Mitsugirly needed to ESCAPE from the cold weather

Day 6: THURSDAY December 19: COZUMEL

We were here today from 8-5pm and did have an excursion planned. So, that meant we were on a time frame and needed to be up at a certain time.

We (and by we I mean I of course) decided to head back up to Margaritaville for breakfast. I knew that would be a lot quicker than heading to the buffet.

Here's a sampling of what they offer.

I decided to go with an omelette this time around.

Everything was yummy and we were ready to head down and exchange our towels and grab our bags to get ready to head out.

As we were pulling in...I thought "hmmm, this looks different". Well, maybe because it WAS different. This is not Punta Langosta! We passed it. Oh no!!! Now what do we do about our excursion?

So, what are we doing today? I searched everywhere for something to do. We've been here many many times and hit up a majority of the "cruiser" beach clubs. I've always wanted to do the xrails to the caverns but when we were here 4 months ago, I found that it was just too hard to do it when coming by a NCL ship and docking at Punta Langosta. It would require you to take a cab to one of the other docks and then go from there to the meeting place and then on to ride the buggies. Eh, I'm not sure I want to do it this time either and the thought of being in a walking boot would mean that I probably wouldn't be able to get in the water at the caves. However, docking somewhere else now made me wish that I had went ahead and booked it.

Continuing my search, I was completely lost at this point. Then I remembered the last time we did a tour with Cozumel Cruise Excursions (.net) and had a pretty darn hooting good time! I also remembered after we returned home, I received an email from them saying that if we ever return again, they were willing to give us 30% off our next excursion. Well that sounds about as lovely as birds chirping on a warm summer day! Count me in.

I started searching their site for something interesting to do....then it hit me! We've never been to the other side of Cozumel. The WILD SIDE! The hubby had a friend who once told us years ago "if you get the chance, rent a vehicle and go over to the other untouched beautiful side". Well, we were about to get our opportunity now!

They offered a Jeep tour and the best part about it...you were in your own jeep (not sharing) AND you were not following others on a tour. The tour was completely customizable and you could do whatever or go where ever you wanted. How great does that sound????? Yep, sign me up!

I emailed them and they do provide you with a list of places that others like to go or suggestions they had.

I took notes...lots and lots of notes.

The company website is somewhat confusing about where you can go or where you eat. Some things repeat and some things are listed twice but says different areas. They could really benefit from having someone overlook their website and correct it.

I had a lot of questions. Me being me, anyone who deals with me should expect nothing less from me. I'm very thorough in everything I do. I emailed them with a list of questions, got a generic answer pretty much, so emailed them again asking for answers to my questions in the typical Mitsugirly fashion.

I did get my answers and ended up booking with them. I would plan my "route of execution" prior to leaving and present my idea to the driver when we arrived.

I was SUPER excited about this trip. I was doing a dance...well, more like with just my arms and not my legs. I thought it would be the best port day ever (aside from scuba diving because nothing trumps that of course) and was really looking forward to it.

The only issue now is...where are we and how do we get to the meeting place? At Punta Langosta, the meeting place is right down stairs at the pier. This place...I wasn't sure.

We gathered our things and off we went to face the paparazzi.

So normally Punta Langosta has people riding their 3 wheeled bikes down the pier to taxi you to the port. However, there were no bikers out today. OH NO!! I started walking...slowly. I was not looking forward to this. Then after awhile, the hubby flagged down a wheelchair NCL worker and off we went.

The port was all festive of course.

We would wind our way around the port. Whew! Man this seems like a long port. I was getting worn out.

We eventually made it out of the port and thank goodness all I can say is that I printed off all of the instructions they sent me with all of the ports and meeting points because otherwise, we would have been lost!

Our instructions said if you are docking at Puerta Maya pier, the meeting place is located at Martis. So, where the heck is that? We are already out of the port.

Once you exit the cruise pier, you will see a large building that says I-95 on top. Please do not cross the street, as people trying to sell you anything and everything will bother you. You’ll just need to walk left on the main Avenue of Ave Rafael Melgar, which is the avenue you walk onto when you exit the cruise port and pass the Palapa (Hut)/parking lot of Puerta Maya Pier. During your walk you will see a Gas station across the street and 7/11 next to that. This means that your in the right direction and will come to a stop light where you will see a large outside mall across/adjacent to you. You will see a large Hard Rock Guitar Statue, which will be hard to miss. You will need to cross the street and continue in the same direction you were going just on the opposite side of the avenue. You will pass a couple stores, including Diamonds International and a convenience store called OXXO. You will momentarily come to MARTIS SPORTING GOODS, which will be to your right. It is very easy to find and is only a 5-10 minute walk.

Alrighty then...let's do this. I'm already tired and trying to sloth along. We turned left and DID NOT CROSS THE STREET as per the instructions. We walked and walked and whew...how far is this place? Where is this gas station they mentioned? Did we pass it? Please tell me we didn't pass it. I mean how can you miss a gas station? I need a drink. We stopped at a little side street hut and purchased pop for the walk. Something cold never tasted so good at this point.

We kept going. After awhile, we seen a gas station and the 7/11. Ok, that meant we were going in the right direction still. Geesh, I was like a child in the back seat of a car "how much longer" "Are we there yet?" "I'm thirsty" Then the hubby started with the "I gotta pee". Poor Sakari was just staying quiet. There was enough chatter coming from us that no words were needed from her. Poor child. LOL

Still walking and I'm in some pain at this point. My leg is not meant to hold up this long I'm sure of it. Finally we see a mall...I think. We need to get closer...yep, that's a mall. Not the kind of mall we have back home, but it had to be the mall because we spotted a guitar statue and that meant the Hard Rock Cafe was near. They were right, it wasn't hard to miss that...but it was still a little ways up. R U SERIOUS?

