Isla De La Mujeres (Island of the Women)

Today we drove down to the dock, got on a ferry, and rode to Isla De La Mujeres (Island of the Women).


Carson and Andan got a couple cool hats before we got on the boat.


We enjoyed Mexican music and dancing on the boat ride to the island.


We got off the boat not really knowing what Isla De La Mujeres was all about...but we were excited to find out!


What was I thinking? ISLAND of the WOMEN. I should have known it would be all about shopping, shopping, and shopping some more! Kathy and Brennah loved it!


The highlight for boys and me was the food.


Sometimes the most unsuspecting hole in the wall restaurants have some of the best food! Believe it or not, Kathy said that this was the best burrito she had ever eaten! It had corn ...ask Kathy... It doesn't look like much but it was really yummy. It was served piping hot. It seemed as if it had been cooked on a frying pan for a few minutes to melt everything real good inside. It had corn and rice inside which was a surprise. But the flavor was the kicker. Besides garlic, I don't know what else it was seasoned with but it was the perfect combination.


The shrimp that I ordered was friend in butter and garlic. It was really yummy too.


The streets in Isla Del La Mujeres are almost all one-way streets. And, they're just big enough for a golf cart. So, we rented one and the boys and I tooled around town while Kathy and Brennah shopped the sales. We rode down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was great fun.


We loaded all 7 of us up on the golf cart and drove to the other end of this 6 mile island to see the turtle hatchery.


The boys got to hold one of the turtles. They were pretty stoked about it.




We stopped at a road side stand and drank some refreshing coconut milk on the way back.

Ek' Balam

We loaded up on the bus this morning and drove for 3 hours to the ruins at Ek' Balam.


These ruins were dated much older than the ones we saw yesterday.


At the top of this one...


...we found what looked like a baptismal font. There was a drain at the bottom so they could let the water out.


The view from the top was really cool.


This one was the 2nd tallest of them all. Danny climbed to the top...


...and gave me a "Fire Power" pose.


The kids felt cool air blowing out of this hole in the wall. They were curious so they stuck their camera (with a flash) into this dark hole, took a picture, and then looked to see what was inside.


There was a staircase!


So, we looked around to make sure the school administrators were not looking. Then, we got the skinniest and most daring boy in the group and encouraged him to climb in!


He climbed in and used the flashlight on my iPhone to explore it. He climbed to the top of the stairs and took a few more pictures. He noticed sunlight in the distance and wanted to continue exploring but a Mexican curator noticed the commotion and started to come towards us so we told him to hurry and get out. He grabbed a golden head and then this giant bolder tumbled down after him. As he was running away from it, he managed to grab his hat before a big stone door closed. Then an old friend showed up with a bunch of natives and took it before he could get out. OK. My son Danny may have embellished the story a little. What really happened is his sandal fell off as he was scrambling out. The worker guy seemed to notice he was missing a shoe and suspected the kids were up to something. We distracted him and when he turned his back, the boy dove in and got his sandal and then walked away. When he saw the boy walking away with both sandals on, he gave him a frowny look. The boy said it was the most exciting part of the whole trip for him! I'm just glad the thing didn't cave in on him or something!


This looks like a baby in the womb of this statue. The statue looks like it has wings. I wonder if this is the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus? It's very fascinating.


The school administrator who has seen a lot of ruins said that he has never seen paintings like this before. He says that the color usually fades over the years. This looks like a white guy sitting and teaching other dark skinned people. I wonder what it means!


It's tough to see in this picture but the tallest structure of them all was the one covered in trees pictured here. Apparently, that's what these ruins look like before the archaelogists get to them. They're just huge mounds of boulders with trees and brush growing on them! The Mexican government doesn't have the money to restore them so they just sit there like this. It was pretty amazing to see. I can see how restoring that would be a major undertaking.


