Favorite Place
Last semester I was part of the Indian Epics sister class, and this semester I am happy to announce that I have found a new favorite place! I actually just got back from a vacation to the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, and spent the last two weeks exploring the beaches and cities in the Riviera Maya region. While the hotel we stayed at was stunningly beautiful, the lagoon region of the Xel-ha ecological park we visited let me go snorkeling for the first time ever. They have an reef ecosystem where the ocean meets the river and you can see freshwater and saltwater communities combined!
I can't wait to go back someday!
The first part of the park lets you tube down through a tiny mangrove enclosed river that gradually becomes much larger as the underground caves and cenotes nearby join up.
The rest of the park was a day of snorkeling, waterslides, and a decent sunburn in the process. I tried to take photos underwater using the waterproofed case, but I wasn't very good at operating my phone through the thick plastic and those weren't so great. But, here's a few from above water!
We saw manatees, who were about 4 times larger than I was mentally prepared to process (they weigh 50 pounds at birth!!!). We saw tons of fish, and my favorite part was getting to stare down into the bottom of the cenotes. They're a lot deeper than you can see from the photo above.
Personal photos, author's collection.
August 2018
Oh wow, a new favorite place: yay! And fabulous pictures too! The manatees look AMAZING. Maybe you will want to think about doing a Mayan project for this class; you can get an overview of the basics here: Mayan mythical themes, and some more resources at Sacred Texts. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'm definitely going to check into that; I really enjoyed everything we saw pertaining to Mayan history on the trip,and ever since I read Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, I've had an urge to dig a little deeper. Maybe this semester I'll get to really explore in depth!
DeleteOh my gosh, Orson Scott Card: one of my all-time favorite writers. Have you read his Alvin Maker series? Also alternative history. Genius stuff! :-)
DeleteThe Maker series was fantastic, I've probably read it at least three times; my favorite though for all his works would have to be the Homecoming Saga with all of the Earth books. Such a great author!!!!!
DeleteTOTALLY AGREE. :-)
DeleteQuintana Roo, Mexico looks like a lot of fun! Snorkeling is so much fun! Manatees are so cool. I am extremely jealous that you got to see one in person. I once had a Spanish teacher that had a pet manatee named Boris and ever since then I have wanted to see one! It is great that you were able to go on such a fun vacation with your friends! I hope that you get to go back sometime soon. Thank you for sharing all of the pictures as well.
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