We crossed the street as per the instructions. Ok...on to the next set of instructions. Continue in the same direction on the OPPOSITE side of the "avenue". We now needed to pass a "couple" of stores...shhheeessshhh. We located the Diamonds International and the OXXO store. I needed another drink at this point. I was worn out already. I wasn't sure about this whole thing. They said a 5-10 minute walk that how now been over 30 minutes for us. I didn't want to go on. The pain was just too much. I seriously considered hailing a cab and getting a ride back to the port. Like seriously! The hubby told me to just slow down and have a drink. Sakari was holding my hand at this point. The hubby was carrying all the bags himself. Anything to lighten the load for me. He could see it in my eyes. I was giving up.

Then I seen a sign that said "Martis". I was never so relieved! We had made it. We had been walking for almost 45 minutes!!! I was highly upset. Pain increases my crankiness and I was a 11/10 at this point. These people were very aware of my "condition" and not being able to walk. If we changed ports, they should have had someone picking us up. This was ridiculous.

I immediately sat down on the ground on the sidewalk. There was no one around. I just thought to myself "we are extremely late, they probably left without us". The hubby tried to get into Martis to use the restroom. They were closed. He went down the street, when he seen a jeep parked down there, to see if it was ours. He disappeared...for quite some time. I was getting worried honestly.

Then a lady came over, from across the street at the hotel, and ask if I was waiting on her. She confirmed she was with the company. WHEW!! I was moaning and complaining about the walk, my condition, how is this a 5-10 minute walk even without a bum leg? She ask why we were across the street because the meeting place is at the hotel ACROSS THE STREET! Um, because that's what the instructions said!!!! It sounds like they need to revamp their instructions as well. The hubby came back and I told him she was across the street.

The lady from the company came back...only without a jeep. Ok, so I'm going to have to walk across the street apparently. I had been sitting for awhile...I can do this! Only that's not why she was walking back across the street. She came back to tell me that the jeep is actually NOT across the street. They park them down the street and pointed in the direction we had just came from. Wait, what?!? OH NO...you are going to go get that jeep and you are going to bring it here and pick me up. I'm not walking back. Wait, how far is it anyhow? (I mean I wasn't trying to be too difficult). She said "Oh, maybe 4 blocks that way" NOPE! Not happening!

She got on the phone with the company and said she was trying to figure out who our guide was going to be and explained the situation about my leg to them. When she got off the phone she said they had decided she was going to be my driver (she said with a look of doom in her eyes at this point) and she was going to go to the parking lot where they had the jeep, pick it up, then come back and get me. Great! I'll be here waiting...and off she went.

She was gone quite some time... Hmmmm. Every jeep that went by our eyes lit up, but it wasn't her. "Here comes one" "Nope". Finally here she came...and then there she went. "Wait....here we are! Come back, come back" I whispered in my Rose Titanic voice. She turned around and parked across the street. Time to play frogger with the traffic as I slothed across the street, closing my eyes because we all know that eases the pain when you get hit by a speeding car.

In the jeep we went and down the "4 blocks"....are you ready for this???? BACK TO THE PORT! I thought she had had enough of us and was taking us back. Nope, that's where the parking lot of jeeps and tours are. R U FRICKEN SERIOUS??? Now at this point I'm even more agitated. Everyone knows I'm a "roll with the punches" kinda girl but at this point, nope! My pain was speaking for me. The ridiculousness of this entire thing is speaking for me. I'm not holding back at this point.

And so the story goes... "So you mean to tell me that you have people exit the port, walk all the way here, then spring it on them that they must turn around and walk right back to where they just came from and down that street to get to their jeep??????" I would continue with "even if I wasn't handicapped at this point, I would have been highly pissed to find this out". Her excuse was "It's just easier to tell people to meet us here instead of giving them directions to where we keep the jeeps. It would just be too confusing and people wouldn't be able to find it". Now, the street that you turn on...was right there at the pier. If you think we can follow these ridiculous directions that state "stay on this side, look for this landmark, look for this gas station, cross the street here, look for this mall, look for this store"...only to find out that the directions are wrong, then how do you think it would be difficult to tell people to take the street across from the cruise pier and it's down there on the right hand side? I mean it's a big open parking lot full of brightly colored dune buggies, cars, and jeeps...like how could you miss it?

Would you miss all these vehicles????

There was every color in a pack of skittles here. You would have to be blind.

Next up...payment in full.....

Payment in full discussion.

The tour guide runs into this building and comes back out a little while later with the money taker. He said he was there to collect the rest of the payment. Only the payment was way more than what we had agreed to. "Where's my 30% off discount?" Some civil arguing went back and forth at this point. They told me that the 30% off was "applied to your down payment". Um...NO! I get 30% any additional tour I was to book with you guys and that's 30% off the ENTIRE excursion...not no (said in my I mean business double negative voice) down payment!! (Mind you the down payment was only $18 pp totaling $54 and $54 is what I PAID ALREADY! Then more arguing back and forth took place only I was starting to escalate at this point. I just went through all this walking, in pain, and I'm going to stand my ground on this one! I pretty much had had enough and was ready to just hoof it back to port.

She called the "office" and then put me on the phone with a guy. I explained to him not once, not twice, but three times that I get a discount of 30% off the entire excursion, not the deposit, which I had already paid the full amount of without a discount, and my balance should only be $90. Then the story changed to it was 30% off the remaining balance. Last time I checked, "30% off your next tour with us" constitutes as the ENTIRE TOUR amount. He ask if I had proof. Of course I do!!