We made some new friends on the trip. Brian and Amy Kunz and their four kids go to the same school. They have three boys that are the same age as our three youngest boys (sitting at the table behind us). The 6 of them had a great time playing on this trip and Kathy and I enjoyed getting to know Brian and Amy. Brian is the founder and president of Northridge Publishing; a very successful business that is similar in many ways to mine. We're kindred spirits!


In addition to making new friends, we really enjoyed this Crem de la Crem de la Kathy (Creme Brulee). It was a nice, light Italian dessert. It was the perfect finishing touch to the Italian dinner that we enjoyed this evening.


The teenage kids talked us into going out on the town later this evening. We went to Mextreme and had a great time!


We enjoyed coconut ice cream served in a frozen coconut...


...and pineapple ice cream served in a frozen pineapple.


The kids all danced and had a great time.


Then a Mexican witch doctor-type guy came out and cast a magic spell on the boys from the school. He sat all four of them down on these chairs...


...and then had each one lay back and rest their heads on the knees of the person behind them.


He cast a magic spell on each one as he did it.


When they were all laying down...


...he began removing the chairs one by one!


When all the chairs had been removed, it seemed as if the boys were floating in mid-air!


Finally, he backed up to get a running start. Then, he ran up and jumped on them and knocked them all to the ground! It was pretty hilarious. We all loved it. It was so fun!

Akumal Ruins

We checked out of the Bungalow in Uxmal today and boarded the bus for a 4 hour ride to Akumal to see more ruins. Well, most of us did. Kathy and the three little boys drove back to the Hilton in Cancun. She texted me when she arrived and said "We're home!" :)

My parents, Danny & Brennah, all the kids from the school, and I drove to an Hacienda in Uxmal to see the ruins there.


We stopped for lunch on the way. It's difficult to see in this picture...but each window and door had a plastic bag with water hanging in it. It was very peculiar. I asked the waiter what it was for. He said that ancient Mayan tradition says that it keeps out the mosquitos. He said it's an old wive's tail like hanging cloves of garlic over the door or that a horse shoe brings good luck. I don't know if this one works but I do know that there were no mosquitos and we've fed a lot of mosquitos this trip...so maybe it's worth a try!


The chicken was so good! I thought that when we got out of Cancun, we would find some more reasonable prices but I was wrong. This dish cost $22. Maybe we got the special "Gringo" price!


These ruins were massive and much more elaborate than the last ones that we saw. They were more recent too.


We got to climb on these ones.


The stairs were very steep!


When we finally got to the top, we all sat down to rest. The view from the top was amazing!


We learned something very interesting when we got to the top. They excavated a hole in the top and about 6 feet in, they found...


...there was another ruin under the first. Apparently, it was the tradition of the Mayans, every 52 years, to build over the top of the first one. The guide said that they found some that were 7 layers deep!


This is the ruins of their arena where they played a ball game. The goal was to get the ball through that ring but you couldn't use your arms.


As I wondered what they could have possibly been thinking, I came up with a theory. I figured that if I were them, I would build these monuments with a vault in the center to store records. I told several people about my theory and then one of the guys in our group told me about a special he saw on the Discovery Channel regarding the ruins.


He said they used advanced Sonar technology to scan these ruins and they discovered a hidden cavern in the center. He said they also discovered a tunnel system underneath. They followed it and discovered a hidden entrance far away. The entrance was blocked with rocks and tons of ancient artifacts. They've been excavating the entrance of the tunnel for three years now! I am so fascinated by this. I'm going to do more research when I get back. I't so intriguing!


The Hacienda was amazing. We all had a fun time cooling off and swimming in the pool.


The food we ate for dinner was probably our least favorite of the whole trip. I got a seafood gumbo-type soup that tasted like beef stew but with seafood instead of beef. The spaghetti shrimp dish was fried in butter and just wasn't that good. My stomach was a little upset after eating it. I didn't even take a picture of it.

However, the ambiance was great! I still have trouble wrapping my brain around these open air structures with no walls or windows. My mind keeps asking "What do they do in winter?" I keep forgetting that they don't have winter here like we do in Utah!