There's no denying it, these bloggers are bound to make you jealous. Whether it's their guts, their energy or their tan you admire, overseas volunteers have got plenty to share with you about their remarkable work in fascinating countries. Read on to find out what you could be missing.

All | Ashley | Jonathan | James | Fiona | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Sally | Lucille

Tuesday Jul 28, 2009

3 little days in Cancun...

Ok, so that last blog was so long that I felt the need to have a whole day's rest...sorry for blabbering on for so long it's just that I love travelling around!

Right, so with Chichen Itza done with, we then took the long straight road back to Cancun, where we had booked to stay in a really nice hotel for the last 3 days of Mexico. We were staying in the Hotel Zone which is basically a tiny strip of an island joined by a road on either end to the real Cancun. It is completely tourist orientated with massive 5-star resorts along the whole 20km stretch of it which to me, was a bit daunting! A completely different experience than staying in my local Mexican apartment in Puerto Vallarta. I have to admit I'm not a fan of the Cancun hotel zone, which is designed to make you stay in your hotel really! There are restaurants and shopping plazas around, but not many in relation to the number of hotels and they are pretty spread out as well. Also, it is insanely expensive! So if you're on a budget, I'd say steer clear or head to Downtown Cancun instead, where prices will be cheaper.

I couldn't bear the thought of staying in the hotel for my few days in Cancun, so instead, I went scuba diving (the diving in the Caribbean was far better than on the Pacific Coast by the by - more varied largely thanks to a massive coral reef near to the coast) and also zip-wiring, again. The zip-wiring was a bit more timid this time as it was just between trees with the absence of the mountains they had in Puerto Vallarta, as the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula is extremely flat, but they make up for it by letting you do it upside-down (AMAZING FUN) or on your stomach like Superman! For our last day in Mexico, we had booked to go swimming with whale sharks (aka basking sharks) as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it was incredible! 30 miles or so out into the ocean, and there was at least 50 of these massive things swimming about, totally oblivious to or just not bothered by our company. They only eat plankton so it's totally safe - although I'm sure their mouths are big enough they could quite easily have swallowed me - and you get to swim right up beside them as long as you don't touch them. I really would recommend going to something like that because it was so amazing to see these creatures and in their natural habitat unlike a lot of the swimming with dolphins tours they run now, although it definitely wasn't cheap at $190 each! Definitely a fantastic way to end Mexico though.

So anyway, although I wasn't so keen on the Hotel Zone in Cancun, I have to admit that the massive tourist trade definitely helps to make up for it, with no shortage of activities and outings to go on if, like me, you don't relish the idea of just lazing by the pool and never leaving your hotel when staying somewhere. With the caribbean sea and the second largest coral reef in the world right on your doorstep, it's a great place for scuba diving, snorkelling, or just any trips which involve a boat! There's also chances to take trips down to places like Tulum (Mayan ruins on the beach) or Cobá (another impressive ruins site) if you're into that, and nature reserves are nearby as well. So all in all, I did love Cancun as well, though if I ever return I'll definitely be staying in Downtown, for a more 'Mexican' experience, rather than the far-removed clinical world of the Hotel Zone, where you might not even realise you were in Mexico! Fi.

Posted by Fiona ( 11:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[1]