Mexico Diary - Holbox Wildlife

Happy Thursday, guys! Hope your week is going well. Mine is pretty relaxed, I had off yesterday so I went to Mallorca's capital Palma with my boyfriend. I took him to the Hammam Palma, a beautiful spa with an Arabic touch, where we enjoyed a thermal bath and a one-hour massage, sooo good, I can highly recommend it! Today is the 'Dia de las Islas Baleares' which is a holiday here on Mallorca so I finally have some time to write this new post for you about the beautiful island Holbox in Mexico. One more Mexico post about our last stop Cancún will follow and then I'll start writing about more recent events and Mallorca again. So, here we go!

In my last post I gave you some tips about Holbox including how to get there and where to stay. So today I'm showing you a bit more of the island and its' wildlife. Yup, Holbox is the perfect spot for wildlife watching.
Miguel and I started our second day on the island early. After breakfast we went for a walk through the town of Holbox admiring and taking photos of its' street art. After that we decided to go for a walk by the beach. We didn't really have a plan that day and since it rained the night before the beach was a bit wet and the water looked a little greyish, therefore we didn't go swimming but for a walk instead. Best idea ever I have to say! We kept walking and walking towards the tip of the island called Punta Mosquito. After a while the water got clearer, more tranquil and shallow, the island became wilder and the hotels and people disappeared until there were only the two of us. We loved it! We have been to similar wild places in Cuba and Costa Rica before and absolutely love the undisturbed tranquility allowing us to explore the 'world' just by ourselves without any distractions. After about one hour of walking we got to a point where we couldn't keep going since there was a kind of river connecting to the sea that separated us from the other side. Since we heard that there are crocodiles on the island and couldn't see the bottom or depth of the river we didn't really want to take the risk to cross it. So we left the beach and just started walking through the ocean which was perfectly fine because the water was clear and shallow so we could take all our belongings. When we saw the first flamingos and pelicans we stopped. There was no water anymore but a huge white sandbank surrounded by crystal clear water, the mangroves, wild birds and other animals. We spotted sting rays, fishes, flamingos, pelicans and many more species of birds. It was a true wildlife paradise. We could have stayed forever watching the flamingos and pelicans eat quietly. Luckily I had my zoom lens with me so we could watch them from far away without disturbing the animals and I could also take some great shots. So whenever you make it to Holbox, go for a walk to Punta Mosquito for a marvelous wildlife experience!
After three or four hours of exploring we went back home. We were so tired of walking in the sun that we got on a golf cart taxi as soon as we reached the town. It was so much fun riding the dirty, wet roads! Once we got home we took a shower, relaxed for a bit and went to see the sunset - the perfect end of an adventurous day on the island!
If you have any questions about our Mexico trip, where we went, where we slept and how we moved from one place to the other, feel free to leave a comment! xo

Mexico Diary - Tulum, Turtles and Cenotes

Hey there, guys! Sorry that I didn't post in a while. It was my boyfriend's birthday last weekend and we went on a spontaneous short trip to Barcelona to spend his big day there. Also, I've been working like crazy since I got back from Germany and a full day job unfortunately doesn't leave much time for a blog. Anyway, today I finally have a new post for you about more unforgettable experiences we had in Mexico or more precisely in Tulum.
On our third and last day in Tulum we went on two short trips before leaving for the colonial town Valladolid in the afternoon. Our first stop was the beach in Akumal where we wanted to go swim with turtles. We had never actually planned that trip, I read about the turtles in Akumal the night before and we spontaneously decided that we wanted to go see them because Akumal is just a half-hour drive from Tulum and I had never seen wild turtles in their natural habitat until then. So early in the morning we got on a collectivo van (the same one we took to the ruins on the second day) and went to Akumal. The van left us along the road and we had to walk a bit, only about 5 minutes, to get to the beach. On our way there we passed by lots of locals trying to convince us that you need life jackets to snorkel at the beach and wanting to sell us snorkeling tours. Just ignore these guys, you don't need life jackets nor guided tours to be able to see the turtles even though lots of Mexicans will try to convince you that it's only legal to snorkel with the animals if you're with a guide. I have read about this issue before and informed myself very well therefore I knew that we could just pass by the local vendors and diving schools and go swim with the turtles all by ourselves. Since we had our own snorkels from home with us we just dropped off our backpack at a diving school where you can rent all what you need and went right to the beach. At first it was a little difficult to decide where we could swim because the beach is divided into different areas marked with buoys. Some of these areas can not be accessed by humans, they are there to protect the turtles. When the turtles are stressed or tired or simply hungry and want to eat in peace they can swim there. I love this idea, this way the crazy tourists can't just follow the turtles wherever they want but have to respect their 'private areas'. After snorkeling for a while in the designated areas we saw our first turtle slowly appear from nowhere and swam with it for a while side by side. This was a highly unique experience! To see these wild, calm and big (!) creatures swim and eat so peacefully was simply unforgettable. Akumal is the perfect place for swimming with turtles. The beach itself is beautiful but what's beneath the surface is even more amazing! I mean where can you watch and swim with turtles for free right in the shallow water without having to dive metres and metres? I could have spent hours with these cute animals! We spotted two turtles that morning and what's best is that we were totally alone with them, no one followed us, all the other tourists were swimming in guided groups. We also saw many other beautiful fishes and corals. All in all an unforgettable, marvelous experience that I'm happy we didn't miss!

