After a day at sea we arrived in Guatemala. The day dawned foggy and rainy. We had thought about joining an excursion at the last minute but when we saw the weather we decided to stay around the ship. As it turned out, it was a good decision. Our friends were on the excursion and they said the boat ride was rough and a bit wet. We did go to the little shopping area next to the ship and wandered around there.
Our next stop was Costa Maya, Mexico. There, the day dawned clear and gorgeous as you can see from below.
We had signed up for a dolphin encounter that started at 8:30 AM. There were 5 of us in a group. We stood on a platform in a pool. Chuck was mid chest deep. Caroline was a bit deeper. It was hard for her to stay still and not float because of the floatation devices we had on, so I had to hold her in place while touching the dolphin. The dolphin were amazing. Some pictures below.
They opened their mouth for us. We were supposed to “count their teeth." It was pretty hard. They use the teeth to catch the fist they eat. They also were trained to kiss us. They seemed quite affectionate, but they did get fish for doing this.
They let us hug them. I’m not sure why I had my eyes closed when I kissed the dolphin.
While we were wandering around the shops we saw four guys on top of a 50 foot pole. They were sitting on the top of the pole. Then they leaned back over the edge and begin to spin downwards with their ropes getting longer and longer. It was a pretty amazing site.
There were the usual shops ranging from diamonds and high-end jewelry to T-shirts, trinkets, and everything in between. We stopped in a cantina for some lunch and during lunch we were treated to some tradition dancers. See the picture below.
Some more pictures from Costa Maya.
It was a beautiful day. A bar for swingers?
Flamingos. Yes, they are real. Three of at least four cruise ships in Costa Maya