During our visit at Xel-Ha, we got to do a lot more than just swim with dolphins. When we first arrived, we were greeted by our guides for the day, who then showed us our schedule for all the activities they had planned for us. The first thing we did was swim our way into a natural cave. Probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen because the water was completely clear and there were openings in the tops of the caves that sunlight would come through and just illuminate everything.

From there we walked down a sweet jungle pathway to a rope swing! We had about as much fun on that thing as you possibly could, although we all came pretty close to smashing our heads on that rock wall! We then proceeded to the cliff jump, which was probably my most shameful part of the trip. It was probably a 20 foot jump, and I being a little too confident said that I would back flip off of it. Well.... I didn't, I had everyone rooting me on and I wussed out ha. But you know what, it was still a lot of fun jumping off feet first!

After we all jumped off a couple times, we headed to the snorkeling part of Xel-Ha. They took us to the entry point, slapped some flippers on our feet and off we went into the deep blue. We saw a lot of sweet looking fish while we were making our way down the water-way. Which brought us too one of the strangest creatures I have ever seen...the manatee.

We hopped into the water with our guides and had the very knowledgeable people of Xel-Ha explain pretty much everything you could know about these gentle giants. They do have probably the weirdest mouths you could possibly have..but we all decided we should have a smooch with the thing! One of the best things about Xel-Ha was that there was always some kind of exotic animal around for you to interact with. We all got our hands on some colorful jungle birds and a HUGE iguana! I named the iguana Rico. Rico pooped on my arm.

Despite being defecated on, it was a great experience and will be one of the many reasons that I will never forget this trip. Best time of my life. Enjoy the photos!

love,
Bryan Dawson