CINCO DE DOGGO

Happy Cinco de Mayo from your favorite grrr-itos.

DAYS 6 & 7 - MEXICO ADVENTURE

It is the final countdown of our Mexican vacation. We stayed at the resort and dove into the amenities Banyan Tree Mayakoba offers.

 We spent lots of time on the beach during the day.

 Thursday was filled with an archery adventure. 

 Jose helped us keep score and find arrows that might have missed the target.

For dinner, the resort hosted a fancy cocktail night

 full of hors devours, 

mini show with Mayan characters,

 and then a 5 course Mayan dinner.

 We flew out Friday evening.

Before catching our plane, William and I played our first 18 holes of golf.

*We had to have a collared shirt to play so Ivanka and I borrowed some polos from William.*

Big thanks to our Caddy, Miguel.

Flying back to Europe with Condor Business class.

DAY 5 - VAMONOS MEXICO

Day 5 in Mexico brought us to a Cenote. We went to Rio Secreto for a private tour in an underground river full of with thousands of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites

 We were given wet suits, helmets, headlamps, and water shoes for our adventure.

Before entering the cave, we visited a Mayan Shaman who burned some incense and offered some words for purification and he wished us a safe journey.

 Our guide took us on a 3km tour that lasted about 3 hours through the cave with a combination of walking and swimming (or floating).

You have to be careful not to touch anything to help preserve the landscape.

It was an amazing opportunity you shouldn't pass up if you are in the area.

After the tour, we had a special lunch provided by Rio Secreto.

 For dinner, the 4 of us finished off a tomahawk 30 oz. steak.

Today was a good day.

MEXICO-ing DAY 4

Today was a resort day.

 We adventured around on bicycles. We saw iguanas, raccoons, birds, and a crocodile.

The resort is really in the middle of the Mexican jungle.

 Later in the afternoon, we spent time on the beach

 and in our private pool and hot tub inside our villa.

For dinner, we went on a boat ride around the hotels.

The hotel manager came to Milan and Ivanka tonight and told them have to charge them more for our various excursions. Apparently, they thought I was their daughter and we were 2 kids and 2 adults. *I'm blushing.*

Of course, we took turns driving the boat.

Hasta Mañana.

MEXICO VACATION - DAY 3

This morning, we loaded into a van with our driver Gustavo and tour guide Jose. Our first stop was at the humble home of a shaman (he calls himself a JMan) near Chichen Itza.

 He took sat us down individually to purify us and then he bonded us a family. It was...interesting.

My favorite part of this stop was this abuela shucking corn.

We continued our journey to our next destination: Chichen Itza. The Mayans used a tons of symbolism in all of the buildings in this complex. Our guide was giving us an in-depth explanation of it all. Then some in our group needed him to speed things along so he shortened it and we started taking photos.

Climbing the ruins was closed in 2007 to the public so we weren't allowed to go to the top. I was a little bummed at how commercial/touristy the area is, but it was cool to see.

 About fifteen minutes down the road, we stopped for lunch at a small Mexican restaurant. My group was afraid eating local food would upset their stomachs...so that meant more tacos and horchata for me! 

(PS my stomach was fine.)

While we were eating lunch, a cute little parade passed. I love being immersed in a culture.

The final spot on our itinerary for the day was Ek' Balam.

 It is another Mayan village in the Yucatan with ruins that we were able to climb and enjoy.

*Here we are rocking those homemade shorts I showed you from day 1.*

 The site is known for a plaster on the tomb (on the side of a palace) of a king who was buried inside.

My favorite part was climbing to the top to enjoy the view. 

The clouds were so fluffy today I thought I was gonna die.