Now notice their discount looks like they fill this in with whatever amount they feel like because the first time they had emailed me after I returned, that amount said 20%. Then after talking to them again, posting a TA review and thanking them for such a wonderful day with them, the amount changed to 30%.

Finally the guy on the phone ask "So what are you willing to pay for this tour?" I told him I'm willing to pay what my balance should be and that's $90. He said ok and to give that to the person collecting the money and he hung up. When I told the money-taker what we said and handed him the money, he got on the phone and called the office back, said some words and looked at me and said "What amount are you willing to pay?" Really?!? We've already had this discussion and I'm sure he just told you what I said and I'm being asked again? Here's my money, take it or leave it, I'm done with this back and forth thing.

They took it.

Meanwhile, I'm checking in with Kolin about the animals and he said the night before Loki (our husky) had been booted out of his bed by both our cat and my sons 2 cats. I guess he was having a night like the day I was having today. But, he managed to take back control of what was his today and him and Piper were sleeping peacefully.

Our tour guide asked if we wanted to drive or if we wanted her to drive. Obviously I couldn't and neither could Sakari so we all looked at daddy. Nope, he wanted no part of that so our guide was going to be our chauffeur today.

Off we finally went....

I would take screen shots on my phone of the map/route we were on so that if we ever return and decide to do this ourselves, we'd know which way she went. It was a very simple drive. Anyone could do this drive and not get lost.

Everyone sat in silence. I felt the need to break the ice. I'm not normally a negative Nelly and I knew this lady had some preconceptions of the type of person I was at this point...which really doesn't portray who I really am on your day to day basis or even when cruising and things don't go right. I was ready to change the mood and thought I would start this conversation and said "So, tell me about yourself? Where you born here? Moved here? Where do you live?" That broke the ice and we were off to a fresh new start now. She started talking and telling us about her life, her home, her animals, any hurricanes that hit Cozumel, rules in Cozumel, how the people are living there and so on. It was great now. We were starting to enjoy our tour.

We told her what we were interested in seeing and not seeing. We made it to the end of the "main strip", Carretera Transversal, which means cross road and it took you from one side of the island to the other. The road dead ends and the road continues to the right, which is also considered Quintana Roo C-1, which makes a circle around this side of Cozumel, from side to side with the exception of the connecting road we just came off of.

I guess we were officially on the "Wild Side" of Cozumel now.

It was somewhat of a gloomy day out. We wasn't sure if it was going to rain or not. After all, it had been raining the night before from Costa Maya to Cozumel. We weren't given the option to have the top off the jeep and at this point, I didn't care (although that was part of the excitement in getting a jeep when I booked).

We made it to our first stop.

This place was right past a place called "Naked Beach"...or it could have actually been the naked beach...only we didn't see anyone naked and wouldn't it have been the perfect payback for the driver to have taken us there to pay us back for all the commotion from this morning (only she wouldn't have known that a "naked beach" wouldn't have bothered us one way or another, we've seen plenty of naked bodies in St Maarten on vacation).

As you can see, it was bright and sunny out now.

We only stayed long enough to get a few pictures and we didn't walk down onto the beach.

Then off went went again. The area is so green and lush with plenty of palms everywhere. "Only these palms serve no purpose and produce no fruit" our driver said. Hey, I'm all about fruit but I could definitely live with the non-fruit-producing palms in my back yard at any time of the year!

We seen a sign the said "Punta Morena"

Then the next sign was "Alberto's" that offered "Ice Cold Drinks"...which I could definitely use at this point. Did I mention that our excursion is supposed to be supplied with a cooler full of drinks? They also ask if you have any requests. I requested diet pop of course. But, they had water: yuck, and beer: yuck! So I'm pretty much left without anything to drink and so is the rest of the family pretty much since we really don't like water too much and the hubby wasn't feeling like a beer.

Those looked like some crazy waves!

Alberto's here we come. I can't wait for that ice cold drink!!

Well now...Alberto was definitely missing! Pooey!

Our driver said this was the area that you could see blow holes. We looked around and didn't really see anything that looked like it was "blowing". She said the waves had to be a little more fierce for it to happen. They looked pretty fierce to me and if they were anymore, I would have thought it would go right over top of the rocks instead. Sakari said "we are learning about blow holes in school...this is not the type of blow hole we are learning about."

But I did see this cute little shape of a heart in the rocks. Can you see it by my name?

Making a new fashion statement with my boot and sandal.

Sakari and I had discovered this macro function on my new camera and we are quite fond of it. So, I took this opportunity to take a few shots using the macro and also trying to accomplish a little bokeh.

I believe this might be called Playa Paradisiaca?

We stayed here for about 15 minutes and then we were ready to move on. Honestly, it felt like a lot longer for some reason. Our driver said "stay as long as you want to anywhere we go. This is your day."

Up next was a place called El Pescador.

This looked like a place that someone had mentioned to me on the boards about a little cove type area that you could safely swim in. Only I can't see swimming here since it only appeared to be knee to waist deep. But either way, a place to cool off in if it's a hot day out. I imagine it could get pretty crowded here on a hot day too since the beach looked pretty small.

There were red flags out at every stop of course. This side of Cozumel isn't really known for its swim-ability.

They did advertise they have a surf school here.

Our driver ask if we wanted to stop and get out or swim. I looked at Sakari and she said she wasn't interested in swimming here and the hubby said "let's keep going" because honestly, we were just out of the car like less than 5 minutes ago.

