On Saturday, our last day, we visited Xcaret Park. It's an ecological/zoo/performance destination.
There's a tall space needle-ish thing that we rode, giving us
great views of the surrounding area.
There were lots of iguanas, sunning themselves on the rock paths.
I always thought iguanas were green. I guess some varieties are, but all of the Mexican ones we saw were dull brown or grey.
Don't eat junk food with your hands OR feet.
The park attempts to display every native plant, such as these bromeliads and orchids.
They had greenhouses full of plants in what looked like recycled jars.
We got onto a boat-thingy like this and took a trip down the Xcaret river.
We passed by a bunch 'o bats. Cancun has a lot of bats.
And parrots. Cancun has a lot of parrots.
We passed an authentically fake river monster.
And bromeliads growing right on trees.
It's been a long vacation. It now takes three brothers to push Dad up the hill.
I was surprised to learn flamingos are native to the Caribbean side of Mexico.
We were also surprised to see BYU's Cosmo pacing around his zoo cage, although he went by the alias "Puma".
Xcaret has a large butterfly pavilion. This Blue Morpho had boring brown outside wings, but
bright blue on the inside. Try as I might, I could not capture him with wings open. I got this picture from here.
We also saw this wild agouti wandering around the grounds, an oversized guinea pig-like animal that is common in Cancun.
Our final event of the day was the Espectaculos.
It was a performance showing the history of Mexico, including a demonstration of the ancient ball game the Mayans were so fond of. They came close, but didn't get the ball through the circle.
Next up was the portrayal the coming of the Spaniards and the changes that occurred because of their arrival. It was a surprisingly neutral presentation. I guess they don't want to offend any Spanish tourists.
They also showed a lot of dancing and singing of famous Mexican songs.
It was a fabulous show, and a great way to end the vacation.
It's like a Mexican Disneyland. Did they have a pink mouse called Topo Gigio there?
ReplyDeleteWe saw lots of creatures, but no Topo Gigio, pink or otherwise :)
DeleteWhat a fabulous trip! You mentioned it was the rainy season. What was the temperature like?
ReplyDeleteThe temperatures were 88-90 everyday, with hardly any cool down at night. I could endure the heat. The humidity was the killer.
DeleteYeah, the humidity is the killer. I guess that's what you have to put up with to get all of that green.
DeleteCosmo in a cage??! That must explain last weekend's horrible performance by the Cougars. The Aggies had stolen our good-luck ascot and shipped him to Mexico!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fabulous vacation! I especially love all the wildlife. I love the picture of the three brothers pushing Grandpa in the wheelchair.
ReplyDelete