The drive to Tulum took about 2 hours and we also crossed into a different time zone so lost a further hour and although Coco didn't bother to mention it to anyone, Ian and I knew from our own research and others noticed when their clever watches automatically updated.
The walk from the car park to the ruins took about 20 mins and was through some quite dense trees so these photos are pants, but the best I got.
Yucatán Jay
Not enough characteristics to begin to identify.
The ruins of Tulum, one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, are situated on 12m tall cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Obviously this isn't my shot as it's been taken with a drone, but for some strange reason although I must have walked past this fine pile of stones, I don't seem to have any photos of it whatsoever!
It was one of the last cities built and
inhabited by the Maya and achieved its greatest prominence between the 13th and 15th centuries. Maya continued to
occupy Tulum for about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying
Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century.
These are the few photos I did take.
It was obviously only ever going to be a whistle stop visit as Coco
walked us quickly along and gave only the briefest of explanations to a few of
the buildings. Unfortunately Mexico were
playing Argentina in a World Cup match (they lost 2-0) and a lot of the visitors had the match playing very
loudly on phones or radios which was rather disturbing. I somehow managed to acquire a Klingon, the code Ian and I use for when someone is too close for comfort, and then the guy really started to freak me out. I was taking a photo of something with my big lens and he just asked if I'd give him my camera so he could photograph me - "Urgh no thank you P*ss Off!" (main points here being the lens on the camera was not remotely suitable for portraits and it was worth ££££s). He continued following me and when I stopped, he stopped and waited for me, it really was very unnerving. Eventually he got the message when Ian shouted at him and he wandered off.
As usual the fauna held more interest for me than the piles of stones. These iguanas are Black-Spiny Tailed Iguanas, native to Mexico and one of the 19 species found in the country but, unfortunately, they are probably the least attractive - not that this fact stopped me taking loads of photos. Their colouring helps them blend superbly with the rocks and often you don't notice them at first glance.
Whilst they look so scary, we know from visiting Iguana Park in Guayaquil, Ecuador that they are vegetarians.
Do they behave like hamsters though, and stuff their cheeks with food?
Higo Chumbo (Prickly Pear), in flower rather than the fruiting.
This is a Tropical Mockingbird, I think.
By the time we finished here it was about 1430 and Arturo said there was no need to stop for lunch/drink and repeated we would be in Cancun around 1500 - still not seeming to have realised the time difference. One or two of the group wanted to stop for a drink/loo break and so we sat around for half hour before hitting the road.
The lovely Trish, Pilates and dance teacher.
Fresh coconut juice
Shortly after leaving Tulum we hit traffic and it took us over 3 hours to reach Cancún during which time Arturo remained completely silent. Whilst it was obvious we were stuck in traffic, it would have been good to know how far we were from the hotel etc. We finally reached the hotel shortly after 1800 and he spoke for the first time and announced that we had arrived!
Sadly Arturo doesn't seem to understand the vast majority of questions asked of him and therefore his replies are, more often than not, complete nonsense. He certainly knows about the archaeological sites we visited, but it's almost as if he's learnt the information parrot fashion and cannot converse fluently (unlike Francisco and Emilio). He also seemed totally out of his depth regarding time/distance management and the needs of the group. Interestingly he told me he was looking forward to going on holiday once he'd finished this tour; that he was going with his daughter to Alaska and that his dream was to become a farmer there. Enough said.