very long because we were hungry and wanted to find something to eat.  

 We were walking down to where the restaurants were and stopped to take some pictures with the parrots.

 We went and found some restaurants, but they were so crowded that we didn't think that we'd have time to sit down and eat before the bus had to take off.  We should've just tried--I think we would've been fine. Instead, we went and found some snacks and got dressed, then waited until it was time to get back on the bus.  

 This was our crazy bus

 And this was our tour guide--Gus.  I think that was his name.

 Then we had to wait to get on the boat.

 A beautiful view of our ship

When we got back, we ate dinner at one of the cafe's and then decided to go and watch a movie under the stars.  Georgia was too tired and just went to bed after dinner.  

We watched "Saving Mr. Banks."  Garrett and I had seen it before, but it was still good.  And fun to be watching it outside.  It was really windy that night and the boat was rocking and swaying.  Some of our drawers kept coming open in the middle of the night.  Luckily I had a seasickness patch on, or I would've been pretty sick.