Vacaciones en México: Parte 7

January 9th and the first birthday of our youngest grandchild, Gryff Rhys.  We thought long and hard about what we'd do today to celebrate for him by proxy.  We decided that nothing would give him greater pleasure than knowing his grandparents were having a good time and, with this in mind, we took ourselves off to Xel-ha.  Que Xel-ha?  A water park based on an inlet from the sea, with a number of fresh water rivers flowing into it. A great place to snorkel, with environments including mangrove swamps and reefs.  Lots of fish around the reefs, with the rainbow angelfish being large and plentiful.  I'm sure Gryff would have enjoyed it but, from what I've seen, he had an equally good time at home scoffing his Gruffalo cupcakes (I write somewhat enviously).

Xel-ha is so fertile that grass even grows on the internal transport.

Our hotel room is being serviced by Emilio, who we've never seen and who does an excellent job, especially when it comes to towel folding.  An art we shall call Toweligami and one that should not be confused with Toiletigami, the folding of toilet paper into shapes.  Emilio thus far has demonstrated minimal skills at Toiletigami but give him a towel and he's the king.  We do enjoy coming back to see what creation is awaiting us but can't resist giving each one a personal twist.  Such larks.

You can take a towel giraffe to water but you can't make it drink.

Neither you make his elephant friend eat biscuits or marshmallows.

A final cultural observation: Mexicans don't wave but they do say "ola" rather a lot.