Xcaret Park

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Originally uploaded by theslaad.

We spent our final day in Playa Del Carmen going to the Xcaret Park. We mostly wanted to go there to see toucans, but they had lots of other cool stuff too!
It was quite an expensive place to visit but the money was worth it when we realised how much conservation work they do, particularly with breeding scarlet macaws and turtles (not with each other). We had a look at the native species area first. There were loads of scarlet macaws and other kinds of parrots, flamingos, beautiful toucans, crocs, a type of small wild cat and a very impressive king vulture. After that we watched the Papantia fliers. These crazy guys do a little dance before climbing up a tall pole. Whilst one of them stands on the top playing musical instruments, the other 4 spin the top of the pole so that their ropes unravel and they fly down to the ground. It was very impressive.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the park. There were areas of rain forest, beaches and ruins to look at. Plus cave systems and an underground river. We went for a peaceful boat ride along a different part of the river and spotted many lizards sunning themselves.
We visited some more nice animals including turtles, dolphins, a tapir, racoons, jaguars and pumas. They also had a nice aquarium.

In the evening there is a "spectacular" show, which is included in the entry. It was quite cool, they had good costumes for the Myans and played out that part of their history, including the ball game, although they missed out the human sacrifice part! The second half wasn´t quite as interesting as it was mostly dancing, but it was still good.

Overall the park was a bit touristy (we´ve never been in a crowd with that many Americans before, they just can´t help themselves - whistling and whooping galore), but well worth the vist. The toucans and Papantia fliers were worth the entrance fee by themsleves.