After snorkeling with these cute turtles we went to the Gran Cenote before taking the bus to Valladolid. We already swam in a cenote before, the Cenote Azul in Bacalar, however that one was deep, very large and dark and we couldn't really see much of the underwater world there. So we wanted to check out a second cenote and decided to give the Gran Cenote in Tulum a try since I had heard mostly positive things about it. We took the collectivo back from Akumal to Tulum town and from there a cab to the cenote. We paid each the 180 Pesos entrance fee (about 9 Euro, pretty expensive in my opinion) and took a shower there. The Gran Cenote is pretty touristy and therefore very well equipped. There is lots of space to relax on a lawn or in hammocks and they also have lockers and showers (it's important to shower BEFORE you go swimming to wash off all the sun lotion or other cosmetics, keeps the cenote clean). After taking a shower we walked down to the cenote. The whole place was really magical but I was mostly impressed by how crystal clear the water was. It seriously felt like swimming through air because you could see everything, I mean every person, little fish and rock formation, without any trouble. The shades of blue when the sun came in were beyond beautiful as well. The cenote was pretty crowded but didn't really feel like it. There was lots of space to snorkel, swim and relax and at times we were totally alone. There are hundreds of mystical, amazing cenotes all over the Yucatan peninsula and I have only seen two of them but I can totally recommend the Gran Cenote in Tulum!

Mexico Diary - Tulum Beach and Ruins

Hello there, did you all have a great start of 2018? I'm back on my beloved island Mallorca by now enjoying the mild climate and being with my boyfriend.

Today I have a new post for you with some pics of Tulum. Lean back and make yourself comfortable, it's a long one ;-) 
Lately, everyone seems to be going to Tulum, especially bloggers. I see it all over Instagram - photos of its white beaches, mystical ruins and cute cafés. Since it was on our way to our next stop Valladolid we decided to spend a few days in Tulum too.
We arrived in the morning after a three-hour bus ride from Bacalar and Miguel quickly found a nice hotel where we would stay the next two nights. Our hotel Casa Rosa was right behind the bus station and we had a spacious, colorful room with a huge and comfy bed. It wasn't really expensive, we payed about 300 Pesos per night, 15 Euro more or less.
We spent the afternooon strolling through the town, eating and buying some souvenirs for our loved ones at home. Tulum is devided into two different parts. There is the original, more authentic town with all its shops, restaurants, affordable hostels and hotels and the playa, the beach strip, where you will find one luxury hotel next to the other mixed with hippie shops, hip cafés and restaurants and stylish people on bikes. Both parts are pretty laid-back which is why I loved Tulum so much.
Later that day we decided to explore the beach area a little. The girl working at the reception of our hotel was super nice and left us some bikes because the beach was about 5 kilometers away from the town. I loved the playa, its relaxed atmosphere, the shops with their beautiful boho clothes and the trendy food places in the middle of what felt like a jungle. However, I was a little disappointed by how touristy and limited the area was. You can't access the beach unless you stay in one of the expensive hotels or resorts - what a shame, especially for the locals. We spent only one hour in the beach area of Tulum and then headed back to our hotel to do some food shopping for the next day.

Our hotel, can you tell why it's called Casa Rosa?

The town of Tulum

Heading to the beach

The cute Matcha Mama café, one of many hip places in the beach area

On our second day, we decided to visit the famous Tulum Ruins. 
We got up early to avoid the tourist masses and took a 'collectivo' there, which is a shared van mostly used by locals and the ideal tranport for people traveling on a budget. We paid only 20 pesos for a 10 minute ride. The van dropped us off at the main street from where it was an easy walk to the entrance. We paid the 70 Pesos entrance fee and explored the ruins all morning long. The archaeologcial site was not the biggest one we visited in Mexico but its location was absolutely beautiful. The ruins are located right next to the paradisiac beach of Tulum so you have amazing sea views while traveling back in time and soaking in the Mayan culture.

After exploring the Mayan ruins for a few hours we needed some refreshment and found the perfect place for a nice bath. You can actually swim right next to the ruins, there is a public beach on the archaeological site but we found an even better spot. Only a five-minute walk further down that same beach was totally empty. There were only a handful of tourists and vendors - lucky us, we basically had the whole beach for ourselves. We spent the next few hours chilling in the sun, going for a swim, having lunch and just enjoying the white sand, the crystal clear water and the sounds of the palm trees in the wind. Awww, Tulum, you're so beautiful!