Chapter 23 continues with Chankanaab national park.
Mom was very hungry, why she only had a fruit salad on the ship is beyond me, so she went to the restaurant to check out the Chankanaab national park menu and get us a lemonade to mix with the tequila.
I gave her the main camera, and she got us some pictures of the menu, by now I was very confident of mom’s ability to take pictures, and she did not disappoint.
Once she came back she explained what the server had told her and I thought it was a good idea to get the Mexican plate. I asked one our drink servers if he could bring us one, he said of course, at that point I also ordered another lemonade.
I really did not drink that much that day, I am not much of a tequila drinker, and I was somewhat on recovery mode from the night before. Mom on the other hand had some catching up to do, I believe she ended drinking most of both mixed lemonades, go mom! , lol.
While we waited for our drinks I went on a little photo shoot of the park grounds. Situations like these are why I need a wide angle lens. Maybe for Christmas 🙂
Chankanaab national park beach.
Make metal note of that floating barge out there, I almost had a panic attack there. I will get into it later.
As you can see there is no real beach in Chankanaad, well there is one very small one, I think I got a picture of it. I will look for it. Anyway, you should bring water shoes, it makes everything much easier when you’re entering the water. I read it in many reviews,and mom bought shoes for both of us, but you know how stubborn I am and I told her I did not need them, so she left them in the ship.
Well ummmm….. I kinda regretted not brining them, lol
Right behind the beach area is the lagoon, swimming is not allowed in there, it is simply a pretty pool of water to look at. There are a few fish in there as well, I took some pictures of the area. The lagoon is kept alive by 2 tunnels that feed it fresh water, it never smelled bad to me. Some of these lagoons can get a horrible smell if water is not circulated, example the ones in Atlantis…
Once I got back, mom had already eating some of the mexican plate, she left half of it for me to eat. It included an enchilada, a taco, a tostada and rice and beans, it was very very tasty (I love mexican food). Well soon after we finished I realized that I did not get a picture of the food 
, I was a little upset. So what do I do, I asked mom if she could well…. you know what… so I could get a picture of the food. She said you are just gross, lol, I was just messing with her, it was so funny. :-), love messing with her.
This is one of their specialty drinks, my neighbor had it.
Mariachis
Then I decided to go try to snorkel, I had brought my own equipment, but they also rent their own stuff there.
The pictures of the Chankanaab national park snorkeling are with my 10 year old camera…
Chankanaab national park snorkeling.
well remember I told you I almost had an anxiety attack?
I love snorkeling and I am fascinated by marine life, but there are two big problems. I have a fear of both sharks (Selachophobia) and open water, it is actually more of a phobia for both of them. It is really a shame because if I wasn’t I could probably be padi certified by now and able to dive with my cousin every weekend here at home.
These two fears are really holding me back, last year I went snorkeling in Key Largo and for a few minutes I thought I was going to drown. My cousin and uncle have both made several attempts to educate me on shark attacks, but all attempts have been futile. I really don’t know where these fears come from.
Anyway so I was snorkeling out there and I pretty much the only person in the water within 50 feet, the water was a little cold and most people stayed in the beach area. When I saw the statue I went closer to take pictures, once I got there I noticed how deep it was, so I dove several times to get different samples. Once the novelty of the underwater statute had wore off, I notice that I was pretty far away and there was a lot of open space around me. To make matters worse I was surrounded by little fish, I think people feed them because they were very friendly, you even touch them if you like.
So I had a decision to make, do I go back from there or go to the barge (it was closer) and wait for people to go there so I could go back with them. I tend to feel better if there are people around me, I guess it decreases my chances of being eating alive. I made a quick dash and climbed up the barge, I waited there for a few minutes and no one was even getting in the water, let alone coming towards my area. I was set on waiting even for an hour, for someone to go there, but two factors made me change my mind. First and foremost mom would be worried and second I was starting to get seasick. So I gathered up some courage, dove in the water, closed my eyes and started swimming as fast as I could. I never get far from the coast line, but this the time the curiosity of the statue and the desire to photograph it took over me.
Once near the coastline I opened my eyes, gathered myself and relaxed for a little while. They say all fears can be conquered, I have tried many times with this one and no good has ever come out of it. If anything I think each attempt makes matters worse. It is actually very funny how can you can be so passionate about something and at the same time so terrified about it.
When I got out of the water I went straight to our spot to relax for a little while. The sad part is that when you look at the barge in the pictures, it is really not that far away… I think what affected me that day was how deep the water was, maybe 15 feet at some point?
But overall Chankanaab national park offers good snorkeling for those not expecting much variety, there are plenty of small friendly fish, but not a lot more to see. I am sure most will be very happy there, bring some cereal from the ship to feed the fish. I read that in another review once, too bad I forgot to bring some that day.
After relaxing for a little while I decided to go photograph some crabs that I noticed while I was snorkeling. The color of the rocks made them extremely hard to photograph, remember my screen was barely visible to save on battery.
Chankanaab national park wild life
The hammocks on the way back to our little hut. 
Chankanaab national park hammocks are a great way to relax.
when I got back, mom asked me to take a picture of the stuff we bought, so I did.
One of my uncle’s gf is a really cool lady and I spend hours talking to her online, actually she is the only person that I talk to from Colombia other than my mom. Apparently she likes very bright stuff and mom told me she would like this shirt. I personally thought it was hideous… But I guess it wasn’t for me, so I bought it.
As you can see in this picture, it appeared like some weather was rolling in from the north, mom suggested we toured the grounds before it rained so I could get all my pictures. That sounded like a good idea, so we gathered our stuff and went for tour of Chankanaab national park.
More on Chankanaab national park on the next chapter 🙂