On we went.

Now just a little story about the road you keep seeing in the pictures (that isn't the road we are driving on). I guess that used to be the main road to drive on and our driver said some of the road was eroded and torn up during bad weather, hurricanes, flooding and so on. They decided to make a new road (the road we were on) that runs right along side of it and that it would cost more to repair the other than build a new??? They use the other road for bikes and so on now.

San Martin was up next and it looked like the happening place to be. I don't know if these were all rental cars or an excursion came here following each other but the place was packed. I gave the hand motion to keep rolling. It definitely wasn't a place we wanted to stop at this time around.

Playa San Martin was up next. The hubby went across the street to use the restroom and I would be standing at the top of the road doing what I do best...taking pictures.

Our driver ask if we'd like to walk down the beach. Yes! Yes of course. It was so beautiful.

Sakari was armed with her new found toy...the GoPro, which she had been shooting footage the entire trip.

I took one look at those stairs and thought....well, if I tumble at least I will roll down and land in sand.

I found it interesting that there are lifeguard stations at every beach. You don't always see that. And of course those prominent red flags along the beach.

Notice how Sakari was noticing those red flags too.

The only thing daddy ever notices is if there's an animal anywhere in the area and then off he goes.

We spent about 15 minutes here as well and then it was time to climb those stairs again. So, maybe we spent 1 minute here and 14 minutes getting me back up the stairs. LOL j/k of course. I'm not THAT slow.

Before leaving this spot, I was noticing all these red marks and numbers on the "old road turned bike path" and also some were blacked out. Now when you see this type of thing at home, that means dread....pure dread. That means the road workers are about to turn your life upside down for years with construction.

I was happy to hear the story about how this was a turtle nesting area and they mark the nest with red numbers signifying where the nest are straight ahead on the beach. Then when they hatch, they mark them out in black to know there's no longer a nest there. Well, I did notice several markings of red with no black but she confirmed that all the turtles have hatched and left the nest and they must have been some of the last to hatch and they just didn't mark them out.

It was now 11:15am and we were still heading toward Punta Sur.

Rancho Buenavista: A place where you can go horseback riding. She said a lot of excursions go here. The place advertised horseback riding, hiking trails, bird watching and mountain bikes. When you look at this place on the map, it's the only place you can turn to the right and it's pretty far back in the cut and looks like a huge ranch. When I looked up information on this place, I found that this is the place that the cruise ships use for their horseback riding excursions. I also found that people seem to have a great time here and have positive reviews and they have over 70 horses! It also looks like they cater to handicapped people in wheelchairs or the mentally challenged people and they get to ride the horses being held by many people for safety. Maybe we'll have to try it out sometime. The more I read up on this area, the more I want to return...on my own! Maybe for a land vacation.

I'm always stalking my hubby...I just can't get enough of him. 🙂 ❤️

El Mirador was up next and I knew I wanted to stop here. This is the place that has the natural bridges carved out by the water. We went to a place like this in Aruba and the beauty of how nature does things is really put into perspective. The years and years it takes to create these carved rocks into bridges and to think it can also be gone in a blink of an eye if they collapse suddenly (like one of them in Aruba).

Remind me never to bend over like this again with my hands in my pockets and pulling down on my clothes. I feel like someone stretched this part of the picture with me in it and I look like I gained about 50 pounds from the last stop to this one. Geesh

These are definitely "baby bridges" compare to Aruba. If you want to see something magnificent, go to Aruba and seen them and they will blow your mind!

The water was a ball of furry over here. The waves crashing onto the rocks and up and over them at times. You definitely wouldn't want to get caught up in this or fall into the water. The jagged rock formations made it next to impossible for me to go to the top. I handed off my camera to the hubby and told him to take some pictures for me and Sakari was still being a pro and GoPro.

Sakari made me nervous. REAL nervous. She's sometimes a klutz and without me being up there knowing what she was facing on the jagged rocks, I just didn't like it at all. I started pleading with her to come down. I noticed her taking pictures and video, while putting the camera down low, which appeared to be a hole here and there. The hubby confirmed there were open holes in the entire area and my begging really escalated after that. "Just come down here where it's safe." "Please" "I miss you" "Wait, let me see that GoPro. I want to put it on a different setting." Anything I could come up with to get her down to where I was at. It eventually worked and she was safely down by me now.

I would stay down low and take pictures while the hubby continued looking around.

While we were admiring the fury of the ocean, Sakari had found a new friend.

She spent a lot of time with this iguana and she told me she was petting it and it was so nice. I didn't notice until we got back home and I seen the videos she took of her petting it and started thinking hmmm, this iguana is not acting like a normal iguana. It's just too chill and it's barely moving. It didn't seem to have any reaction to her touch. It's face was all peeling and it just seemed weird. Now it could have very well possibly been really that chill but it really makes me wonder if it wasn't drugged somehow or had some type of disease and sick. I don't know. I don't know much about iguana's other than my oldest son had one for a brief period when he was young and it sure didn't act like this no matter how much they held it to try to make it tame.

After spending around 20 minutes at that location, we were off again.

Rasta's Reggae Bar, the last bar as you go into Punta Sur.

Punta Sur is at the tip of the island and is a 247 acre ecological park that is filled with beaches, lagoons and forest. The price to enter the park is $16 per adult and $10 per child 4-12 years old. They are open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm. They have bathrooms, parking, showers and dressing room, life vests, Mayan Vestige, Scenic Tower, Celarain Lighthouse, Navigation Museum, hammocks and beach chairs, Nature trails, and of course beaches.

