Cliff Jump'n in Xel-Ha

Today we went to Xel-Ha which is a Mayan name that means "Heck of a great time eating and snorkling!" Well...if it doesn't mean that, it should because that's what we had. It's actually a place where a fresh water river meets the ocean. Snorkeling at Xel-Ha (pronounced Shell-Ha) is like swimming in a HUGE salt water fish tank! It was amazing!!

We took some under water photos but haven't developed them yet...so we'll have to wait on those. The kids had a great time at the park there.

Even Grandma got into the action. I taunted her into climbing up into the tree bridge but I didn't really think she'd actually do it. At the end of the day, she told me that she never thought she'd see the things she has seen or do the things she has done on this trip. She said she and Dad feel 20 years younger!

After eating a HUGE all-you-can eat breakfast, snorkling for 4 hours, and then eating a HUGE all-you-can eat lunch, we got all strapped in...

...and went speeding down a Zip Line...

...right into the water!

Coming back was just as fun!

We went cliff jumping too! Danny asked me if he had to wear his life jacket. In my best Pirates of the Caribbean voice, I said "First, there's nobody here to enforce the rule...there's just a sign. And secondly, you must be a Mexican for the code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. If you think you can survive it, then go ahead and do it. Welcome to Mexico, Mr. Oaks!”

So he did!

Kathy jumped too!!

Carson jumped and Brennah jumped too but nobody was there to shoot a photo of it.

Jackie and Andan were too afraid to do it by themselves. But, Jackie was willing to do it if Danny held his hand and counted to three. Andan said he was willing to jump with me but after counting "One...Two..." he tried to back down. But, I didn't let that deter us. I quickly said "THREE!" and we jumped (well, I jumped and brought him with me)! Kathy wasn't too happy about it. I heard a derogatory "Daaaan..." :( as we left the edge of the cliff. But it was all good. Andan was all smiles when we came up!

I took a short-cut and climbed the face of the rock wall to get back to the top. It's a good thing that rope was there to help. And, it's a good thing you can't hear me panting! We scrambled back to the bus and slept on the 90 minute ride back to the hotel.

I'm sorry but I didn't get any food photos or recipes. We left the camera in the locker during each meal. The buffet was so good. There was a wide variety of delicious and unusual food. But, the hit today was the Cayap drink. It was a Piña Colada with Mango juice and it was unbelievably good! I've gotta get a recipe for this! If any of you have ever heard of this before or know how to make it, please let me know.