Chichen Itza x Wildlife x Playa del Carmen

The abundance of wildlife at the resort was mind blowing. There would be the typical squirrels, birds and insects, but I didn't expect to see these adorable little mammals, kawatis, roaming the resort without a care. To me, kawatis look like the result of a red panda that mated with an ant-eater. As strange as that sounds, they were seriously the most adorable things that I had ever seen. These little guys travel in packs across the resort and usually graze on the lawns for food or rummage through the garbage cans. One was even so brave as to come almost close enough for me to touch. They had some serious claw business going on though so I maintained my distance mostly in fear of getting my eyeballs scratched out.

We also witnessed some crazy, next level, Discovery Channel business between a frog, snake and iguana. As my brother and I watched an iguana try to wrestle a frog that was being half-digested by a snake, Morgan Freeman's voice narrated the entire session in my head. It was strange but terrifyingly interesting at the same time to witness something like that happen in front of you.

Our fourth day was mostly spent roaming the shopping district of Mexico as well as beaching on Playa del Carmen. The crystal clear turquoise water was a dream to swim in, but I lost one of my favorite sunglasses to the devil snatch of a wave. Just kidding, I forgot to take them off before going for a swim so it was completely my own fault.

By the time the fifth day came around, we were ready for another excursion and off to Chichen Itza we went. Since Chichen Itza is one of the New7Wonders of the World, it's largely a tourist site that doesn't have as easy access as Tulum. There are many ruins surrounding the main building which you can tour and honestly you could easily get lost at the site. It's so large that there's enough space for vendors to set up shop to sell their wares. Unfortunately we were unable to climb the steps to the top of the temple as the government has now banned that. The steps had to be preserved for the amount of tourists stampeding up the steps actually force the monument to begin falling apart.

You pass by these vendors on your way in as you pass your gates, way before you even reach the main monument. The street vendors also have pretty simple but interesting tactics to lure tourists into purchasing their goods. The most popular being them yelling "One dollar! One dollar!" to anyone that passes. But, if you pay close attention to what they're saying, at the end of each sentence there is a muffled "off, off". So essentially they aren't selling anything for just one dollar, which makes sense because then they wouldn't make any money. But when you see beautifully colored T-shirts and souvenirs for one dollar, then you're looped in right? And the vendors can be quite aggressive once they see that you are relatively interested.

Another cool tactic were these little wooden instruments that made the sounds of a jaguar or mountain lion when you blow into them. The vendors' children would run around behind the trees or near tourists blowing into the toys making the cat calls. At first I thought that there were actually wild animals roaming the jungle, but I eventually noticed the sounds coming from the children.

Had there been some extra space in my luggage, I would have bought one of the vibrantly colored hammocks to bring home.

After spending roughly 4 hours walking through the ruins of Chichen Itza, our excursion ended with a trip to another cenote that was located inside its own resort. We were treated to a fresh lunch buffet and headed to the bathrooms to change into our swimsuits. The sink hole was a little different such that it wasn't under ground but exposed above top. It extended to a depth of roughly 150 metres and a staircase with platforms of varying heights were carved along the wall. Here we had the chance to go swimming in the fresh water and dive off of the platforms. Along the edge of the cenote were several little streams draining into the centre creating beautiful waterfalls. From the height that the water was falling, if you swam underneath it, it felt like a strongly pressured massage. Of my whole trip, swimming in this sinkhole was one of the most liberating and peaceful experiences.

The ride from our resort to Chichen Itza was roughly 3 hours in length so we stopped by a local city on the way back to take a quick 15 minute rest and stretch out our legs. As we were passing by the city, the sun was setting and it cast a beautiful orange glow the buildings.

It wasn't until close to 10 PM that we arrived back at our resort. We missed our dinner reservation but the day's adventures made up for that loss.

Relaxing x Tulum

A couple months ago back in May, I took a week off from work to go on a trip with my family to Mexico. It's been awhile since I've been back but I've finally had the chance to sift through the huge collection of pictures that I took.

My posts for the next few days will most likely be a small cluster of Mexico related ones. I was editing through my photos from the trip and realized that I alone took almost a thousand of them. Had I included my father's, probably closer to three thousand. I'll try not to extend this series for too long and let the beautiful photos do their talking. If anyone is considering vacationing in Mexico anytime soon, I definitely encourage it. The country is beautiful, the people are so kind and the food is delicious. It's absolutely a destination I would never be bored of and would be willing to revisit over and over.

