Our first stop was punta sur, south point, which had a Mayan ruin which was not much to look at but is actually a 2000 year old hurricane warning system that apparently still works. We went up into a lighthouse where we got a nice view of the area and walked through a little bit of a saltwater marsh and saw some crocs and fish.
By the time we were done there it was time for lunch so the guide took us to a somewhat touristy but rustic restaurant on the beach. There were chairs on the beach that the waiters would bring you your food etc but we sat under the roof. There was 1 wall in that building and the rest was open to the breeze etc and they had fans running which was nice as well. I think the guide thought i was weird for wanting something "authentic" but I felt I was in Mexico so what harm could there be in asking. I ordered the coconut shrimp and I was expecting 6 largish shrimp like you might get around here, WRONG! I got 6 of the largest shrimp I have ever seen. They were as big as chicken tenderloins and probably U-2 count! Of course they used fresh coconut on them and OMG, I don't know if I can ever have coconut shrimp again because they will never be the same. I gave one or two away because I did not know how I would be able to finish those lobster tail sized shrimp.
As we were preparing to leave the park, I noticed our guide had moved the jeep. When tried to start the jeep I learned he left it in gear quickly, I had left it out because we were on flat ground and I had used the parking break instead. I was a little embarrassed but hit the clutch and we were under way. I quickly notices that the engine was idling really high, 1900 RPMs, and that the breaks felt like a ton of bricks. Thank god the park was not busy and the jeep was manual because that would have been tougher to deal with if the car was automatic. We drove to a blowhole like that, bucket-list item CHECK, and then we stopped at this small shop where we took pics with an iguana.
Our last major stop was at this shop where the dude makes wood carvings, bowls and concrete statues. While we were shopping, our guide took the jeep for a short drive and saw what I was describing and said that we were still not in cell phone range but that once we were, he would call into home base and get them to do an on-the-road swap of the vehicles. At that shop we bought a ton of stuff. The 18" platter hand painted platter alone was worth $80 but for that same price, we got the platter, a large hand-painted bowl a smaller hand-painted bowl, a cedar carved mask and a cedar carved Mayan calendar.
We left the shop and did our vehicle swap. In hind sight, I wish I had sat down and thought about the situation a little more because, we lost the break booster and the engine was idling high. The common thread there is vacuum and I bet, had I cracked the hood, I would have found a hose that came disconnected when I tried to start the jeep in gear a few hours before and we would have been under way.
Our final stop was a tequila tour. The dude showed us around a small compressed example of the process and then gave a us a few tastes. He described the various qualities and asked us where we wanted to start. I started with top shelf and so did Kim while Rachel and Cathy went for the mixes. The top shelf was AWESOME! I took a smidge of the next step down but the drop in quality was terrible, and since it was no longer sipping quality, I stopped. I think they looked at me puzzled but my feeling is, I can get cheap tequila at home but stuff that good, now that is a rare treat and worth the trouble of packing. I told Rachel and Cathy they needed to try to top one and that at a minimum, they would be able to drink it straight but I thought it was possible that they might actually like it. We got 1 bottle of the good stuff and said goodbye to Cozumel.
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