A ‘relaxing’ beach day - jungle walks & litter picking

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What a wonderful day. Idyllic and we finally feel Christmassy.

We enjoyed breakfast on the balcony of our bungalow before doing our laundry (less fun but necessary). Chores done we headed to the bar for some tea and a snack and then descended to the beautiful, sandy beach.
We went for a swim in the warm waters and then built our sandcastles. Mine was a simple affair. Stephens was rather more elaborate and he ended up with a group of locals coming to watch. They even went to find shells for him to decorate it with!
Whilst he finished his construction I got to read in the shade on the edge of the beach.

Construction complete we ate some lunch before going for a short walk in the jungle. It was beautiful but hard work in the heat. Unfortunately we didn’t see any monkeys but we saw a red squirrel, spiders, a newt, some fishes, a bird (we think a milky stork) and some crickets. I found it incredibly upsetting knowing that there are numerous endangered birds in this park and that the areas to be demolished.

Treating ourselves to fresh fruit and Nutella to refuel we then went off to fill up a 50kg bag with rubbish. Not only does this tidy up the beach but we get a can of beer for our troubles 😊

Delaying our beer reward we went for a swim to cool down before changing for dinner. Returning to the bar area we were in time to see the fairy lights being turned on on their alternative Christmas tree. Grabbing a mulled wine it finally felt like Christmas. Wonderful.

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Photos

Giant spider!
Not sure what it is. But it could jump. And only just fitted under the coconut shell...
Stephen managed to remove it from our room without damaging any of its very long legs

Fishing boats
In the bay by our hotel

The monkey maya beach
It was always this crowded!

The alternative Christmas tree
I’m writing my diary underneath