Archive for » August, 2012 «

Cancun Day 1 – Isla Mujeres

Being at the El Embarcadero pier for the Observation Tower, Dave and I decided to take a ferry from there to Isla Mujeres, a small island about 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) northeast of Cancun. The island is some 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) long and 650 meters (2,130 ft) wide (from wikipedia). Isla Mujeres means Island of Women in English. The Spanish named it the Island of Women because when they first discovered the island in 1517, there were hundreds of statues of women along the beach. The statues were a gift to Ixchel, the Mayan goddess of love, fertility and the Moon. See the aerial view of the island below.

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Cancun Day 1 – Observation Tower

Our first day in Cancun we spent enjoying the view of Cancun from the Observation Tower “El Torre” and visiting the neighboring island of Isla Mujeres after that. A little about Cancun. Is Cancun Mexico an island or a city? Cancún is a coastal city in Mexico’s easternmost state, Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula. Cancun resort area is bounded on three sides by water: the Caribbean Sea, the Bahia Mujeres (Bay of Women) and the Nichupte and Bojorquez lagoons.

The word cancun translates to a nest of snakes in English. Built in a location that was named by Mayan people, long ago, for the large number of snakes in the area, Cancun has been carefully groomed into one of the most polished resorts anywhere. Long gone are the snakes and most of the mosquitoes that might have enjoyed the numerous lagoons. Few resorts in the world have the infrastructure and amenities that were built into Cancun from the beginning. The area, developed in the 1970s and 80s as a tourist resort, is known for its white-washed buildings, long stretches of sand, diverse shopping, and vibrant nightlife according to wikipedia.

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A week in Cancun – Itinerary & Arrival

The second week of June Dave and I spent in Cancun, Mexico. At least one of my friends that I know of is going to visit Cancun soon, so I decided to put together our trip to Cancun itinerary. It might be helpful for someone else as well. 🙂 We booked our trip, which included airfare and hotel through expedia.com, since expedia offered non-all-inclusive option. I found booking.com a helpful and informative site for researching. This site provides detailed hotel descriptions, a wonderful interactive map (see screenshot) and reviews. We chose Gran Melia Resort:

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A Day at the Beach

After skydiving we decided to spend the next day at Rehoboth Beach. By 7 am, after a quick breakfast at the hotel, we were driving to one of the clean Delaware beaches. On the way we noticed Tiki Murph and stopped to take a look. Tiki Murph sells beautiful outdoor entertainment products: custom built Tiki Bars and Tiki Huts, Tiki statues, wood and painted figures. Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean (from Wikipedia). See for yourself.

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Skydiving is Fun!

I’ve always wanted to try skydiving and scuba diving! This summer I was able to accomplish both. This post I dedicate to my first tandem sky dive. Let’s start from the beginning. After 3.5 hour drive from Washington, DC area, Dave and I have arrived at Skydive Delmarva located at the Laurel Airport in the state of Delaware. The main reason for choosing this place for skydiving was its close proximity to the Delaware Beach Resort Areas, which is where we were planning to spend next day, Sunday.

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