Gators!

After we left the cruise ship we picked up a rental car then made a quick stop in the Everglades to check out the gators at Gator Park.

We arrived there with enough time to check out the baby alligators before the feeding show started. These little gator babies were so still that they seriously looked like little toy alligators all thrown in together.

There were coin operated food dispensers near their enclosure, so we bought some, tossed it in and they went absolutely wild. It was really a strange sight to see! They had them separated into the different ages...these two were the smallest two sizes, I believe. The ones on the left were probably a foot long, the others were maybe eight or nine inches.

On our way to the feeding show we came across this huge alligator skin that was on display. Yeah, it looks big in the first picture, but in the second picture you can compare it to Rob and then it seems even bigger! Seriously, that was a big ol' gator! His name was Grandpa.

We came across another stuffed gator or two along the way. Oh, and there was a live alligator that they'd restrained his chompers and you could have your picture taken while sitting on his back. Crazy, I know...but there were plenty of people doing it. I have to admit, I was a little tempted (just a little), but Rob was looking out for me and kept me safe...you know, on the other side of the fence, with all the other sane people. ☺

We got to the feeding area/breeding pond just in time for the show. All the gators knew what was going to happen so they were all slowly creeping up out of the water. It was surprising how many of them there were! They would just walk all over each other too...stepping on the bodies, tails and faces of the other alligators without any hesitation.

The feeding was really neat to see, but I only caught about 23% of it. You see, the feeder guy had big buckets of rats that he was feeding them. And me, I don't do so well with vermin of any nature. I just kept my eyes elsewhere and relied on Rob to tell me when it was okay to look. Big baby, I know.

The feeder guy was luring the alligators up on the fence and even got a few to climb up it with all feet. He had them jumping for their snacks too. It's amazing how much air they can catch! There were several alligators that were missing partial or full limbs as well as tails. Apparently things get pretty violent out there!

As we were heading towards the exit we saw a few geese (or maybe they were swan?? I am glad that my brothers don't really read this blog. They'd be ashamed that I cannot differentiate between a goose or a swan!) and I foolishly thought that they'd be safer than the alligators we'd just observed. Well, they weren't. One of those vicious little birds attacked me. Seriously, it did. It reached it's long neck through the fence and bit my leg...then it kept following me around and taunting me until we left. Good thing Jordan wasn't around or that little birdie would have been dinner to someone. ☺

México

Mexico was busy port for us. On the boat we'd met a group of ladies that lived by us (small world!) and had chartered a tour to Tulum, a larger set of Mayan ruins. They were so kind enough as to invite us to join them. We debated as to whether or not they could be crazy kidnappers or something and came to the conclusion that yes, they were indeed crazy, but not kidnappers, so we decided to tag along.

Our trip to Tulum started out by arriving in Cozumel, ferrying from Puerta Maya to Playa del Carmen where we boarded our van to Tulum. The van ride was supposed to be an hour long, but we had a super speedy driver who got us there in 45 minutes...we were glad because we weren't expecting to have a lot of time at the ruins, so his heavy foot got us a few extra minutes...and him a good tip!

It was a little weird that we had to stop and pick up his girlfriend (who we were fairly certain was underage), and even weirder that Rob had to ride between the two, but it was an interesting ride nonetheless.

Tulum was really exciting! It was a lot different than what I had imagined. It was located right on the water and the place was packed! Lots of the tourists were hanging out at the beach and swimming, but since we weren't aware that the ruins were so close to the beach we weren't dressed appropriately. We actually thought getting to the ruins was going to involve some hiking so we were all dorked out in hiking gear.

We really enjoyed the ruins and would have liked to have more time to spend there. It was so hot out, but we sprinted through the place to make sure we got to see it all before heading back. Seeing these ruins made us regret not seeing the ruins in Belize. There are some more Mayan ruins further West of Tulum called Chichen Itza, but our stay in port wouldn't accommodate a visit there. Next time we're in Mexico, maybe?? ☺

Here's an aerial shot of the site that I found online...just to give you an idea of the layout. Pretty spread out. Amazing.

Back at Playa del Carmen there were a bunch of military guys with big ol' guns all around the ferry loading. I thought it was weird, but had to document it. I am way too big of a wuss to take a full on shot, so camera in hand I folded my arms, guesstimated what angle my camera was at and took a shot. Luckily I have mad camera skills and captured a great picture. Rob thinks I am a nerd for doing this. And maybe just a little stupid. My words, not his...but I could see it in his eyes. ☺

We did have some time to shop and beach hop in Cozumel before the ship left. We came across this store that had a bunch dog t-shirts. We aren't ridiculous enough to actually buy one for Jackson, but we are ridiculous enough to take pictures of them (and to later have wished we would have bought one).

