For the first half of the day, we snorkeled down the lazy river and it is LONG!! It took us till lunch time just to do that one activity and we saw some really amazing creatures. A stingray, a pelican, macaws, a toucan, dolphins, giant fish (60 pounders), tiny fish (neon tetras!), a barracuda, needlefish, blue tang, lots of cichlids (just like Heather & Stef’s), coral, and so much more.
One of the coolest things about snorkeling here is the “halocline and thermocline phenomena”. The saltwater and fresh stay separate from each other as the underground river flows into the ocean. This creates a “cool on top and warm on bottom” situation so there are different types of fish depending where you swim and the water is sometimes “blurry”; kind of like seeing heat waves off the pavement on a hot day.
After our nondescript buffet lunch (included in our entrance pass) we took the Jungle Tram back up to the top of the river and this time we decided to float down on inner tubes… but we took snorkel gear just in case we wanted to jump in and take a look around. So glad we did as we saw better fish the second time around – being more familiar with the lagoon.
The tube ride began in a mangrove forest which was, I will admit, a little creepy. Do you remember that part in Swiss Family Robinson where Fritz & Ernest fight with the giant water snake? Well, let’s just say that this little part of our tour was feeling WAY too familiar to that scary scene. Laura said, “If you see something creepy, please don’t tell me!”. LOL The “scariest” thing we saw in there were hermit crabs so that wasn’t too bad (but not sure we’d do it again!).
The floating bridge is the physical barrier between the protected lagoon area and the open ocean and it’s also where they do an activity called “Snuba”. Anyway, they feed the larger ocean creatures here so we were able to snorkel close enough to see them and Kent was able to get some video footage of these big guys. Anna and I DID see a very large grouper swim past us and when I hollered into my snorkel, it scared him away; which was fine with me ‘cause he was HUGE!
We had a few minutes left for a little land exploring so we walked through a grotto that was submerged under the main top layer of earth; hard to explain but very cool. We saw a few cenotes but weren’t able to snorkel in them.
We also walked across that floating bridge a couple times and, due to the rough ocean waters, that was no easy task; I assure you.
Near the end of the day, Kent walked up to a pelican and started giving it a friendly scratch on the beak. Anna walked over, scratched his beak, then pet his head and his back. He was lying down and seemed to feel very comfortable with them. Emily joined in the fun, too. God is so creative and we certainly enjoyed seeing some of His creativity today
Dinner was “Mexican Night” at the buffet, followed by fancy “flaming coffee”, a dance, and then a family game night in our room.
Time to hit the hay as we’re all exhausted from spending the day working out!
Tomorrow we have no plans and looking forward to it
1 comment:
So, did you make sure that there were 5 macaws in the photo to match the 5 people in the group?
Very nicely done BTW. Sounds like an incredible day!
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