Our second port of call was Progresso, where we'd booked the Jaguar Bus excursion. It included a tandem bike ride, Mayan Ruin exploration, and beach paddleboard experience. Unlike Cozumel, where the ship docked in crystal blue water at a port filled with shops and restaurants, Progresso's port was a bit empty (we were the only cruise ship, but there were a couple military ships) and unwelcoming (land was a bit away down a very long pier, though we did discover a cluster of shops that we had to walk through to get from our ship to our tour bus).
I enjoyed the bus ride out to our biking site because I got to see lots of iguanas along the pier, flamingos in the mangrove swamp, and beautiful orange flowers everywhere (which turned out to be almond trees).
We stopped at the salt flats while a couple of the tour guides set up the bikes and took a short walk along the mangrove edge. It was hot, but there were surprisingly less mosquitoes than we'd encountered in the Riviera Maya forest the day before. In addition to the flamingos, we saw lots of other shorebirds
The salt flats had very pink, briny water (which resulted in some very vibrant flamingos out in the adjacent swamp).
Then it was time to suit up and attempt the tandem bike. Flip-flops and a dress? No problem. For our speed on the flat road, all we needed was the helmet ;-)
(There was a dune buggy tour following close behind us. And no, the Jaguar Bus was no air conditioned. It was festive though, eh?)
(Just freaking Robyn out a bit by attempting a selfie while biking - who needs two hands?!)
The bike ride ended at the ruin of a Mayan market, where we saw LOTS of iguanas and spent some time climbing around and taking pictures.
(I never did find out what this profusely blooming orange/pink flowering tree was, but the snake pictured below, that I found in a palm tree, was a Mexican Parrot Snake)
After another drive and a stop at a convenience store to buy beer to bribe the private property owner where we were scheduled to swim and paddleboard, we arrived to palm trees and a beach filled with pretty shells to collect. We both tried paddleboarding, but only Robyn was successful. By this point, my waterproof phone bag was a little steamy and it was getting a little harder to take pictures, so just imagine me sitting on the front of the paddleboard as Robyn rowed me around like a princess :-)
(Yes, I brought some pretty shells home for the kids as souvenirs)
We had a fajita and quesadilla lunch under the palms, then headed back to the ship while telling jokes and singing karaoke on the Jaguar Bus. On our way back through the shops, I stopped to buy a hammock swing and get my picture taken with the Owl Guy that I'd spotted on our way out that morning.
Hair a bit windblown from the bus and legs a little tired from the biking, hiking, and paddleboarding (we managed to get 15,000-20,000 pretty much every day of vacation), but we were ready for another night of fancy dinners, big shows with singers and dancers, and the comedy club. The Triumph did not lack for entertainment and we took advantage of all the fun things!