From everything I had read and seen in the past, I just knew this was going to be the highlight of our excursion and I couldn't wait!

Our driver went to the booth to pay our entrance (it comes with the excursion tour) and to get our wristbands.

We started the very long drive down the sandy roads...

Twisting and turning, weaving here and there and everywhere.

Our driver was going pretty darn slow to begin with but every time another vehicle was coming in our direction, she would pull over and stop and then go on. Now these roads were plenty big enough for traffic in both directions and I'm not sure why she kept doing that. There was never a time any of the oncoming traffic ever pulled over while we went by.

Off in the distance we could see an observation tower. She let us know that it was one of the lagoons that had the crocodiles. Yes, you heard me right...crocodiles, out in the open and not caged in. She told us that we would stop there on our way out. There's one way in and one way out.

I caught something out of the corner of my eye as we passed by. It was some type of bird, maybe a stork of some type?

I scream oh my gosh, stop. I see a bird! And stop she did. But, it was going off in the other direction and she didn't reverse the jeep. So, I got what I could for a picture and she drove off.

I could see the lighthouse in the near distance. At least we had finally made it to something to see other than the roads and greenery.

They have nice restrooms here.

We parked and started walking toward the lighthouse. On the "beach" side of the lighthouse, Sakari discovered some swings and decided she wanted to swing.

This was the best Mexican Christmas tree ever!

One of the Mayan Ruins. She told us that they are all real and not replica's. There are several situated in the area.

They were doing some renovations on the building beside the lighthouse. Our driver told us that the building was a museum and we were free to enter. I'm really not a museum type of girl. There's just really not much that interest me in these types of buildings. I don't really care about history or anything like that...but...we decided to go in and take a look around.

Inside the museum. Now I'm going to be honest, I didn't realize my camera was on this setting and blurring things out. Oops

It was just room after room you went into and honestly, I don't know the significance of any of them. They just had "stuff" in them that was old. I told ya, I'm just not into these things.

Then it was time for the lighthouse. I really hated that I couldn't go up. I knew that the winding stairs would not accommodate the size of my boot and I was too weak to do that much climbing. It was going to be up to the hubby to be on daddy duty from here on out...or is it from here on UP.

I handed him a camera and Sakari was still equipped with the GoPro. Off they went into a spiral frenzy.

It looks like a convoy of cars and jeeps arrived.

The hubby caught a glimpse of me heading to the restroom. I'm the one that looks like they have a huge leg and a smaller leg. lol

After using the restroom, I sat outside and by the tour guide. I needed to take my boot off and give my foot a rest and massage at this point. The swelling was already catching up with my activities and walking for the day. We started talking about how I injured my foot and everything that has happened since then. I think maybe at that point, she understood just how bad things have been and still were and the reason why our day didn't start off too good when I had to do all of that walking to find the meeting spot to get our jeep.

Somehow the hubby managed to zoom in on me. I think this new camera might just have zoom capabilities that are better than the tg 4 as well. It was pretty darn clear IMO and no loss of coloring.

Not only did they see me...but I seen them at the top of the lighthouse. They finally made it!

Now that they were up there, once again, I started freaking out. There was nothing but that fat railing around the top holding them in. The hubby has never been one to shadow over Sakari the way I normally do and she could be on one side and him on the other and you just never know...maybe she would try to lean over, maybe she would.....oh never mind. She didn't and he didn't and everything is good but still. My mind goes crazy thinking of these things all the time. I have always been a chronic over-thinker. The older I get, the worse it gets. Maybe I'm just more aware oh things because I'm a nurse. Maybe I'm more aware of how short life can be and the tragedies that can be around every corner when you least expect it because I've been around longer and have experienced these in my life time.

Sakari took a picture of the "entrance" to the outside of the lighthouse. She giggled as she explained daddy crawling through this tiny hole to get out and then back in.

I gave daddy specific instructions on the pictures I expected him to get while he was up there. He was given a crash course on the settings and I told him I wanted regular pictures and pictures with the miniature settings (which bold the color and blur the edges). If he didn't come back with pictures on both settings, he would be forced to walk all those steps again to take more. Who was I kidding? 1) I would never know, until I returned home, if he actually did do the pictures right and 2) he'd never go for walking back up those steps again. LOL

I think he did an excellent job!!! So, he actually DOES listen to what I say. He just doesn't ACT like he listens. LOL

Wait, did daddy give Sakari lessons when she was up there? Is that a finger I see???

I absolutely LOVE this picture!

This is a great picture too! This reminds me of something you'd see in a news story about the lighthouse or on the cover of Lighthouse illustrated. Something like that...it was beautiful IMO.

It was time to head back down. Get ready to crawl through that hole again...

Now if you think going up was hard, going down...they said it was scary as could be! You really had to watch your head in most places and it felt like such a tight squeeze.

I am so incredibly glad I did not have to do this.

We must have timed things right because as I started walking across the parking lot toward the lighthouse, they were coming out.

At the base of the lighthouse there was a guy that had 2 macaws. He was letting people hold them, pose, and lets you take pictures and/or videos. He says you can "donate" any amount you wanted and every little bit helps with the park.

My family are just animal freaks and the funny part about it, most of the animals that you'll find in any port, my family (mostly Kendra) has owned them and the macaw's were no exception. But, you would think that Sakari had never held one before and she always has to get in on the action. She was super excited about this. She has always been a bird freak and we have owned 2 (both a hilarious talking and dancing umbrella cockatoo and a cockatiel).

