Day 7- Our last full day

---

Woke up this morning to another beautiful sunrise. It was going to a great last day in paradise! Today's the day that we finally get back to Tulum to tour the ruins again, but this time we're hiring a guide. We went last year in the later part of the morning without a guide and it was really a waste. Too many people(many of which were very rude) and no understanding of what the significance of various buildings were. So, time to wake the guys and get ourselves together for our Tulum adventure. We hit the road heading south around 8:00ish, not as early as I had wanted but for the guys it was early enough! We found the parking lot which cost 40 pesos and started off towards the ruins. On the way, right by the tram you can take to the ruins, we hired our guide. Guido, a crazy combination of Mayan and Sicilian blood, was a great guide. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, and I took a ton of great pictures. It will never cease to amaze me how insightful the Mayans were to determine the seasonal changes and how they built temples that utilized the sun and the moon to highlight these changes. Guido also gave us more understanding of the social structure of the Mayans than we had previous learned. I would highly recommend spending the money to hire a guide to walk with you through the site. The total cost for the guide, entrance into the site, and the ride up to the ruins on the tram was $52 US (for 2 adults and 1 child under 12). We spent about 1 1/2 hours total at the site and decided it was time for lunch so I convinced the guys to drive down to the beach clubs in Tulum to eat.

We landed at Zamas to eat for lunch but when we arrived we were a little early and they were still serving breakfast so we waited 20 minutes to order lunch. I was intrigued during my research about the casitas they have for rent in Tulum and thought it might be a fun experience for a future trip. However, after spending some time at Zamas we decided that Tulum wasn't the right place for us. I am not saying it was a bad place, but it wasn't our type of environment. Our lunch at Zamas was okay, not to the level of the food we have been eating on this trip, and more expensive. I did take some really nice pictures when I climed the rocks but once again, we decided that Akumal was a much better place for us at this time.

We headed back to the condo to spend the rest of the day snorkeling in Half Moon Bay and being lazy. That is what this trip is about anyway, being lazy and forgetting about the stress back at home! Later we the other chicken we bought at Naty's and then headed up to La Buena Vida around 8ish to meet up one last time with our friends Wayne and Lynn for a couple drinks. They are a great couple and it was neat to hear their trip experiences from Isla Mujeres. When they travel to the area they spend 3 months (Jan-March) which gives me something to aspire to when we retire! I am now just practicing a week at a time!

Wayne shared some great magic tricks and gags with us and we celebrated Lynn's basketball team's (a woman's team from W. IL) win in the Division 3 tournie while doing Mad Libs. A great last night.

---