That was Mexico, and our last port of the cruise. I still have loads of pictures to post from our actual time on the ship, plus our time in Miami before the cruise, along with our few days in the Keys after the cruise. Yes, this vacation is going to drag out forever, blog-wise.

Belize

We were so un-Belize-ablely lazy this day. Lame pun, I know, but I just couldn't resist!! We'd scheduled an excursion to Altun Ha, a smaller grouping of Mayan ruins, but we decided to skip it.

At this port we couldn't walk right off the boat onto the dock, we had to take a 20 minute tender in which would have required us to be up and at the tender spot around 8:00 in the morning. Yes, that is too early for us...especially since we'd stayed up in the karaoke lounge until 2:00 the night before!

We slept in a bit and made our way into Belize City a little later in the morning. Apparently we were still pretty groggy because the lady that took our picture told us that we looked bored in the first one and demanded we smile for another picture. So this is us, cheesin' it up on the tender into Belize. We look excited to be there, right?

We did a bit of sightseeing near the port, then we headed straight for the shops. We got a lot of fun things there. We may or may not have picked up some slingshots for my nephews, which I am sure their parents will be thrilled about them receiving. ☺

All along the shops they had pillars that had the neatest carvings in them. Not many of the pictures I took of them came out too clearly though.

We'd stopped into a pharmacy and saw that they offer nearly every kind of perscription medication imaginable over the counter. Lipitor, Prozac, Lunesta, Viagra, Retin A, Amoxicillin...everything! No prescription needed! Crazy, right? I was a little tempted to pick up a few dozen things, but then I wasn't too trusting in the quality/safety of the pills. Come on, I have more smarts than that!

After we'd shopped and saw the sights for what seemed like days hours upon hours we were pooped and ready to head back to the ship. Looking back, we both wish we would have sucked it up, risen at the crack of dawn and gone to Altun Ha, but Rob just says that now we have a reason to head back to Belize. Really, I wouldn't mind that!

We're expecting

I'd like to interrupt the very important posting of vacation pictures to announce some incredibly exciting news. We've been suspecting this was the case for a little while, but have just received confirmation in the form of a positive test.

In just a short time we will be surrounded by the pitter patter of little feet.

The pitter patter of a lot of little feet actually...puppy feet to be exact.

Yes, Jackson is about to be a Papi. Apparently while he was staying at Rob's Mom's house for those two weeks while we were on vacation he just couldn't manage to keep it in his pants (kidding, of course...I may dress him in shirts and sweaters, but I would never put him in pants) and he's now left Maggie (Rob's Mom's female dachshund) in a family way.

Looks like in a little over a month and a half we'll be overflowing with puppies. This addition to our family is unexpected and we definitely aren't ready to turn our home into a doggie daycare, so...put in your orders now. Who wouldn't want a loverly little puppy to snuggle with all day?

Seriously, who wants a puppy?

Honduras

The second stop on our cruise was Isla Roatan, Honduras. The port was at a newly built resort called Mahogany Bay. It was SO hot and humid here! As our ship was backing up to the island I went out on our balcony to take a picture and the humidity fogged up the camera lens. It was like trying to breath in a steam room!

We planned to go on a Snuba excursion at Gumbalimba Park Resort which was on the other side of the island. We had to take a shuttle to get there. We went from one lovely resort, through the poverty ridden downtown and neighborhoods to another lovely resort, which we we going to Snuba at. The ride there was very humbling. It made me feel bad to be enjoying such a lovely vacation while there was such impecuniousness surrounding me. All of the locals we met were so friendly and eager to share their beautiful surroundings with us. It was really a great experience!

We spent several hours at the resort. We went on the Snuba excursion, swam in the pool, explored the surrounding greenery and just took in the laid-back-ness of the place. We took loads of shots with the waterproof camera, so I am really excited to get them developed and share them!

After leaving Gumbalimba, we headed back to Mahogany Bay to do a little souvenir shopping and take some pictures of the actual pirate ships that were rotting in the bay. It was so hot there that we didn't stick around for too long. We grabbed up a few buys and then dashed back to the ship to collapse in the air conditioning.

There are a few other little details I wanted to share about our Snuba experience, but I figure that they'll be funner to hear about accompanied by some pictures we took, so stay tuned!