Travel with Tobey and Sue

Travel with Tobey and Sue
Tobey and Sue in Africa

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Tulum - Arizona February 8-9, 2014

WOW – our time in Tulum is over. Saturday morning we took a walk to the market for a couple things we forgot to pick up. We went by the town square park and there was some kind of a recycling event going on. People were lined up with their recyclables where they were weighed, documented, and paid for their efforts. When we put our trash out, Chris told us to put plastic bottles next to the trash bin and “someone” would be along to pick them up – and it was amazing how quickly they disappeared!

Two hours and 9+ miles later we were home. Quick showers and the last of our things packed, we headed out to have lunch before our taxi picked us up to take us to the bus station. We tried another restaurant we passed on a daily basis and enjoyed a pollo and asada empanada, a sope, a salbute, and split a grande chocolate milk smoothie. Everything was really delicious!

Our bus left Tulum at 1:30 and arrived at the Cancun airport at 3:40. We got out at the wrong terminal and had to hoof it with our bags about 15 minutes for our 6:00 pm flight to Dallas. We overnighted in Dallas before catching our flight to Phoenix this morning.

It is good to be back. Our moms were happy to see us and our Penny dog was beside herself trying to give both of us kisses!

One of our friends asked us to share some photos of where we stayed, as well as other street scenes.

The following are pictures of places we passed most days.
The street we walk to get to our apartment:



Our apartment is in the short yellow building on the right in the picture below.
This is a view of our street – the building on the right is under construction and across the street from us.


Keena keeping an eye out on the street from the landing of the upstairs apartment. She was such a sweet dog!

If you’re not sure what is wrong, you can have a medical consultation for $35 pesos ($2.65USD) before getting your medicine at the pharmacy next door. For many things, like a Ventolin Asthma inhaler, you don’t need a prescription – and the cost is a fraction of what you pay in the US. I probably shouldn’t get started with the problems with the US health care system, but I wish something would change!
Shopping for bassinets, blankets, and hammocks.

The main north-south road through Tulum.

As we left Dallas this morning, it was totally fogged in and overcast. After climbing through the clouds, we had this view!

We will spend a few days here in Scottsdale before we head to California to visit friends.

Friday, February 7, 2014

February 7, 2014 - Last full day in Tulum

Today was our last full day in Tulum so we thought we should go to the beach one last time. We caught the 10:30 colectivo and it seemed almost empty – only 17 people plus the driver!



We enjoyed walking on the beach, taking a couple swims, watching a couple sailboats, and a few people on SUPs (stand up paddle boards), and people in general enjoying the sun. The weather was much calmer and the waves much less today.

We were on the 1:30 colectivo back to town and got back in time to watch some of the school children practicing some kind of dance program. The stage is next to the Catholic Church and the large town square.

We stopped at Pat y Pat’s fish market to have lunch. We selected two red snappers and they fried them up for our lunch. The little restaurant next door provided the drinks, tortillas, and salad and our bill was only $125 pesos ($9.50 USD)!

Some folks would probably not stop here to eat since there are just two tables in front of the market and it is right on the main road, but we had plenty to eat and it was really tasty.

This evening we went to a restaurant called Aguas Chiles because we pass it almost every day and it is supposed to be good. We were disappointed in both quality and cost. We each got a taco and split an order of what they claimed were the “best black beans in Tulum”. Not so much. They tasted more like refried beans out of a can with a little pork on the top. With soft drinks, the bill was $171 pesos. This place DEFINITELY caters to tourists and we would not recommend going there.


Most of our things are packed and ready to leave tomorrow. We are almost out of pesos, so I guess we have to go home!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

February 6, 2014 - Tulum - Odds and Ends

Sunny again today, so we were off to the beach. This little van is the one we take to the beach – today there were 23 plus the driver inside! It is inexpensive – 10 pesos – less than $1USD.

We took our lunch and had fun walking, swimming, and relaxing on the beach. We watched as several military helicopters flew up and down the beach and speculated what might be going on. Tobey thought maybe it was the same one with different pilots out on training maneuvers. Who knows? It doesn’t really matter!

When we travel with just the two of us, it is difficult to have pictures taken that have both of us in them. We are practicing taking “selfies”, and what better way to practice than with un beso (kiss).
We took the 3pm city bus back to town – we didn’t even know that it went to the beach! It was the same price as the colectivo and I only had to share a seat with Tobey! Woohoo!

On our walk back to the apartment we saw a guy selling dulces y caramelos (sweets and candies). We decided to try a couple things – the round one was similar to peanut brittle, but made with some green nut, pistachios maybe. It was VERY sweet. We haven’t tried the peanut bar yet, but it is on the kitchen table calling our name…

We have been getting our “puppy fix” with Keena. She belongs to the young couple that owns the apartments where we are staying. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be friends until one evening when I was fixing dinner and it smelled good to her! Tobey slipped her a little taste and we are best buds now! She now hangs out on our porch near dinner time! Keenan(the dog) is fluent in four languages because Barbara speaks Italian, Chris speaks French, they both speak Spanish and English! Good dog.
Our time in Tulum is quickly coming to a close. We are not looking forward to the cold weather at home, but it will be good to see family and friends.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Tulum - February 5, 2014

We certainly have become creatures of habit! The sun was shining this morning, so we were off to the beach on the 10:30 colectivo. We enjoyed walking the beach, taking a swim, walking a while longer. We borrowed some lounge chairs and relaxed in the sun while our suits dried out. We then walked back to one of the hotels that has easy access back to the street to catch the 1:30 colectivo back to town.

