Day 9 - Xcaret

Waking up after a peculiar dream of turtles with six packs, it was only six in the morning and we were already up and getting ready for what was going to be a long day out...

After a 'hearty' breakfast we grabbed a load of buns, pastries and rolls for the journey and got a taxi to Xcaret. Xcaret is an Eco park and is filled with animals, shows & performances and activities and we had no idea how we were going to pack it all into one day.


















We began by checking out the monkeys, tapirs and jaguars and then onto a river tour and a walk around 'the jungle' discovering a mushroom farm and orchid house.



The beautiful river cruise

To get to the river cruise, we walked through the 'jungle' and then through some caves and came out into a secluded area with the sweet sounds of nothing but rippling water. Evie and I were lucky enough to get the front seats on the 'boat' which was similar to an extremely large gondola complete with our own gondolier and were transported into a world of paradise as we floated through caves and past wild animals.




Some of the weird and peculiar yet fascinating looking mushrooms







Breathtaking orchids

















We popped into the orchid house for a while to take a few snaps but the heat was unbearable. So we headed down somewhere cooler, to the bat caves. When I was younger, bats were my favourite animals, I'm unsure now to why that was but I think it was because they were so different to any other animal I'd ever seen.

After lunch by the beach we headed on to see the 'sea creatures.' There were dolphins, nurse sharks & their 'dead' eyes, manatees, sting rays and turtles.





My favourite animals














For the rest of the afternoon we went to the aquarium to escape the midday heat & I lost myself in amongst the breathtaking corals & alien looking fishes.





















As soon as the sun began to set, the shows began.









Safely on the ground, beginning their rain dance








We saw an amazing show 'the flying men' where these five Mexican men wearing traditional dress, performed a rain dance on top of a 40 foot pole, with no support but a rope around their ankles...the highlight of the show was when they threw themselves off the top of the pole & swung around upside down from their feet until they reached the ground, it really was breath-taking.

The next show was a horse show with men & women in beautiful costumes filled with music and 'dances.' The final show was the highlight of my day. It began with a walk to the 'theatre' and along the way there was music & more beautiful men & women in tribal costumes to set the scene for the show.




















Like many of the animals & shows at Xcaret, the finale was incredible & was filled with dances, songs but also a traditional game, like football, but where the ball is passed not by the feet, but by the hips, yes, the hips! To top it all off they also played tennis with a ball that was set on fire. Like I said, incredible.