I'm quite sure that I spent the majority of my trip in Triangl bikinis. Lately they've become an obsession of mine and I really enjoy the quality of the fabric and craftsmanship. The neoprene is relatively thick so when I get cold after getting out of the water, there isn't much to show through the top. Although I don't have much to show regardless.

We spent the majority of the first and second days lounging around and enjoying the resort. Although we had wanted to go ahead and start some of our excursions, the long flight had tired everyone out, so swimming was a unanimous option. Since the duration of our stay in Mexico was to be for seven nights, we had more than enough time to enjoy the resort before going out to get explore.

After a few days of well deserved relaxing, we left for our first excursion to Tulum. Not only were we able to walk through the beautiful ruins, but we had a chance to see the gorgeous beach located right next to it. Unfortunately for us that day the wind speeds were too high so we were unable to enjoy the water.

Amongst the ruins was some interesting wildlife. Iguanas appeared to be the main attractions at this specific location. But I later learned that they are abound everywhere in Mexico. I wanted a closer shot of these ones, but they didn't seem to happy for my lens to be resting on their rock with them.

On the way out of Tulum, we happened upon several stalls of street vendors. I sincerely wished that I had the chance to bring back some of the beautiful pieces of fabric art with me. Hopefully I'll be able to have a chance to revisit Mexico in the near future with the opportunity to bring back various other memorabilia.

Our Tulum excursion that day also included some serious outdoor activities where we winded up in some Jungle Maya adventure course that lasted the majority of the day. It was quite a relief to be doing the adventurous activities after visiting the ruins because we were completely soaked in sweat at that point. We had the chance to zip-line across the canopy of the jungle, into a cenote (sinkhole), snorkel through a sinkhole to see submerged underground caverns and to rappel into another sinkhole as well.

Our guides provided us with a delicious, traditional Mexican lunch afterward the activities in a little kitchen on site. The food was amazingly fresh and the hibiscus juice was to die for. Unfortunately I don't have photos of this part of our trip as it was difficult to transport a camera around while participating in all of the fun and games.

If anyone knows where I can get a hold of hibiscus juice in Toronto please let me know in the comments below!

A Change in Pace

Last week, I took the plunge of a lifetime for myself. I accepted an internship, packed up my belongings and moved from Ottawa to Toronto. The city 5 hours away from my home town is my new home for the next several of months. And if things go according to plan, hopefully my new and permanent home.

I've always loved Toronto and the fast paced atmosphere it's downtown core offers. Compared to corporate Ottawa, Toronto has that and so much more to offer me. With a large majority of the nation's creative core located in this city, I'll finally have the chance to expand my blog and experience in the field of social media.

With the move, I've had to say goodbye to my close friends, family and boyfriend. But the 5 hour drive away won't stop me from going home often to visit them. So far, I have trips planned for every 2-3 weeks to return home and visit my loved ones. The next one being next weekend, you can be sure I'm more than excited to see my family and friends. It definitely was hard the first couple of nights, but my loving boyfriend accompanied me here for the move and was able to stay with me for a couple of days. He helped me unload my belongings and reassured me that everything would be ok. At first I thought that the worst part would be adjusting from seeing him everyday to seeing him once every 2-3 weeks. I quickly realized that the moments we get to spend together would be much more appreciated this way and that our time together would be sweeter. In about a week I'll be able to see him again and everyday I wake up feeling giddy knowing that I'm one day closer.

For the time being, we stay in touch mainly through iMessage and Skype. Even though we're 5 hours away from each other, we'll always be connected. Here's how my past week in Toronto has been through a recap of my Instagram.

 

1. Enjoying a bowl of ramen with friends the afternoon before I was truly to be on my own in Toronto
2. A night out with the significant other a couple weeks before while arranging my future stay in the new city
3. Enjoying creature comforts, well at least my creature comforts (love me some macarons!)

 

1. My favorite go to sandwhich when I'm trying to stay healthy. Is anyone interested in a recipe?
2. I lightened my hair for the summer quite a few weeks ago
3. Literally today's outfit, plus a cute new gift from work! Thanks guys!

 

1.  I'm now obsessed with cold-pressed juicing but it's so expensive! Doe anyone else have more affordable alternatives in the city?
2. Spent an entire day strolling the harbor front with the significant other and another couple, one of the more entertaining days I've had in awhile
3. Millie's Creperie is hands down the best crepe shack in the city!