Where Did She Go Now?

So I may or may not have done something bad. An all-inclusive in Riviera Maya, Mexico. I know, it’s not true back packing, there is no such thing as roughing it when at a five-star hotel. To be honest, I think it was rather refreshing to eat good food, and sleep in clean sheets… it made me miss street food, and sleeping bags more than ever. So I didn’t, I mean, I really couldn’t spend the week sitting on a beach, soaking in sun and doing nothing. I had a little adventure.

Meet The Travelers: Elena Favaro Viana and Jordan Fragomeni

Duration: One Week, 7 days, 7 nights.

  The week began quiet, until we put in all of our money to do some excursions. Jordan, a virgin traveler, has only really experienced big cities, or his national home land, Italy. I wanted his to see the crazy things this world has to offer. We we started by climbing a Mayan Temple: COBA. No big deal, roughed it to the top, and felt the breeze go by as we stood hundreds of feet above the jungle. I later learned this is where they held human sacrifices. If you have ever seen Apocalypto, the scene where they through down human heads from the temple, is basically what I was standing on. Of course I saw this film on my return from Mexico, so when I stood on top, I didn’t have the gory visual in my head and it was much more enjoyable.

This was followed by a swim through the cenotes. Underground caves in which rivers flow. Essentially the Yucatan peninsula has no above ground rivers, all of them run through the under ground creating vast caverns, and mystical wonders. The water was fresh and frigid, but the water was so clear, transparent and blue. It was so inviting! This is not to mention how ‘Jurassic Park’ it was. The vines, and the caves, and the greenery. I was just waiting for a T-Rex to pounce off the rocks and snatch my head. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Secondly, the adventure continued… it was a little bit more tame. We went biking through the Mayan jungle, at Xel-Ha. A giant park, very tourist friendly where fresh water and ocean water collide to create a natural aquarium. We spent the whole day here exploring the sights, and swimming with the fishies. If you head down to Riviera Maya, this place is a hot spot for tourists, but the snorkelling could be better. Yet, the trails lead to all other activities, like swimming with the dolphins, or manatees. I was a little intrigued by the manatees… who can say they swam with a manatee? Unfortunately, I cannot say I have either. (We were on a budget). Next time.

The park has Mayan caves, and tubing through tunnels of vines. My camera broke this day, so I am missing a ton of photo’s that I had to store up in my own brains memory box. Hopefully they don’t wear with time.

Our last excursion, was the most adrenaline pumping. Zip linning above the Mayan jungle, river rafting, and off-roading in little buggies. I honestly don’t even know what to call the car we were driving in, but it took us in underground caves, where the only light came from the head lights of our jeep. Once we turned those off we sat in the pitch dark. It was possibly the highlight of my trip because I have never really gone off-roading in underground caves or Mayan jungles before, so this was a solid first for me. The park was called XPLOR, and man oh man did we explore the hell out of it.

Even though it was an all inclusive week, and each excursion was out of our hotel… I still can successfully say the week had as much adventure in it as anyone could muster up from a luxury vacation. It was a memorable week, and I loved every second of it.