Relaxing Pools

Today was our relaxing day.  The only thing on the agenda were our meal times and happy hour.  Drinks weren't included in the trip except for a few select times where all you did was tip.  And boy were they generous for the free drinks!  And happy hour was a popular place to be.

The golden blossoms tree, its fun
because it's yellow
I did go for a botanical tour around the property.  The hotel was part of a private hacienda.  Along with the hotel there were also private homes in the secure area.  So the hotel had a little bit of a tour around.  There wasn't really too much to show that I hadn't already seen, or was about to see in other parts of the country. They have a lot of fruit and nut trees, we picked almonds and then bashed open the shells with rocks to try little pieces.  Almonds are hard to crack!  But it was a nice way to start the day.  Even if it was ridiculously hot by the time we finished!  Off to the pool!  
The large pool, this is from where I was sitting
And was it ever a nice pool.  It was an infinity pool but it was huge!  There were a few slightly rickety bridges to cross from one side to the other.  And it was only 4 feet deep.  So you could walk around, or as I preferred, paddle around on my back.  That would take a good 20 some minutes to get from one end to the other.  The water was very refreshing on a hot day.  I probably should have used my sunscreen a lot more.  I was red.  Lobster red.  I've finally finished the peeling stage of my sunburn.  But knowing that there was 15 fresh inches of snow at home made it all better somehow...

Beach before sunset
The ocean was really great.  The only catch was that during low tide the rocks came out so it was a little nicer later on in the day.  Also, the tide was really strong.  I limited myself to just wading in the sand and after a few drinks was concerned I might get knocked over.  And before you get concerned I was with other people who would have stopped me from going in!  Also, I'm not a really big ocean girl.  I love looking at it and listening to the waves, but there are things in the ocean that startle me when they touch.  Even it it is just seaweed. 

One highlight was the fact that it was so dark at night.  I noticed from the restaurant that you could see the stars even in the light.  I spent some time stargazing on the beach but it was so dark I couldn't distinguish much, there were too many stars to see.  I did however find the big dipper and Orion so that felt good.  And I tried to not crush all the hermit crabs on the beach at night.  They were everywhere!

Spiky tree, wouldn't want
to fall on that one!
Me at the pool, soaking up the sun



View of the pool from my room.  I couldn't walk straight
out because of all the landscaping
I also watched the sunset.  It was incredibly fast going down.  If only this couple would have moved...  I didn't want to move around too much as the guy beside me was trying to take a video of it.  And then someone walked in front and ruined it anyways...  At least it wasn't me who stepped in front!


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