Ketchup on my Bathing Suit

Is there a better sign of a good vacation than having to stain treat your bathing suit? I mean what else reeks of an amazing vacay than a condiment stain on your pool-wear? To be completely fair, I don't remember eating anything but chicken and rice in said bathing suit, but "Chicken on Bathing Suit" sounds not at all swanky. 

Of course, we have been home for a week, but vacation vibes are still lingering. This was one of the greatest vacations we have ever been on. Seeing the ruins, especially Lamanai, deep in the jungle, was so amazing. But I think the "pinch me" feeling really set in for us on the last excursion day. 

Our port stop was Cozumel, but our excursion was in Playa del Carmen. Actually, that's not true. I have no idea where excursion was! We took a ferry to Playa del Carmen, and then drove around in a van for awhile after that. We were somewhere loose in Mexico outside of Cozumel. :) 

Actually, before we got into the van, we schlepped around Playa del Carmen in our bathing suits. It was roughly 312 degrees Celsius, so it was such a lovely stroll. HA! 312, I have noticed, is my go-to round up  number for exaggeration. But it was H-O-T, hot. And you know what's true about people who live in hot climates? They are better acclimated to it. So while Carlos turned on the AC, he turned it on low. If you're not hitting the panic button, don't worry, I did! What that sounded like was me saying, "Nope" from the back of the van and pushing my delightful travel partner up the "aisle" to sit with the poor unassuming French exchange student. At the first stop the contents of the van voted for me to sit up front with the driver. The great thing about being the group problem early is that other weird things are going to happen (and they did), and so people forget about your own weirdness! In case I forget to mention it, the other weirdness that outranked my heat-panic-attack involved a mix up with dollars and pesos, and a basic self combusting bloody nose. See? I'm so normal. 

Anyway...our first stop was a cenote. A cenote is basically a sinkhole, or pit, formed in the limestone in the Yucatan peninsula. It's a source of local freshwater, and may have had importance to the Mayan people. But we got to swim in two! 

There are cenotes all over this area. We drove by quite a few with signs advertising them. The one we went to is on private land that is leased to the adventure company. You could jump or zipline in, or simply just snorkel. We chose the snorkel option. I mean the zip lining looked fun, but the chance of having a bathing suit mishap in this very public place was pretty high. Who needs that? ;) The water was so cold in relation to the outside temperature - it felt really good. 

There was a deep part where people jumped, and then a little shallower part (6-8 feet or so) that you could snorkel in. There were tiny fishes, and A LOT of moss on the rocks. Even though the water was clear, it gave a sort of swampy feel to it. One of us snorkeled and explored. The other one got spooked and fought the inflatable hose on her life preserver, and the phone case lanyard at every turn. You can't be too careful! This person also accidentally took a five minute video of her feet and bathing suit that will not be aired. 

We spent the remaining time at this stop nearly drowning while taking selfies. Most of them turned out like this.  🤣

This is our favorite, maybe of the whole trip. Please zoom in to see neither of us with our eyes open. 

Our next stop on this day was just down the road. It was another cenote, but this time in a cavern. We've been in many caves over the years, even on a boat in a cave in....who knows where that was!! But swimming in one was next level. 

The pictures aren't great. I mean, it was dark, neither of us could see up close without our glasses, and you know, we were still swimming!

The really special part was it was just our little group in here.  While there was a tiny current, otherwise, the water was still. A few catfishes skirted here and there, but otherwise there was nothing at all to see but the massive rocks beneath us.  I've ever seen anything like that before! A week later, I still can't believe we got to do that. That we got to do any of this. Every day was magical. 

And what's more magical than finding a Haagen Daz before the ferry?  We have a long history with Haagen Daz in Bellevue Square and, for me, in Waikiki. Plus, what's better than cold ice cream on a warm day?

Happy sigh. I even ate weird chicken (again) and *gasp* changed clothes at a strange little dressing room in the middle of nowhere. A surprising day all around! ;)

We're home, but I think there's probably one more blog brewing. Bingo and Whiskey? Golden Girls? Ten Hours in Tampa? It's something in there. Ha! 🩷