~ Mexico ~

What an amazing trip we had. The weather was perfect, the resort was fantastic, the sites were incredible. What more can you ask for....oh, maybe more leg room on the flight.

We went to the Paradisus Riviera Cancun Resort with 640 other people the qualified for a trip through NAPA. One of the cool things about being in Mexico is that everything is outside...most of the hotel is not enclosed. The front lobby has no walls...the hallways are little bridges over water. Parts that are enclosed only have a thatch roof. It very different to the concrete jungle that we call home.

The first thing we did was head to the beach. The sand is incredible. It's like white flour. The coast line is resort after resort. So you can walk a long time as the waves come in.

We had the perfect blend of downtime at the resort and hitting the sights. Our first tour was Tulum and Xel-ha (pronounced Shell-ha)

In Xel-ha we snorkeled down the river and experienced all the amazing salt water fish....and the disgusting salt water....it's really salty.

To snorkel down the river we had to walk along the path that literally goes through the jungle, and they didn't always cut down the trees. And while you're walking along you can jump out of your skin cause weren't expecting the 3 foot long Iguana to be sitting there minding his own business. Brian got to walk first after that.

The next night was a huge out door dinner theatre in Xcaret. It's all in Spanish but you get the jist that it's the evolution of the Mayan culture and the Europeans discovering the country. Then there is a big presentation of all the different regions of Mexico and their native dances and costumes.

Our next tour was to Chichen-Itza which wasn't as long as would have liked, as it was a pretty long drive to get there. It's amazing though.

And the last days...just hanging on the beach. We got up early to see the sunrise...

A couple things that I noticed on our trip....

1. I think there should be a weight limit on bikini's. If you are not 18 and 110 pounds you should not wear a bikini. The same goes for speedos. This is especially true if you are 70 and walking on the beach in one. I don't care how tanned you are. That just says to me that many many people have witnessed this dangling display you are putting on.

2. I really can't think of a single reason that someone needs to tan topless. And also, unless you are 18 and 110 pounds...it is just not pretty. Maybe a little warning would be nice to so that we don't have to be so shocked and puke in our mouth a little when we are innocently walking along the beach.

3. All you can eat buffet....need I say more.

4. Sunscreen...it was created for a reason. It is possible to go home with a tan by using it. But if you want to sleep in pain and shower in even more pain...that's your business. I choose to use sunscreen.

5. I don't think there is a word in Spanish for 'use your turning signal'. Cause none of them do.

6. If you are driving a mongonormous bus with 50 people in it...maybe you should go less than 130 km/h. This applies further when you're on a gravel road in the jungle.

7. The highways in Mexico have this huge speedbumps on them. Some are the big humps that we see around. The others are like four lines of huge metal bowls turned upside down. You'd think with this on the road that they would slow down....no no...we like to get air in the tour bus.

8. Doesn't matter how small the bottles of alcohol are....a group of Italians can get drunk on a flight from Calgary to Cancun.

9. Humidity is an enemy to naturally curly hair.

10. As amazing as the trip was, and as beautiful as the land and weather was....I'm happy to live where I do and have my life. I don't live in a hut with a thatch roof and have my children begging with no shoes.