Part 2: Xunantunich, Snorkeling and Coco Plum

These little fellows were outside making the biggest racket one morning.

 Lucky for them they were so cute or I might have thrown a flip flop at them!

Lion Fish Emil caught on the camera.

Tuesday we went on our snorkeling expedition. We went to Tobacco Reef and South Water Reef.

The snorkeling was pretty cool. Emil got some video on his new Go Pro Camera and has even made a video and a funny trailer you can see on his Facebook page.

But I was more in love with this little island.  Coco Plum

This is the dock, complete with 2 hammocks.

It use to be a larger island but a hurricane in the 60's split it into 3 separate islands. 

This was the middle of the island. It wasn't too far away. Maybe a football field.

It was amazing!

Everywhere you looked it was like looking at a postcard. The water was so clear an this unbelievable shade of turquoise.

 

This was the dining room. No glass in the windows. Just a frame.

It's an adults only island. When we told Noah he was appalled at the injustice. He couldn't grasp why they would ban kids.

They  only have 7-8 cottages, a restaurant and a bar. Each of the cottages is brightly painted with a deck and chairs or hammocks and lounge chairs underneath for tanning or just relaxing in the sun.

There are a few other buildings for staff and equipment.










Emil didn't waste any time at all getting comfy.
After some discussion we decided that we could have done a day or two there but I think we would have gotten bored after that. It was so pretty though!

I guess this was the big house. It was out on the point and was bigger than the other cottages. The water was the same shade as the house. SO Cool!

This the deck behind the bar. You just sit there and let all your worries drift away.

I think I should have zoomed in more with the timer!

Wednesday found us at the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. (I think that's how it's spelled.)

We had to cross a little river to get there and the ferry was a floating platform big enough for one van. There was a old guy there who would hand crank the ferry across the river. He was only too happy to let tourist give it a try too. Emil had to give it a try.

 First we hiked to the small temple. Then when we were hiking over to the big temple behind us we heard Howler Monkeys in the jungle to the right. They were seriously scary. At first I thought it was a jaguar. 

This was the best picture I could get. They were way up in the canopy.

This is Xunantunich from the side. It was taken with Emil's Go Pro which is cool in that it gives a 180 degree view but also tends to bend at the sides.

 The big temple had some impressive friezes on them. 

It was quite a hike and we had to take a rest stop about midway. Here is Emil at the top with his Go Pro on his wrist. 

And this is the picture his camera took. Pretty Impressive!

This is the only way I felt comfortable being that close to the edge. On My BUM! Oh my, it was high.

We were so close to the border to Guatemala we could see it from the top of the temple. There were also armed border patrol walking through out the tour area. It was a bit jarring to see guys walking around with automatic riffles. 

What a trip!