We stopped at one of the “cocinas” (kitchens) that we have walked by almost every day for lunch. The owner had a couple choices for lunch so we took one of each. The one was like a chicken noodle soup with beef meatballs. The other was a spicy (tasty) soup with beef meatballs. It came with rice and black beans and tortillas. We added soft drinks and it was $130 pesos ($10 USD) – actually pretty expensive for the quality of food. Most cocinas don’t have a set menu – it’s just whatever they cook that day – and so no prices are posted. I suppose we should have asked before we ordered, but it was an adventure!


Back at the apartment, we took a swim in the pool and sat in the sun a while. We spent time reading and catching up on emails and even got the chance to talk to Tyler for a while.

For dinner, we decided to try another place we walk by often that is always crowded. We had to wait for a table and ended up inside – not my first choice. They had live music which was REALLY loud and the people at the table next to us were smokers (UGH!). Fortunately, the food was good and there was lots of it!


Before our meal we were served chips and picante, as well as a huge bowl of pickled vegetables. This weird looking white item above is a pickled garlic! The carrots and garlic were the best. We split the beef fajitas and Tobey ordered a chocolate/banana smoothie – yumm! The dinner was $187 pesos including the tip ($14 USD) – a good deal!
No plans for tomorrow – hmmm …. maybe the beach??

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tulum - February 4, 2014

We hoped for sunny weather this morning so we could go to the beach, but it was overcast and by the time we finished breakfast, it was pouring rain. Change of plans. We opted to hang out and read this morning and relax. After lunch, the weather had cleared so we decided to take a walk into town. We went to the store and picked up a few groceries and a few souvenirs.

Then came the reality check. On the way back we stopped at the ADO bus station and bought our tickets to the airport on Saturday. We are paying $198 pesos each ($14.85) to return to the airport. Sad, sad, sad. Only three more days to enjoy Tulum.

February 3, 2014 - Sian Ka’an Biosphere Tour

We had seen the brochures in town for Sian Ka’an Biosphere and walked by the office several times, but hadn’t made the decision to actually go until our friends Ann and Gary sent an email from his sister telling us that it was really worthwhile.

Sian Ka’an is a community eco-tourism enterprise, based on the preservation of the ecosystems, committed with assuring top-quality experiences to nature lovers and admirers of the Maya culture, offering genuine and outstanding tours that provide adventure, education and fun.” http://www.siankaantours.org/en/

We arrived at the Sian Ka’an office at 8:30 this morning – as directed – only to be told they were still picking guests up and it would wouldn’t depart until 9:00. 9:00 turned into 9:30 and the van finally arrived at the office and we were able to take off.

After a short 23 km drive to the village of Muyil, we stopped for a snack of fresh fruit, fried chips with a pumpkin dip, and hot tortillas. Nice surprise! Then back in the van and another ten minutes we arrived at Sian Ka’an.

Sian Ka’an, Mayan for where the sky is born, was established on January 20, 1986 and became part of the program “The Man and the Biosphere” by UNESCO. The conservation challenge was to integrate human activities without damaging the ecosystem and all life within its territory. A year later, in 1987 Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site covers over 1.6 MILLION acres!

Our group of 14 tourists and 1 guide boarded four ponga style boats and headed across the Chunyaxche lagoon to the mangroves on the Muyil and Canal Float trip.

After scooting across the lagoon we cut into the mangroves. We spotted some egrets and vultures before we arrived at a dock where we would begin our float portion of the tour. We hopped out of the boats, sat on our life jackets, and floated down part of the river. It had clouded over and was a bit chilly, but the natural current scooted us along.

We were able to see one baby crocodile sunning itself on a mangrove root. It was about 10 inches long and very timid. After floating about 40 minutes we arrived back at second dock. Out of the water, we followed a boardwalk back to the drop off point and were zipped back across the lagoon.

Our group then took a walk through the rainforest on a wooden boardwalk while our guide, Manuel, explained some of the flora and fauna. Unfortunately, the only fauna that we saw were dragonflies and horse flies! Apparently there are spider monkeys and howler monkeys, as well as white tailed deer, in the area, but not today!
This is the Chit palm which is used by the Mayans to thatch cabins or palapas.

Along the way we stopped at the observation tower where the more adventurous members of our group (Tobey included) climbed to the top for a view over the forest canopy. He had a view out to the lagoon.



Continuing on, we arrived at Muyil, one of the earliest and longest inhabited ancient Maya sites on the eastern coast of the Yucatan. Muyil was located along a trade route on the Caribbean once accessible via a series of canals.
El Castillo (The castle) is a very high (17 m) and steep pyramid with a tower on top that has been associated with the Ceba sacred tree. On its back side you can see a well preserved frieze with a stucco finish of 2 facing storks.There is evidence that signal fires were built on its peak that may have been used to guide in the Mayan seafaring merchant vessels.
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Later along the trail we spotted a sapodilla tree from which chicle is collected by cutting into the bark, much like rubber, which causes the tree to excrete it and it runs down the trunk. Chiclets chewing gum originally came from harvesting the sap from the sapodilla tree. Older sapodilla trees are recognizable from the zig-zag marks that were made to extract chicle. The white line is the sap used for gum.

Further down the trail we came to the priest´s temple, known as Building 8. Shaped like a topless pyramid, Manuel explained that this was probably an astronomical observatory based on the items found in the area.


Termite trails on the tree are the dark areas. In the picture below you can see the termites busy at work!
We were able to see three structures in the area before headed back to the village for a traditional Mayan lunch. This last one was fairly small and thought to be a plaza or trading area. Inside you could still see the original blue marking on the wall.

Tobey had the fish cooked in traditional Mayan style wrapped in a banana leaf.

I had the grill fish with garlic. Tobey’s was good, mine was delicious!

We got dropped off near our apartment and were home by 4:00. It was a fun day, but we both decided we didn’t care for large group tours because you spend a lot of time waiting.