The Mayan Ruins

San Gervasio, Cozumel, MEXICO - July 23, 2011

In one of my previous posts, I shared about our experience during our visit to the ruins as one of our itineraries during our Caribbean Cruise.

The Mayan Ruins is an ancient Mayan site during the early Mexican civilization and is now considered as the only protected Mayan site in Cozumel. It has 125 acres of lush green jungle with several ancient structures such as residence, shrines and ancient temples on the archeological site where those crumbling Mayan ruins lie amid lush jungle foliage.
As you explore the ancient structures, you will experience walking along a 1,200 year old limestone roads as you also get the chance to examine the vestiges of the Mayan constructions.

The tour guide will share all about the fascinating myths together with the history of this pre-Hispanic civilization, and be able to discover the story about the Mayan goddess of fertility - "Ixchel" for whom the site was dedicated. She is considered to be the goddess of women, childbirth, pilgrims, the moon and medicine. During those ancient times, many women made regulr pilgrimages to the "island of fertility" in canoes to express their gratitude for the children they had or seek blessings for the children they wished to have.

As you continue to stroll at your own pace, you might be luck enough to see iguanas or monkeys that scamper around. You can probably be able to see colorful birds as well hopping on the tree branches. These creatures can be there or none of them will appear on your sight the whole time you are there.

By the way, did you know that these ancient structures at San Gervasio were made from a combination of stucco, honey, gum (from gum trees) and crushed shells? You can be able to check them yourselves if you are planning to join this excursion!

Mayan Ruins & Beach Tour Experience

Our ship docked at around 12 noon at Cozumel. We still had enough time to grab a quick lunch in the ship before deciding to go off. Since we are signed up for the Mayan Ruins & Beach Tour, we went off the ship at around 1pm and met our tour guide at Puerta Maya. We had a big group in this tour. Puerta Maya is a good place to shop or eat. Smaller kids can also enjoy the sea breeze and some mini parks constructed around the area.
We then were taken to a bus and we took off to San Gervasio. It was like a 30-minute drive going there.

Upon reaching the site, many were caught unprepared because there was not even an early warning telling the tourists to be aware of mosquitoes while inside the ruins. Perhaps it's because they want those businesses to gain more income by selling those insect repellants spray at the entrance area! It was a perfect idea that I brought with me some Off wet wipes insect repellants which we used! It saved us from shelling out our 10 bucks!
We saw some of our companions who hadn't put on any insect repellants on them who just became busy swatting and slapping mosquitoes instead of listening to the tour guide, LOL! But heck! One of the ladies in our group got so many bites on her back and feet...eeewwww!!!
Anyway, we spent an hour-15 minutes inside the ruins and another 15 minutes for shopping . By the way, there was a complimentary mineral water given to each one at the end of the tour right at main gate before you go out from the ruins.

The beach tour is also included with the tour package, so we left off the Mayan Ruins and boarded the same bus and went to Playa Azul, one of those white sand beaches of Cozumel.
The tour says there is a free lunch included, but there was NO free lunch! I and hubby were getting hungry, so we ordered some Mexican tacos and grilled chicken tacos! I mean, we didn't mind paying for it. The only free one was a soda, one for each! It was great! I love the food! We were given 20 minutes to do what we want, swim on the beach or pool, or just sit back and relax under the shades, or do whatever things we wanna do at the seaside. We opted to have a swim in the pool. I forgot what the hotel's name was but that was where the pool was. We only had 20 minutes before our time's up, so we enjoyed the coolness of the water just to beat the heat before hitting back to the bus going back to the ship.

It was still fun, although time is too short for the enjoyment. We went to Puerta Maya, shopped some few stuff then went back to board the ship at around 6pm. hhhmmmm, just in time for dinner again, lol! What a nice life! While we are on that ship, we always eat every couple hours :). That was the end of our day in Mexico.

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