TULUM and AKUMAL, JUNE 11

This is Collin's long lost cousin. Actually, Lemuel, was spotted the second we walked into Tulum. He is a bishop in Cancun that was hired by a family from Park City to give them tours of the "Book of Mormon" area. They allowed us to crash their party based on"Y" hats. He was a great guide, especially because he was free. The group that hired him paid $100 each for 2 days. We tipped him more than his bishop's salary - 50 pesos.

He and Collin hit it off! He kept reminding Collin that even a Lemuel could end up changing his ways. Lemuel's other sibling FYI: Nefi, Helaman, Moroni, Mosaiah - they ran out good names so he ended up with Lemuel.

This is one of the four guard towers at Tulum.
Natalie, Collin and Sydney with guard tower and the ocean as a background.
This picture was taken to start the morning. By the end of the tour, those smiles were wiped away by the heat, long walk, and the "boring" guy that talk all the time.
These were some from the Park City group who's party we crashed.


This was the whole group from Park City.
This was one of the dwellings that the Maya lived in.
Another guard tower on the west side of the complex.
Another picture of the residence.

The Castille at Tulum. Lemuel called it the "templo" where most guide call it the "castillo". Three figures can be seen above the three doorways which he referred to as the three figures of the godhead.
One of the many iguanas that we saw.
The Castle from straight on.

The next two pictures together. If you look closely, you can see the silhouette of a face on the corner of this building, the eye being a football-shape. There is another one on the other side, too. They are supposed to be representations of the day and night.

A different view of the residence for the Maya.

The Griswolds in Mexico!
Feeding the iguana.
An iguana on one of the ruins.

The kids found a small hermit crab at Tulum. This was one of their highlights of the day.

Sydney was proud of her find. The coconut is about the size of a football.

AKUMAL

After our trip to Tulum we took a road off the beaten path to Akumal. This is the PLACE! The beach and the people were great! We had lunch at a place called the Turtle Bay Cafe and the kids had their favorite - noodles and butter while mom and dad had a breakfast burrito. This is a great little out-of-the-way place. Awesome beach and much less crowded.
This was a really neat little beach town. We would love to stay here. We are going to take Nana and Papa to a place nearby called Laguna Yak-ku.
There are turtles out there. We just didn't see any today.
Everybody is getting in the act of snorkeling.
Sydney and Colling went snorkeling with dad. They said that there were turtles out there but all we saw were a few fish.

Sydney, again afraid to jump into things, ended up enjoying the snorkeling experience. It took Dad three times out and back for her get comfortable with the snorkeling. Once she got the hang of it she didn't want to stop.

Before Tulum: Sydney and I pose in front of Chac Mool - everybodies favorite Mayan character. He is the one who held the still-beating hearts of human sacrifices in the receptacle on his tummy. Yum!