CANCUN

On Monday the 14th Rick and I flew early out of Salt Lake on Southwest Airlines to Cancun.  We left the house at 2:30 AM!  We had a short layover in Denver and arrived to Cancun in the early afternoon.

Just like last year we stayed at the Westin Resort and Spa on the South end of the Hotel Zone.  We had a nice Jr. Suite on the ground floor which was so nice.  We were able to walk right out to the pool from our room.  The resort is very nice of course, and the beautiful waters of the Caribbean Sea are amazing!  Such a beautiful blue!

Our first evening there we caught the bus and headed to La Isla mall to have dinner.  

We had some delicious Mexican food!

Afterward we each got a double scoop of Haagen Dazs.

That evening while I was relaxing in the room (because sitting on the flight had caused some serious pain in my knee) Rick wandered out to the beach and found a bunch of mama turtles coming up on the sand to lay their eggs.  He loved it!

He also found some baby turtles that he helped to put into the ocean.  After hatching out of their eggs the babies sometimes get a little lost and go the opposite direction of the water.  Anyhow, he enjoyed the National Geographic experience!

The next day we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at the hotel buffet.  It came included in our room stay and the food was amazing!  There was Mexican cuisine lined right up next to the American staples.  There was  a full pastry bar as well as a full fruit bar.  We did not ever go away hungry! 

 The big breakfasts are so nice because it fills us up until dinnertime.  

After breakfast we enjoyed the afternoon at the pool.

It was so relaxing and nice!

That evening we walked up to Navios Restaurant.  We had tried it out last year and really enjoyed it.  I ordered the coconut shrimp and Rick had the blackened grouper.  It was very good food.  

We both also ordered pina coladas.  YUM!
 

The next morning we took the bus north up and out of the hotel zone to the Cancun Market.  I wasn't too impressed.  The prices were high so we didn't buy much.  We did come away with some Mexican Vanilla for Brad and Ruth, Sarah, Kendra and ourselves.

Across the street from the market was a cute little pastry and drink shop.  We were in need of some water so we found ourselves seated inside.  Rick ordered a specialty mango drink and a cheesecake.  It was so pretty!  We were grateful to sit down for a few minutes before catching the bus back to the hotel.

After arriving back at the hotel we joined up with a small group for a cooking class.  Well, not really cooking but we learned how to make guacamole.  It was interesting to watch.  First they started with the makings of pico de gallo and then got into making guacamole.  (The secret ingredient is the roasted garlic)

Afterwards we all got a nice big sample of each!

That night we rode the bus back to La Isla Mall and ate at the Elephanthai.  We were not very hungry since we had eaten chips and guac not too much earlier.

The food was so good and full of flavor.

Of course, even though we were full we got us another Haagen Dazs ice cream before leaving:)

The next morning we had an excursion to La Isla Mujeres.  We were picked up in the soul train van.  It was a large van with curtained windows.  As we entered the bus we noticed a TV playing old 70's music videos and ABBA's Dancing Queen greeted us. On our hour ride to our destination we got to sing along to oldies.  

We stopped at three other hotels to pick up other groups heading for the same excursion.  We arrived at the marina and got checked in.  After half an hour we were able to get on the boat. 

The crew served up some juice while we waited ALMOST A FULL HOUR for the last part of our group to get there.  Sheesh!  They could have planned that better.   Our boat was a nice catamaran and we stopped half way between Cancun and Isla and did a little bit of snorkeling. The current was quite strong and we had to follow our guide.  Our boat moved ahead of us to pick us up.  

There were some nice fish to see:)

After snorkeling we were given a lunch of sorts with chips and pico, mac salad, something seafood and other stuff that I can't remember.  It was nothing to write home about. 

We got to Isla Mujeres, and while Rick went to check into renting a golf cart I got a massage and facial right close to the dock.  It was SUPER!  He came back halfway through it and took this picture:0

After my facial (my face looked and felt fresh) we only had about an hour left.  (Our time was so short there on the island.  We had about two and a half hours, is all.)

We hopped in the cart and went for a drive.

We definitely stopped to get a chocolate covered churros.

Then we drove out to the north side of the island to see the beautiful beach and water!

Before leaving we got a picture by the Isla Mujeres sign.

Memories!!

After our day at Isla we got back to the hotel and didn't really want to go out to eat so we just got us some grub at the hotel's poolside restaurant.  We both got the hamburger and fries and they were so delicious!

I loved how the buns were branded with the hotel's logo.  You don't see that everyday!  I'm sure we paid extra for that brand :).  Those were spendy burgers.

The next day was an exciting day.  It was the day we had waited a whole year for....

the Whale Shark Excursion!  We woke up early (having had to miss that amazing breakfast buffet:(

We were picked up in a van and then stopped at three other hotels to pick up other groups heading for the same excursion.  (That's the joy of being furthest south from the marina.  We are the first to get picked up and the last to get dropped off.😮)

We got to the marina and got checked in.  We got to choose a muffin and juice before getting onto the boat.  After getting sized for some wet suits we started out for our hour and a half ride out into the ocean. 

 We passed Isla Mujeres and went out North from there.  We were unsure if we would be able to find the whale sharks but we were blessed to find them.  We gathered that there were about five of them.  Since there were more than two sharks all of us swimmers were able to get in at one time.  Rick had the GoPro and hopefully got some good footage of us with the sharks.  We have yet to be able to download the video, so we'll see.....

We read that the whale sharks average about 35 feet, but the ones we saw were not that big.  They must have been younger ones because they were about twenty feet long.  Still it was nice to get in the water with them and watch them feed on the krill.  

We were able to jump in three different times for only a few minutes each time.

After looking forward to this event for a year it was a little disappointing not to have much time in the water as well as seeing smaller sharks than what we were expecting.  Even so, it was an amazing experience and something we can check off of our bucket list!

After arriving back at our hotel it was rainy, so we took a nap.

We then got dressed up and went out for our last dinner of the trip.

We caught the bus but got on the Cancun city bus which then proceeded to stop at every stop to pick up more and more people.  It was shift change time and many of the locals were headed home so our bus while empty when we started was packed by the time our stop came up.  I was wondering how I was going to get off with so many people standing in the aisles.  Not happy, BOB!  Yup, we both had to squeeze through all of the bus standers to get to the door.  Didn't like that so much.

Filled to the brim.

We hopped off at the Isla Mall again.  We ended up eating at the Argetinian steak House.  Last year when we came we ordered SO much food.  This time we scaled back and just got a little something for each of us.  Then we had to stop off at Haagen Dazs for one last scoop of ice cream.

It rained most of the night and was still coming down pretty hard in the morning.  We started our morning with that fabulous buffet and then went back to the room to get packed up.  Packing up at the end of a trip is pretty easy.  Everything has pretty much been worn so it goes into the laundry bag and then into the suitcase.  We had two of our beach towels that we had brought from home that we had to leave there.  They were still so wet and almost mildewy from sitting out wet for a few days.  That's ok, though.  It really is time to get some new ones.

Well, that's about it for our trip.  We caught our flight out of Cancun, made a little stop in Houston and got home by 9 PM.  

We had a great time on this trip eating good food, spending time in the water with the wildlife, and exploring Isla Mujeres.  Another memory into the books!