Port 2 Matzalan

Our second port stop was Matzalan. We were there on May 6th, and was there for a good part of the day. When we got off the ship we were a little worried that we weren't going to have an excursion again. But alas..we did. We had reserved a tour that would take us to STone Island and then ride ATV's throughout the Island. It was such an experiance. I tell more aboutit through the blog. Matzalan was probably the most learning experiance. The people are so humble and kind here. They are willing to help you out with whatever, and always have a smile on their face and waving. After the tour we arrived back at the terminal area and hung out with our friends we met from the dining room, Marcus and Barbara. Then head back on the ship for a little nap and then dinner. After enjoying dinner, we went back to Barbara's room, because Marcus hadn't made it to dinner. So we got him up and went and sat on Lido eating ice cream and talking with each other. This was usually our nightly routine after dinner. We would either go to the hot tubs, or go hang out in the lido area eating ice cream with Marcus & Barbara, and Brian & Cindy. We truly gained some great friends from this cruise.

Ok so we had to take a shuttle from the ship to the Terminal. Then get into another vehical to get to a smaller harbor area. Then take a small Ferry to Stone Island to ride on our Mexican Limo to The Restaurant, and beach area called Playa De Sur. This us on our ferry and we happened to take it as we were passing our Ship.

Our tractor pulling the Mexican Limo

Us riding from the harbor to the Playa De Sur Restaurant in our Mexican Limo

There would be these nice colorful houses amongst the crappy ones.

Our Mexican Limo as our tour guide Pollo called it.

Me standing out in front of the Playa de Sur restaurant. This is where we ate and hung out after the ATV Tour

So our first stop on our tour was an open farm. The tour guide had told us that it had been passed down from one generation to another. They kept it open for anyone to come work on it or gather mango's or anything. He also had a few pets..ha ha. The alligator was the first one. The guy had caught this in the river and kept it. He didn't want people to kill it for meat and the skin. So he houses it at his place. Then there was turltes, came thing he would keep them for awhile and after they get big enough he would let them go. He also had chickens, turkies, fish, and a dog. He had mango trees, coconuts, and some others. It was fascinating.

A look around the farm that we stopped at.

So part of our tour, our guide took us through this little village. It was an eye-opening experiance. It was so small and the houses looked like little shacks. They were very colorful though. I did see and AA building, I thought that was funny. Our guide stopped and talked to an older woman. He then told us that was his Grandma. His dads mom. Then he asked if we wanted fresh tortilla's. His grandma from his mom's side made them fresh. It was a little business there in the village. So we stopped..the tortilla's was the best I have had and they were warm and yummy! They also gave us fresh cheese to put on them. Wow..amazing. The family was very kind and generous. We watched her pack them up, she would use the wrapping from the flour bags, wrap the tortilla's up in them and write a name. Then her grandson would take them and put them in a cooler. He would attach that to his ATV and deliver to the customers. I was grateful for the experiance our guide gave us.

Look down the one side of the street

Then the other way..right past the big green house was a small town square with a pavillion and some benches.

If you look I took a pic of the coastline..we rode the ATV's clear down this coast. It was fun and beautiful

My bad boy..with our tour guide behind him.

We had so much fun riding on these. Our tour guide took us through 250,000 coconut tree fields, little farms, small villages, and along the beach coast of Stone Island

Oh yeah...this was tons of fun!

Inside the Cabana style restaurant..this was the roof and how it was decorated.

Justin out at Stone Island Beach. The water was ok..a little dirty looking, but ok. The sand though was VERY HOT. We made the mistake of not bringing sandals so after taking the ATV's we took off our shoes and walked towards the water..All that went through my mind was "Oh this is warm, this is really warm, this is HOT" Then I started running for the water. Justin and I actually burned our feet and had blisters. So warning..sand in Matzalan is HOT!

After the excursion to Stone Island we sat at a little patio area right outside the terminal to board the ship and had something to drink with our new found friends Marcus and Barbara. Barbara and I were singing to each other

Our waiters entertaining us again. They sang and dance to the song Apple bottom Jeans. Our waiter Ron was able to pull me up and dance with them. Our other two ladies were too shy. This is our waiter Charles behind Brian dancing.