Mexico Video and My Preferred Travel Buddy Qualities: Davis & Michelle's Epic Adventures

 

Optimal Travel Buddy Qualities

(in no certain order)

1. Appreciates sunsets and waits for the aftershocks. 

2. Cool with just going for an evening walk just to see if anything is going on. 

3. Down for sharing food so that all the snack sampling can be accomplished. 

4. Goes with the flow. Yes, there's a rough plan, but not regimented. 

5. Understands that travel mishaps are inevitable but doesn't get bent out of shape. 

6. Seeks understanding of new cultures and customs, no matter how different they seem. 

7. Willing to try new things/foods and step outside of their comfort zone. 

8. Has decent navigation skills and is aware of their surroundings. 

9. Chooses local versus big box/chain, when possible. 

Yes, Davis has all of these qualities that I appreciate (+more) and I love him even more for developing his love for travel.

Cenotes, Chichen Itza, and Cochinita Pibil in the Yucatan: Davis & Michelle's Epic Adventures

 

Cenote Tankah

Day 1: Today started slow because we were worn out, but once we got going, we rocked it. We headed out of town to check out the Tulum Ruins. Tulum was one of the last Mayan cities and was used as a major seaport trading hub. After walking through the archaeological site, we jumped on a collectivo. This is a mode of transport in Mexico where you flag down the van, jump in, tell the driver where you’re going and then they drop you off near the spot, but on the main road. The collectivo took us to our first round of cenotes. Cenotes are basically large limestone sinkholes where you can jump in and swim and used to serve as a water source for the Mayans. We were able to enjoy two open-air cenotes today; one was fresh water and the other was adjacent to the Caribbean, both of which were full of fish and refreshing.

Breakfast : chicken empanadas and French toast

Tulum Ruins

Coati

Goofing off in Cenote Tankah

Caleta Tankah // school of mullet (I think)

Watching soccer while our burgers were grilling.

Blackberry Tres Leches

Day 2: “Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale." -Hans Christian Andersen

Exploring cenotes has been a dream of mine since I saw them on a travel show a long time ago. Even better, I got to enjoy them with Davis. We met up with a local guy in Chemuyil this morning and started our day by learning how to prepare a traditional Mayan dish; cochinita pibil. After we got the pork marinating and simmering, we took off on bikes to explore 4 cenotes in the area. Walking up to the jungle cenotes seemed like we were in a fairytale and snorkeling in the caves amongst the fish and bats was incredible.

Pork is in the basket to the left. A banana leaf is in the pot (pork goes on top). Then, sour orange juice and achiote spice is mixed together and poured on top. Then it cooks for a few hours.

1st Cenote on today's excursion. 

 

Heading to the 2nd cenote.    Sooooooo many mosquitos, but a beauty!!!

 

Biking to and from cenotes in Chemuyil.

  

The Bat Cave Cenote

 

Cenote 4. Davis’ favorite since he could jump in.

  

Lunch is ready! Cochinita pibil on the left. Onions and sour orange juice. 

Roasted habaneros and sour orange juice.

Hours later...

Dinner at a cool outdoor food court. Grilled corn and pork bbq. 

Just realized I ate double pork today. Both were delish!

Day 3: We traveled deeper into the Yucatán, with a stop for the night in Valladolid. Valladolid is a colonial town, dating back to the 1500s when it was colonized by the Spanish.

After the bus ride and then getting absolutely poured on while walking to our new house, we decided to swing away to relax.

Iglesia de San Servacio and the town square.

“La Purificadora” / The Purifier

 

Calzada de Los Frailes. Cute street w/shops & brightly painted homes. 1st rolled ice cream for him.

Found a bakery to pack some snacks for tomorrow’s adventures. $0.25 for each item.

Day 4: "One of the ceaseless wonders of the world: The power of a smile." ~ Malcolm Forbes

We were all smiles as we wandered around one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Chichen Itza is thought to have been a religious, military, political, and commercial centre starting in 550AD. Such a cool and complex site to explore.

El Castillo. This pyramid was built on top of another temple around 700AD.

Group of the Thousand Columns. People suggest that they symbolize, within the human being, along with the thousands of psychological defects that we carry, we also have different aspects of warriors that help us fight the evil that we carry within.

The Ball Court. Here the game of Pok-a-Tok was played, the most popular sport among the Maya.

Davis’ first New Seven Wonders of the World.