Then Sakari was holding a sunflower seed in her mouth for them to take. Wait for it, wait for it...now turn

She loved every minute of this.

We had done everything in this area and we were back on the road again.

We headed to the beach and restaurant area. Our driver told us this is where we would be eating today. I couldn't wait to get out and stretch my legs. I mean it had been a whole 5 minutes since we were out of the jeep.

Sakari prepared with her mermaid tail and GoPro.

More swinging chairs. Sakari found her spot... And we found ours...

This sand was the softest of the soft! It felt so good on my foot. Sakari kept commenting how soft it was too.

The area was a nice size under the palapa to eat with plenty of shade.

There were quite a few beach chairs and umbrella's. But, we were perfectly happy sitting at the table and were ready for some food!

There wasn't a whole lot of people there today.

There wasn't a whole lot of people there today.

This beach was gorgeous and so was the water!!!

Once again, my camera would be on the wrong settings and I would get lousy pictures of the menu. Not that it mattered to US because we were told we could only pick from tacos or quesadillas. 😕 (Was included with our tour). Of course, we had to buy our own drinks. You know, the drinks that were supposed to be included with our tour in the cooler???? Yea, nope!

The hubby got the tacos. They were pretty small and we were pretty hungry. So, it didn't seem like much.

Sakari and I got the quesadilla's.

Then out of the corner of my eye....

Two raccoon's made their appearance. They were their pets. I know for sure that one's name was Bonita (the "wife") and I think the husband was "Clyde". They were friendly. The worker said "They are married". lol

After eating, Sakari and I decided to go check out the beautiful beach. There were several people walking up and down it. Most of these people are coming from a snorkeling tour. Now, if you read my "notes" in the beginning, my tour was supposed to include a "private snorkeling tour". It said that my tour guide would take us out in the water and give us a private guided tour around the reef area. They took great pride in telling us that we wouldn't be in a group tour with others and it would be personal. Guess what? There was no tour. She never offered at all or mentioned it. All she did was ask if we'd like to stay and swim. For some odd reason, even though Sakari was toting her mermaid tail around, she didn't even want to get in the water or swim. I'm not sure why. I ask her several times and she said no. This was so unlike her.

There were more people walking than sitting in the chairs. It was such a beautiful day.

Then here come Bonita.

We watched several people walk way down the beach. I REALLY wanted to do this. But, I knew I wouldn't get far. I wanted to get far away from any of the people and take pictures. But, I didn't make it far. I started to wear out from trying to walk in the sand with my boot. It's not easy.

Look at all of those snorkelers out there.

I decided I would make the most of my short walk. I sat down to rest and found interesting items to take macro shots of. Sakari was busy looking around the area to find me interesting things and bring them to me as I sat on the little sand hill.

I thought this turned out really cool.

I felt rested enough and I knew the hubby was probably wondering where we went. We had been gone for quite some time. Slothing aint easy I tell ya. We started heading back. I went back the beach way and Sakari started headed the "green" way. She quickly regretted going that way because she ended up with thorn after thorn in her feet. Walk a few feet, pull a thorn out. Walk a few more feet, pull a thorn out. "Ouch, ouch, ouch. I'm ok" (Remember that child that refuses to shed a tear these days? She was holding it in) Now normally I would have rescued her by going in and having her jump on my back and carry her out. However, in my condition, I was lucky to carry myself and she would have to endure the feet torture chanber of green until she made it out of there.

Back at the beach, Bonita was still wondering around.

We made it back and the hubby was not the slightest worried about where we had been for so long. He was busy still eating. He ordered some nachos because he was still hungry. I tried them. I didn't think they tasted very good.

Now remember, our meal was included. So, all we purchased were the nacho's and a few rounds of drinks and it came to $38 I believe. YIKES! (And by drinks, we're talking pop, not alcohol)

Off to take our Christmas picture.

Then it was time to leave.

Our guide kept looking at her watch. She was now acting like we needed to speed things up. I thought we had plenty of time and now I was wondering if maybe we shouldn't have spent so much time at some of the other places or stopped as many times as we did (which really wasn't much when I go back and look at the time spent each place and how many times we stopped). It was just this eco park was so big and took forever to get from one place to another that ate up a lot of our time...and to think, we didn't even swim or snorkel like we were supposed to.

Off we went...slowly and making sure to pull over every time another vehicle went by.

We drove for a long time and finally made it back to the area of the lagoon and gators. The entrance showed multiple plants that were growing. She mentioned they were trying to boost the mangroves but every attempt they had tried did not work. They have figured out it does better on it's own than with their help of planting new.

Out to the lagoon we went. Every little stick that was sticking up I took note of. Was it a gator with a head sticking up? Was there one lurking below us and ready to jump out of the water to eat us? Are they laying in the bushes waiting to come out as we walked by?

Where are they? This was a huge area and the water and lagoon went on forever. I just knew we weren't going to see anything and I would come back to write an empty review of this area and no excitement other than the layout of the area.

Every shadow cast, every murky area, every hiding spot...was there or wasn't there something under there looking out at us...

Then I spotted it...lurking down below. Our tour guide didn't even see it. I dead stopped in my tracks and shouted "there's one!!!"

Yikes

Sakari got excited after seeing the croc and ran off to look for more...only all of a sudden I spotted this....She was going high!

Of course my anxiety kicked in again with her being up there and I tell ya, those stairs didn't look the greatest with wide opening spots and I kept telling her "be careful, hold on to the hand rail tight, one slip and you are gator food."

You think I'm joking....I'm not. The gator we seen back on the main pathway in before had followed her and was lurking under the decking now by where she was.

I can still see you!

