the rest of the trip!!!

February 16
Hanging out in Akumal. Morning snorkel to reacquaint ourselves with the off shore aquarium that is Akumal Bay. the kids loved being back. Keira and Heather kayaked in half moon bay as it was as calm as we had ever seen. Jason spent a few hours in the pool. And we enjoyed chicken and rice by the pool for dinner courtesy of the lunch truck. Jason and keira were also thrilled to meet the new family next door and make friends with the two kids, who were also 4.5 and 7.
February 17
Spent some time at the Playa Caribe pool, Heather kayaked in Half Moon Bay and we went to Akumal beach for a swim. Moved to our new place in Chan Chemuyil, a collection of small homes, mostly holiday homes, mostly but not all expat owned and/or rented. Our house Casa de la Paz was great. It is at the end of the street so flanked on two sides by jungle. It is very nicely decorated, with a living and dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms including a very comfortable king size bed. We had a walled in backyard. Every part of the house and outside walls were brightly coloured. After settling in and saying hi to our (real) geckos on the wall, we went into Chemuyil pueblo which is the real village. It is a lovely town, very well maintained with two parks and lots of kids. The kids loved it. We only learned later that Keira has got a huge gash on her leg from the rusty slide that of course she wouldn't confess to, lest she be stopped from playing.
February 18
Saw a toucan from the backyard this morning.
Walked to Xcacel Beach - first ones there. Way too wavy to even think about taking the kids in the water. We waited until finding a beach attendant and then confirmed that we could go to the cenote. It was so quiet at the beach and we saw big hermit crabs, lots of butterflies and birds, iguanas and squirrels.
Then made our way to Tulum and swam for about three hours in small but fun waves. We also went for ceveche, which I had been dreaming of. Before asking any questions, I ordered the "grande" because really how much fish could be served up for M$120?! The answer is lots and lots of fish can be served up!
February 19
We started out at Akumal beach for snorkeling. Luckily the kids also like it there Then made our way to Xcacel Beach - so beautiful, so wavy. We played in the sea froth for awhile and then had a good long swim in the cenote. We spent some time at home and then walked into Chemuyil. On the way, we found a big cave with a small cenote in it. The kids bounded into the gaping large hole in the earth.
We also met a family from Montana who are staying across the street. Keira invited them over to hang out and it was hilarious. The kids went CRAZY - they were loud and gregarious and totally bonkers. The parents were great and kind of just went with it. Keira invited them to meet her pets...a spider (that she then made shake on its web in the most amazing way) and the birds that she said "just fly over there in our forest."
February 20
It was raining a little this morning so we headed off to you guessed it - a Mayan ruin. This time we headed south of Tulum for about 20 kilometers to the town of Muyil. It was a great ruin and we had it mostly to ourselves. Remarkable features included some areas where Mayan paints in blue, green and red were still visible. The main pyramid was partially restored so we could climb half and then gaze upwards at the local kids who hanging off the very top. The forest was beautiful and bordered the Si'an Kaan biosphere from the opposite end of where we had been earlier in the trip. We did a lovely boardwalk hike through the forest to the end of a laguna that would have linked up to the lagoons where we took our boat tour. It was cool to see such different ecosystems so close together. At the ruins the air was hot and "dryer", 100m further on the air got humid and heavy and the forest turned to jungle.
Then we headed off to Casa Cenote near Tankah Bay. This is actually a series of seven linked lagoons that you can snorkel through. In another great Gass-Lachance adventure, we all plunged in and headed off through the mangroves, spotting little and big fish and blue crabs on the bottom. These cenotes actually link with the huge, world's second longets cave system that is here in the Yucatan so some people were also diving and looking in caves, which really caught the kids imaginations.
Then we took off to Tulum Beach which all of us really love - so beautiful and wavy but not too wavy. We played for hours in the surf. We ran into the family from Montana and played with them too.
February 21
week 3!!!!
We tried a new beach - Xpu-Ha, just north of Akumal. Then we went to the local Chemuyil cenote, Xunaan Ha. It was great - quite large and very beautiful. Super green and clear in the middle with four big caves off the sides. Apparently it connects with Dos Ojos a few kilometers down the road. We all swam and swam. Jason did lots of snorkeling while Keira did lots of diving.
Lunch at home and then back on the road to Tulum Beach. Lots of swimming and an actual beahc walk to view the Tulum ruins from the beach. Pretty spectacular.

February 22
Last (real) day!!!!
I woke this morning and worked really hard to turn sadness at our last day into gratefulness and it more or less worked!!
We headed out early to Akumal Beach. It was very wavy and the red flags were up but Heather and I both did two long snorkels and had some of best turtle time. \the kids played and played. Keira and I went to the village library to do a puzzle. Everyone had lots of treats, included fish and shrimp tacos with mango salsa and home made icecream. We were surprised how quickly time had passed when we left 5 hours later. Then we picked up an Akumal chicken for dinner later and droppe the car off at our house and walked to Xcacel Beach and cenote. Saw anteaters on the path home. had a swim in the chan chemuyil cenote.
Highlights of the trip
1. The sheer joy and enthusiasm of the kids as we undertook new challenges and adventures. Jason remained open minded to doing new things and was rewarded with so much fun. He has been exceedingly positive. A recent repeated conversation was to ask us what our favourite things about Mexico are and then go onto list what his were and they were everything! The list was long! Keira is about the bravest and physically talented 4 year old I know. When she was faced with something that made her nervous (like jumping into Casa Cenote - she was concerned about the depth because of the scuba divers. It was reasonable!!), she would simply say " I just need a few minutes to warm up to this!".
2. Warm sunshine, warm water, beautiful clouds that turned pink at sunrise and sunsets.
3. Lots of sunrises over the ocean.
4. Sleep.
5. Swimming and snorkeling in Akumal as a natural aquarium.
6. Jumping waves at Tulum.
7. Having my kids think that I am really cool because I can speak Spanish.
8. My kids willingness to speak polite words of Spanish to just about everyone they met.
9. Exploring ruins with my family.
10. Lots of family time. Who knew you could enjoy Go Fish so much?

February 23 - Last day! Travel Day!

We got up really early and threw everything into the car. We headed to Puerto Morelos in between Playa del Carmen and Cancun. There is a national reef park there that is great for snorkeling. We arrived in town, took kids to the big central park while I negotiated a snorkeling trip. We all headed out in a small fishing boat to the reef about 200 metres off shore. Jason and I started off first with the guide until he saw a big fish (but not the biggest one of the day) and wanted back in the boat. Keira didn’t like the swimming in the middle of the ocean either but I am happy to report that they waited patiently in the boat while Heather and I snorkeled and saw live conches, lobsters, a big barracuda, many fish and lots of beautiful live coral. We returned to shore an d swam some more and the reluctantly leave the beautiful Caribbean sea, had passionfruit ice cream and tacos and piled into the car for the airport. Minor meltdown at car rental return- extra charges, lots of good Mexican machismo, yuck! But then onto the airport, and a direct ride to Halifax. The kids were so happy to see their grandparents at the airport and recounted them with tales of ant eaters, toucans, armadillos and fish.