The final two days of our trip were spent in Costa Maya, Mexico and at sea. First stop was Costa Maya, which I was very excited about because that was the day we were going to see the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins! There were many opportunities throughout this trip to go see the ruins in the various locations we stopped at, but because this port had "Maya" right in the name, we thought it would be the best location to see them. The port itself was pretty cool. It was decorated in Mayan fashion, and there were performers all decked out in tribal clothing. One was even dressed up as an owl!
Our excursion took us about an hour away from the port to see the ruins, but our tour guide, Daniel (aka "Jaguar") was awesome and taught us all about Mayan culture and history on the way there. He was actually Mayan himself which was really interesting to discover, as I figured that the Maya were an ancient culture that did not exist today. It turns out there are still many people in Central America who speak the Mayan language and incorporate much of the Mayan culture into their daily lives!
It was SO COOL to see the Mayan ruins in person! It's always so interesting to see landmarks in person that you've only seen in books, and this was no exception. We only had about an hour at Chacchoben before the second part of our excursion, but it was really cool to learn more about the Mayans and the way they lived in ancient times.
(My camera died after this photo, so the rest of the Costa Maya photos are c/o my parents' camera!)
"We touched it!"
(Don't let my outfit fool you - it was HOT that day! I got fried on our excursion in Roatán and
was just trying to hide my poor sunburned arms from the sun.)
Our next stop was at a private beach club which was the perfect conclusion to the day! We had chairs to lounge on, an open bar, and an all you can eat buffet for lunch packed with Mexican and Mayan foods. Mexican food is my favorite so I was basically a walking heart-eyes Emoji the whole time. Of course, I had to grab a margarita and about 40 pounds of guacamole. Ah. May. Zing.
1. Check out dat sunburn. 2. Check out dat PLATE.
That is the face of one happy gal. #takemeback
Chillin' at the beach was the *perfect* ending to a long week of adventuring. Our tour guide Daniel taught us a phrase - "la hache" (unsure if it's the correct spelling...) - which basically means "one more for the road", and he encouraged us all to fully embrace the meaning of it. When we were called back to the bus to head back to the ship, we all grabbed a drink called a Costa Maya (obviously) and hopped on the bus as soon as the clouds opened up and it started pouring. Great timing! Costa Maya was wonderful, and I would love to return!
The next day was our last day on the ship and our last day of our trip before travelling home. It was also Lindsey's birthday! We kicked off the day by participating in a virtual 5K (actually 3.14 miles because the date was 3/14 - Pi Day!) called the Wild Rumpus Run that Mom had signed us all up for. We decided to don our family vacation tees that Dad designed (and everyone was super jealous of) and completed our run on the lower deck. (We even ran into someone who saw our shirts and told us that he knew someone in Maine with our last name!)
I spent most of the day just relaxing and reading my book. (I wanted to really savor the time off before hopping back into the madness that is March-May in Student Affairs) I did make some time to go to a towel folding demonstration that they had on ship, though (I mean I really could not get enough of the towel animals that were left in our cabins, so why not?). The day was a true ~vacation~ and really allowed us all to squeeze every last drop out of our trip.
That night we celebrated Lindsey's birthday with dinner at the French restaurant on board which was AWESOME. (I had escargot! YAS.) We all had yummy desserts and gave Lindsey gifts to celebrate the big 2-7!
This trip was so much fun, and I'm so happy my parents decided to bring my sister and I along for the experience! I can't wait for my next opportunity to travel with my family in the future. We always have so much fun! :) Be sure to watch my last vacation vlog below, and check out the other posts from this series as well!
Previous Vacation 2015 Posts: New Orleans | At Sea | Cozumel | Belize City | Roatán
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