Tulum

This is it! We found our little piece if Caribbean paradise, and the hard part will be leaving! When we got into Tulum the other afternoon we were reminded of why we kind of ran away from here a few years ago – there seems to be a lot of really expensive spas/resorts – a hotel room costs $300 a night, and they wanted to charge us $70 to camp in some palapa type thing on the beach - but, again, we persevered and found a beautiful place to camp on the beach (for free) inside the Sian K’aan Biosphere Reserve, between Tulum and Boca Paila (check it out on a map if you can). During turtle nesting season (May to October) many of these beaches are protected for them, but luckily for us they are away frolicking in the sea which allows us to frolic on their beach! There are some other Canadians, Americans and Europeans camping here as well (with kids) and there is a very nice vibe. The photos speak for themselves….no reef here, but there are some great waves for body surfing! Apparently there is a reef to snorkel 12 km down the road, so tomorrow we might head over there. We are also just minutes away from the Laguna Campechan, clear waters and lots of birds and fish to watch. No swimming though, as there is a quicksand type bottom and apparently crocodiles! At the entrance to the reserve (4 km up the road) there is a great cenote that we checked out yesterday, crystal clear water, colourful fish (including these neat Cichlids) in the middle of a mangrove jungle. We finally were able to rinse the salt off ourselves! And we got fresh water to do dishes with there too. I think this is the place to stay for a few days, with some side trips here and there – we definitely want to explore more cenotes, as they are very magical places. But there is no need to go up further north to the disneyfication of Cancun, or the grooviness of Playa del Carmen. We will chill here until we need to start making our way south again, through Chiapas and to the Guatemalan border.

Esto si que es el paraiso! Estamos en Tulum acampando en la playa por tiempo indeterminado. Econtramos terrible lugar en la reserva biosfera de Sian Kan’n entre Tulum y Boca Paila. Hay otra gente acampando tambien y nos estamos haciendo amigos. No hay arecife, pero las olas estan buenas para nadar. Ayer fuimos a un cenote cerca de aca, y estamos sacando agua dulce de alli. Tambien hay una laguna Campechan con muchos peces y cocodrilos a 5 minutos caminando! No creo que vayamos a Playa del Carmen, ya que encontramos este lugar que es perfecto. La idea es quedarse por aquí y en una semana empezar camino a Chiapas. Tal vez salimos a recorrer mas cenotes en la zona, porque estan increibles y por todos lados.