Sacred Cenote. The Maya deposited valuables and human bodies into the cenote as a form of sacrifice to the rain god Chaac.

El Caracol, the Observatory. The ancient Mayan observatory building provided a way for them to observe changes in the sky.

Tamale in Cancun as we prepare for our flight home tomorrow.

Earthquake, Surfing and Turtles in Puerto Escondido: Davis & Michelle's Epic Adventures

 

Day 1: After a 4am start to the day, this is our reward. Puerto Escondido is in the Oaxaca region, on the southwest coast and is a small fishing and surf town with a focus on ecotourism.

Trying out the rooftop hammock at our hotel.

180 stairs down to our beautiful beach. That’s the optimism in me speaking because the 180 back up to the hotel was hotttttt.

Piña Colada Time.

Heading to town.

Bracelet Buddies!

Tlayuda. Traditional food from the Oaxacan region, is a large, thick corn tortilla folded over cheese and other ingredients. It is cooked longer than a typical tortilla. Delish!

Day 2: We survived!!

Earthquake!! Surfing!! Baby Turtles!

We started the day with our room shaking and the earth gurgling due to a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. We survived!

Surf lessons for both of us followed that experience and all was going well. Davis owned his first ride on the sizable 5ft waves and when it was my turn, I was able to stand up for a few seconds. BUT THEN…. La Bruja popped up! The Witch is what the locals call a wave that pops up out of nowhere and destroys EVERYONE. Like, boards up, bodies down, disoriented, destroyed. EVERYONE! x2 because a second one followed. We survived!

We ended our day visiting a sea turtle preservation camp where a local non profit group works to increase the sea turtle population and public awareness. There are 4 species of sea turtle here and today, we released 6 baby Olive Ridleys. They survived…we hope… but only 3% survive, though.

Hiking down to the turtle conservation camp.

Each stick is a recovered turtle nest. The ones in the back with the ring around it are about to hatch. The netting above the camp helps control temps, to control the turtle gender.

Releasing “Rummy”

The release.

Enmoladas … corn tortillas filled with chicken and cheese and then covered with mole sauce.

Day 3: Chacahua National Park: A Secluded Treasure

One hour van ride; over a million speed bumps. Boat ride through the mangroves; saw tons of wildlife. Hung out at the beach; swam and watched surfers. Hiked up a hill to a huge rock formation on the ocean; great views at sunset. Boat ride back to van; stopped to swim with bioluminescent creatures.

Mariposo

Sopes with beans, cheese and avocado.

Yellow Footed Egret. One type of egret out of at least 5 we saw. The lagoon is also home to 4 types of mangrove. There are 246 species of plants and 189 species of animals…including crocodiles, coral snake, rattlesnake and anaconda.

Chilling in Chacahua. Chacahua has been a National park since 1937. It is made up of 4 large lagoons, 35k acres made up of savannas, mangrove and coastal dune. There are a few small communities that live on the islands, but with little cell service and some WiFi.

Walking to the point

Swinging away.

Vibes

Climbed to the top of the rock formation for sunset pics

Climbing down like a rockstar.

Bioluminescence in the lagoon// no flashlights, just natural bio coming from the boat wake.

Day 4: Y’all!! We surfed again today and I rode two waves!! I’m proud that I gave surfing a try, with Davis’ encouragement. We then headed to another beach to snorkel and swim in the ocean, while watching people get wiped out on shore due to the crazy powerful waves.

Sunset Time

Mojarra / Tilapia

Puerto Angelito

My sunset loving buddy.

Day 5: I’ve seen dolphins and sea turtles before while kayaking, but observing them NEVER EVER gets old. I get excited and full of happiness with each encounter. Today, Davis and I went out on a boat for a sunrise expedition. We saw tons of sea turtles mating, manta rays flying, and sailfish sailing in the air, none of which I’ve seen before. Even better? When a large school of dolphin came swimming through (like hundreds of them), I jumped in the crystal clear blue water with my goggles on and swam with them and the bioluminescent phytoplankton that were so bright you could see in daylight. With my head under water and making eye contact with the dolphins, we connected.

A Dream Is Possible, especially at sunrise. 

Fisherman cast netting to catch bait.

Heading out to sea. 

Sea Turtles Mating!!

Mating in action. 

Family of dolphins. 

 

  Breakfast views.                                  Lunch Views.