It darted under and was on the move again when it seen Sakari come back down the stairs.

Sitting duck....seriously. As we walked out I was just waiting on a gator to come up out of the water and have this duck for lunch. I didn't want to witness it. I hurried down the decking and back out to the parking lot.

In the jeep and headed out...one of the mayan ruins

We had spent around 3 hours in Punta Sur. It was a beautiful place but there's just something about being on a tour and having a driver sitting there watching your every move like they are waiting for you to go that just doesn't sit right with me. I feel rushed. Had we went on our own, we probably would have went to the beach as a normal beach day and snorkeled and just been our normal self. But with someone there waiting on you...it just feels different.

After coming out of the park, I mentioned I was thirsty and the guide offered some of that yummy beer and water again. I told her I don't drink either and drink pop and had requested that the cooler be filled with that instead. She said she would stop somewhere to get us some pop.

She stopped at a little stand and ask "What do you drink? What do you drink? and What do you drink?" I told her diet Pepsi, Sprite and regular Pepsi" She said ok and hopped out of the jeep, went up to the stand and purchased the drinks and came back and handed me mine and Sakari hers. Um....ok, I guess the hubby wasn't getting anything despite her asking and being told what each of us wanted. 😕

On the way back down Quintana Roo 1, which had now circled around and we were passing all of the beach clubs we had previously been to in the past when we came here, we were going SSLLLLOOWWW...like a sloth. I guess the jeep/driver matched my current status. Vehicles were passing us, even huge tour buses. There was another jeep in front of us that the tour bus passed. However, that jeep was at least going faster than us because it passed us already.

We made it back to the port and it was around 3:05pm. She pulled up to the drop off area to let us out. I thanked her for the tour and told her I was sorry we got off to a bad start. I knew it wasn't HER fault how everything happened and instead the fault of the company. I tipped her and off we went into the port.

So just some final thoughts about our day because I feel the need to express them.

We toured with this company last time and had a wonderful time. The staff was friendly and everything went well ...other than the beginning and waiting on everyone to arrive that was going with us. The instructions say be there within 30 minutes but it was a VERY long wait last time...VERY long. But, everything else was fabulous!

This time, the amount of travel involved in getting to the "meeting place", which wasn't even the meeting place, the crappy instructions, and the distance from the pier (past both piers) was just ridiculous! Then to turn around and have to come back the way we came? They need a much better system. We are not that dumb to not be able to go down the side street in front of the cruise terminal and see a huge parking lot filled with brightly colored vehicles to know that's where to go. Seriously!

Then the arguing about the price. Don't tell me one thing and try to change it up to a different price. Nope, not gonna happen.

Their description (it was all over the place both on their website and in my email) said that we would go to a private beach club and it was the best place to snorkel from shore, with a private guide on the snorkel tour and also a pool.

"Your private guide will take you on your own private snorkel tour to discover a beautiful reef that is a short swim from the beach so you get a more personalized snorkel adventure and venture further out to discover even more sea life. It allows you to snorkel at your own pace. Even people who don't know how to swim have taken our private snorkel tour and loved it! You will be given snorkel gear and a professional snorkel life vest, made specifically for snorkeling. This allows you to just float above without having to know how to swim and our guides will help guide you along if you like. The water is nice and shallow so you'll be from arms length to discover and capture Cozumel's mesmerizing reefs. The beach makes entering the water very easy."

Like always, something I was looking forward to and sounded perfect considering my "condition". But there was no snorkel gear, no mention of snorkeling, and not beach club with a pool either.

Their description of the east side of Cozumel: mentioned "caves, secret beaches, off-road paths and more."

"Your guide will take you to explore---caves that many tourists will never experience---you'll stop at a Beach Bar/Restaurant---an enjoy an authentic Mexican meal. We also include a cooler of beer and water that you may use for your meal instead of buying something and you'll always have refreshments when relaxing on one of the gorgeous beaches."

Yea, none of that really happened the way it was described. Where were the caves? Our guide didn't bring the drinks to the beach with us and the Mexican meal was very very limited and not filling.

I honestly don't feel I got what I paid for and I'm pretty much left longing to actually do/see a few of the things I missed. It almost makes me want to go back and do a land vacation just to relax and spend time at some of the places we thought we would go to in order to snorkel or even go back to Punta Sur to snorkel and relax. I didn't realize that Punta Sur was so long in and out of there that it would eat up a lot of our time. I didn't realize that we were not going to this snorkeling spot at a place with a pool as well. I did not see any snorkeling equipment anywhere in the jeep and we didn't bring ours because we were told it was provided. None of the drinks I requested were brought. I'm just left wondering if I got a freak tour this time around or if it was a freak tour last time around by being so good. I'm just not sure. 😕 We did have a good time and we were able to see part of the island we would normally not see by just going to most of the suggested beaches. (Edit...we did end up doing a land vacation here and went over on our own and had an amazing time!

So would I suggest this tour? YES, I would. It's unique and will give you a taste of that side of the island. Like I said, it just may have been a fluke that day and could be better for someone else...just know a little more about where you are going and illiterate on your needs and confirming them might help. I would definitely try it again. We have had a wonderful experience in the past with this vendor and will not stop using them in the future.

Back at the pier...Sakari wanted pictures with everything she could find.

One of the live statues. You think they are fake but they move to scare you at a moments notice. These guys are so good at this stuff. Only this one put his sword around her neck and held her there. I took the picture and told her to come get money to put in his box, only he wouldn't release her. She said she couldn't move. She didn't know how to get out. I told her to duck under. He wasn't about to let that happen either. I physically had to put the money in his box for him to release her. How strange and made me feel a little uneasy at that point.

