Anniversary Cruise (Part 2)

One of the main reasons we picked the Western Caribbean was so we could see Mayan Ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula.  We ended up picking Chacchoben in Costa Maya, Mexico.  It's about an hour from the port, and has three really well restored Mayan temple pyramids.  This one was two levels - a staircase led to a plateau higher up, and a smaller pyramid sat on top of that.  It was crazy to think that people built all this without metal tools or wheels.
 

Strangler Fig

 
They say that any hill in this area is probably an overgrown ruin, since the land is naturally flat.  Originally, the pyramids were covered with plaster and painted bright colors - there was a little of the original paint left on this one.
 

 
That night was one of our "formal" nights at dinner.  Our table-mates throughout the cruise were from Canada, and like all Canadians I've ever known, they were super friendly.  They manufacture fancy fishing-lures up near Niagara Falls.  Pretty weird way to make a living, eh?
 

 
The next day was a sea-day, which I love.  Nothing to do but read, eat, go to shows, and hang out.
 

 
Our last day started pretty early, since cruise ships are always in a hurry to kick you off to get ready for the next batch of people.  We decided to do one last tour rather than sit in the airport for ten hours.  It was a fan-boat tour of the Everglades, and it was amazing.  We saw black vultures, alligators, and these birds called purple gallinules that are related to chickens.  They were pretty tame and came almost right up to my hand.  At the end there was an alligator show that really freaked Ryan out.  I thought the alligators looked too lazy to be very dangerous, but that was probably deceptive.
 

 
Afterwards, the shuttle took us to the airport, where we changed clothes and caught a cab to church.  That was really neat.  You forget, living in affluent communities where the Church is well-established, how much need there is in other areas.  This ward was located in a fairly poor neighborhood, where a large percentage of the members didn't have cars, and the majority were either new converts or student families at the nearby medical school.  After church we called a cab, but it was taking forever to show up, so a super nice church member offered to take us to the airport.
 
I've had our room key-cards sitting in our bathroom mirror for weeks now (I just put them away last week,) and every time I looked at them, it made me happy.  What a great trip.  Thanks again to my mom for holding everything together at home so we could go!