On my seven day cruise aboard the Norwegian Star we stopped four times.  The first stop was in Roatan Honduras which I wrote about here.  The second in Belize which I posted about here and the third was in Costa Maya Mexico. 

 Here is a view of the rivers that everyone can snorkel around the park in.  This was my second trip to Xcaret.  The first time it was in July and it was very hot.  Being able to explore the area in the water was very welcome.

 I am really not one too visit theme parks especially two days in a row, but Xcaret in Cancun Mexico is an exception.  As I discussed in my previous post HERE, this is not an inexpensive theme park but it offers so much.  I really do think that there is something for everyone at Xcaret.  Cancun has grown into a very large tourist destination and I really felt like I was getting away from all the people while getting to spend time out in nature with animals of all types.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful, the buffet lunch was excellent, and there are plenty of places to sit down and relax. 

La Isla shopping center in downtown Cancun in the hotel zone resembles that of any large American city with every high-end shop you can imagine, nice restaurants to eat at, and bars to grab a drink in the very hot weather that is prevalent in this part of the world.  This area of Cancun did not exist when I first visited in college.  All their were was outdoor markets where locals were selling their homemade goods that you could barter for.  Now this area is very attractive but looks quite similar to the shopping centers in large cities around United States.

Visiting Xcaret was definitely the highlight of my recent trip to Cancun, Mexico.  There are some things that I would do differently when I return.  I definitely plan to return as I love Cancun and Xcaret is such an amazing way to spend a day or two.  I really wish that I had Spent two days at this amazing attraction as I felt there was too much to see in one day!   I will be writing two posts about Xcaret because I have so much to share. 

In the above photo I'm pretending to climb one of the large ruins.  I don't think I would have made it to the top no matter how hard I tried !

When I was in Cancun last week I really wasn't looking forward to seeing any ruins.  I had seen some before that took a long time two travel To and just didn't impress me.  I'm not saying that they aren't interesting they just weren't my thing.  Our visit to El Ray was really fun as I got to see many iguanas as well as some pretty impressive ruins.  One of the best things about visiting El Ray is the price which was only $3 in American money and it's also right on the hotel strip so it wasn't a very long drive to get there! 

As always you can visit my profile at Pixabay and download and use my photos for free and not worry about getting in trouble here

Here is one of the residents.  They are not too afraid of people.  I think a lot of people are scared of them but the fact is they will run away if you try to get near them.  It amazed me how they really do blend in with the scenery.

I enjoyed the hour or so that we spent there.  The grounds are kept very nicely and it's very different than being on the busy beach and host hotel zone which is just down the road. 

Here I am laying on some different ruins in Mexico on a table which was used for sacrifice a few years ago.



I thought this liked look a mother and baby iguana relaxing together:

Thank you very much for your visit.  I would love to hear your comments and questions.  Have you ever visited any ruins that you were very impressed with or thought we're very interesting?  If so,  I'd love to hear about them.  Have a wonderful week!

~Michelle