It looks like we had several Carnival ships docked with us.

I did talk to our guide about us docking at that dock and because the weather had not been that great the night before and it was really windy out today off and on as well, docking at the Punta Langosta pier is very difficult for a bigger ship and in the area it is in. The smaller ships do not have as many problems on a windy day but the bigger ships are safer to dock further down. I would think that the smaller ships would have more problems with the windy blowing them around than the bigger. ??? But that's what she said anyhow.

The only snorkeling we would get to do this day.

I love day of the dead costumes and was hoping that these guys were friendlier than the last guy she took pictures with.

We were following a family around taking pictures. I offered to get them all in a picture together and from then on out, I would be their photographer as we went from place to place taking pictures with all of the props at the port. lol

I have to say that Sakari's personality is really blossoming since starting middle school. I've noticed that she's starting to want pictures with everything and makes poses and various faces in her pictures now. She's coming out of her shell these days. She's always been quiet and reserved.

Heading down the pier back to the ship. The Allure was docked at the RC port. Man she is so big. Sakari made the comment "Are we EVER going to get to go on the Allure or Oasis???" Well baby, you finally got your wish now.

We were docked beside the Conquest (which we have been on) and Paradise. They looked so small beside the Escape.

Now once again, notice there were no 3 wheeled bikes running that day. I was told because it was too windy. Also notice the guy with the wheelchair coming? The hubby flagged him down for a ride for me.

NCL always provides you with wet washcloths when returning from port. They were smelling kinda "funny". I hadn't noticed this smell in the past years. They were just very very cold and wet in the past. But now they have a weird smell to them. I really wasn't sure what it was but know I had smelled that aroma before. On our last stop, I just had to ask one of the workers what was on it because it was just driving me insane. It was Eucalyptus. I have some of this for a relaxing tub soak that I put in my jacuzzi tub. It's very soothing. I'll add it to the water, light some candles and turn the lights out with the jets running. It's so relaxing but I haven't used it for quite some time due to my leg situation. I just knew that the smell was familiar.

The other thing I have always loved about NCL is their "coming back" party with the staff lined up and dancing to welcome you back to the ship. These guys weren't so lively as most of the ships in the past, but they were having fun.

Here's our video from our day in Cozumel. Sakari did most of the recording with the GoPro and a little bit done by daddy on the camera. I hope you enjoy it.

So after returning to the ship, we were really hungry and decided to head to the buffet. It had been a long day that involved a lot of walking for me and I was tired.

We watched our ship pull out of port

We got a table at the back of the ship and watched the sunset.

I knew we had dinner reservations for Cagney's tonight but we really didn't feel like dressing up and going out to eat so I canceled it as we sat in the buffet area and rescheduled for the next night. I can't believe how easy it was and how many openings they had at all the places I could use my certificates to. The Breakaway was booked solid and I ran into that issue with some of the other big ships as well in the past.

Now that was one beaming sun!!! It was getting so windy out on the upper decks you couldn't stay up there long.

I also noticed that the water wasn't such smooth sailing anymore and the waves were picking up.

When we returned to our room, our laundry from the other day was done. I just love how I struggle to put our dirty laundry into bags and they fill up so quickly. Then when they wash, fold and press them, they end up about 3/4 the size as they were before. They come all nice and folded and put in a wicker basket. This saves so much time completely unpacking and getting back to normal when we get home.

I really wanted to catch one of the comedy shows. We love going to the comedy shows and hadn't been all week. Sakari said she wanted to stay back and work on some of her drawings.

There were plenty of seats and not filled up at all. I'm so used to when we sail with Carnival, you are lucky to find a seat unless you are there very early.

There was a lady who opened up and she was funny. Then the guy was even better.

Sakari was working on drawings of her "furry" called "Remi" when we returned to the room to check on her.

We decided to head to the casino to try our luck again. I was still playing with the same money from all week. The hubby....well he was on his 2nd or 3rd $100 at this point.

This game was a lot of fun and I played it forever. I more than doubled my money and I think I turned my $89 into $230 that night.

I never play the higher bets but since this thing was hitting over and over, I gave it a shot and went all in at some point and it paid off.

We returned back to the room and checked out the location/information channel.

The temps were only 74 degrees and it did feel somewhat chilly.

At this point the ship was rocking a little. I hadn't felt any type of movement the entire cruise. Now, we were feeling some movement and it said the waves were 8.2 feet.

Now if you recall on the news and the Carnival boards, the next day after this, Cozumel would continue to have high winds and the Carnival Glory collided with Carnival Legend. I mean what a crazy accident. So glad there wasn't any casualties or more serious injuries. That had to be scary. I can completely see how that happened, especially with the high winds we were experiencing the day before and even the day before that in Costa Maya. I hope the repairs are coming along nicely and everyone got to continue with their cruising. I'm also glad they spared colliding with the Oasis in port that day as well. Leave her in tip top shape for me please.

Day 7

BABY BAY BEACH

St Thomas 2020

St Thomas 2020

St Thomas 2020

St Thomas 2020

St Thomas 2020

TRAVEL WITH MITSUGIRLY

mitsugirlys cruise ( and land) adventures

Mitsugirly needed to ESCAPE from the cold weather

Day 6: THURSDAY December 19: COZUMEL

Mitsugirly needed to ESCAPE from the cold weather Day 6: THURSDAY December 19: COZUMEL

Mitsugirly needed to ESCAPE from the cold weather

Day 6: THURSDAY December 19: COZUMEL