wherever mary went: To Cancun. August 14th, 2011. Obligatory introduction.

Greetings!
I've traveled a little in my life, but I have a feeling it's just the beginning. I hope for this to be a visual journal of sorts, to share with those who were unable to be with me during my adventures. This is the first chapter: Cancun.

I've never been out of the country in all my twenty six years of life, until August 14th 2011. That's the day I boarded a plane with my boyfriend and headed off to Cancun, Mexico for a week-long adventure with family. We stayed in a pleasantly small resort next to the ruins of the Temple of the Scorpion on Playa Marlin in the Hotel Zone. Even though we were staying in the HZ at an all inclusive resort, we still experienced a lot of what Quintana Roo and the Yucatan had to offer via excursions and day trips. It was a wonderful first taste of Mexico and we hope to return in the future and become more familiar with the local people and customs.

So....now for some pictures :)

Monday August 15th was the first full day of our adventure. We got up early to say good morning to the Caribbean Sea and walk along its pulsing border.

We spied a few plovers, but were unable to ID them. Any guesses as to the species of these two?

We also stumbled upon some interesting tracks coming out of the surf and followed them past the tide line to a turtle nest! Though we discovered the presence of nesting turtles in the waters of Cancun on the first full day, it wouldn't be until the end of the week that we would be formally introduced....

After some breakfast at the amazing restaurant in the Park Royal, we got in some beach time and floated in the warm, cerulean water. I've never tasted purer sea water :)

Why hello there...

After the beach, we returned to our room to cool off and lounge around for a while. We discovered that we had a great view of the ruins of the Temple of The Scorpion out our window. Click the link for more info on the structure and others like it.

After a little relaxing, we decided to go to the Mexican mall across the street to look around. Sadly, we didn't make it to any actual farmers' or artisans' markets, but that's going to be one of our missions on our return trip. So we poked around the dime-a-dozen gift shops and found...oh you know...the usual things.....

Like Mexican Penis Whistles???

Also saw some adorable ceramic sinks and was suddenly filled with a fervor for home design that has no outlet at present! One day....I will have one of these in at least one of my bathrooms....

LOVE it!

Soon after, we escaped the mall and shuffled back up to our room....where I discovered a few spots that my spray sun-block may have over looked.....

tummy of doom

Our first day in Cancun was a nice transition day. We slipped into sync with the beat of the Caribbean and slowly, over 24 hours, the cocoon of worries and responsibilities we came wrapped in was dissolved by the sand and salt and spirited away towards the jungle on the cool ocean breeze.