The Ruta Maya was a two week trip with the Rotary exchange students from district 4185 to the south of Mexico during December. The first week was spent visiting cities along the coast and beaches.
We left Veracruz on the 7th of December at night on a bus. We drove about three hours before stopping at a service station and waiting for the other two buses of students who left from Puebla. We drove all night and all the next day before arriving at Bacalar in the afternoon where we ate lunch and swam in the lake.
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| Bacalar |
We had a welcome party at night in Mahahual, where we slept the night. The next day we had free time to relax and enjoy Mahahual. We snorkeled in The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world behind The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I spent most of the day at the beach hanging out with friends.
I got really sick at night and went to the doctor at 4.30am the next morning. I had a stomach infection and I think the cause was drinking some of the sea water when I was snorkeling. We had to leave Mahahual at 7.30am so I rested on the bus while the rest of the group visited the Tulum. At night when we arrived in Playa del Carmen I went straight up to the hotel room and slept.
I felt a bit better the next day so I went with the rest of the group to Xcaret which is a park designed for tourists with beautiful beaches and a natural underground river. I didn't swim but instead I saw flamingos for the first time, visited the butterfly house, got my feet sucked by fish and took photos inside caves of people floating down the underground river.
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| Flamingos! |
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| Representing Australia |
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| The butterfly house |
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| People floating down the underground river |
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| A group of the exchange students |
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| Along the beaches were natural swimming pools as well as great photo opportunities |
At night we watched a show called 'Mexico en la piel' (Mexico in the skin.) It was spectacular that displayed traditional sports from the Mayan culture and also traditions in the different states of Mexico. It was interesting but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was feeling 100%
Everyone was excited on the 12th of December because we were going to Cancun! To start the day we drove to a boat terminal and went by ferry to Isla Mujeres and took photos with a shark and went snorkeling. The snorkeling experience was better on Isla Mujeres because there were brighter colours of coral and lots more fish! It was also better because I didn't drink any of the sea water and didn't get sick afterwards.
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| I joked that people in Australia can swim with sharks for free! |
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| On the boat |
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| Ready to snorkel |
We arrived at the Marriott Resort in Cancun in the afternoon and I was really surprised at how big it was! We received wrist bands that let us eat anywhere in the resort at any time and were told that we had the next day to do whatever we wanted to do as long as we stayed in groups and didn't leave the resort. At night we went to one of the parties at the resort and eventually got to bed in the early hours of the next morning.
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| Going out to party! |
I started the next day by going to the hotel gym and then relaxed for the rest of day. I got burnt for the first time on the tour and I still have the tan lines a month and a half later! The beach was beautiful but it was overcrowded and over-touristic. To be honest, the colour of the water was the same as some of my favourite beaches in Australia except with a lot less people!
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| Cancun |
The second part of the Ruta Maya including everything from the second week will be in the next posting.
