New Year’s Eve! We didn’t really feel the holiday too much until the evening. We enjoyed the morning at the big pool (there was a smaller pool right by our building that we enjoyed the night before). Ashtyn was being really fun and playing around in the water with all of the other kids. She doesn’t always do that anymore so that was a treat. We played and splashed in the sun until it was time for lunch. I loved just showing up at the buffet, not having to think about what to make for everyone and not worrying about cleaning it up afterward. I think, for a mom, that’s one of the best things about a vacation. After lunch we headed into Xcaret Park again for a very exciting excursion: swimming with dolphins! I have to say that I was slightly nervous and had had a nightmare about “dolphins gone wrong” but I felt calm when we arrived so I decided to go ahead with it. It was one of the coolest things we did! We spent an hour in the water with two dolphins and a very nice trainer. We were able to touch them and use hand signals to communicate with them and they even pushed us up out of the water like they do at Sea World - amazing! I loved looking into their eyes and seeing their intelligence and gentleness. I felt like the area was very large and clean and the information we watched and discussed for 45 minutes before the swimming led me to believe that it was a very good facility dedicated to dolphin research, reproduction and rehabilitation. We stayed in the park for the rest of the day, seeing more animals, watching a very cool Mexican equestrian show and watching the much-talked-about “Espectacular Mexico!”, their night show. And it was spectacular! It was in a huge stadium made of stone. We arrived early for good seats. We all received a Mexican candle which we lit one-by-one until the stadium was lighted by candlelight. Cool! The show went through the entire history of Mexico from the Mayans to present day; presented through acting, song, dance and spoken word. The costumes and music were amazing and we went back the next night to re-watch part of the show again. It was over 2 hours long so we were pretty exhausted. We were going to get a quick bite of late dinner at the buffet before retiring for the night. We then realized what a big deal other people make of New Year’s Eve. Holy Cow! We showed up at the buffet (the most casual restaurant and the only one that you didn’t have to dress up for) to find it transformed with fancy decorations: ice sculptures, watermelons carved into amazing plants and tropical birds, 2016 bling everywhere. And the people: evening gowns, heels, suits and ties. Well, needless to say that we felt slightly sheepish in our swimwear and cover-ups/tee-shirts and flip flops but it was that or nothing so we went on in and enjoyed all of the fancy food and desserts before going off to bed……we did not stay up to ring in the new year……too tuckered out!
We weren't able to take any other photos with our iPhone or GoPro, but we did purchase the extra photos. However, I don't have them available to add to the journal. They were awesome though. An incredible experience swimming with the Dolphins. We even purchased a photo book!
More Mayan ruins outside Dolpinus!
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