Thursday, Dive day then Jammie Day

What a great day today was.  Except we're all old. O-L-D, old.  My knee hurt, Robert's head hurt and Ev's sinuses were killing him.  Plan abandoned for a 4 dive day.
We were all proficient divers on the boat today-our divemaster had poor cat herding skills, or else he just gave up.  We pretty much each bailed off the boat and did our own thing.  Even lost the usual formation of Susan in front and her dive buddies "to watching" in the back.  Did a nice wall dive and then Tormentos reef again.  This little guy was waiting for us as we descended the first time, he effortlessly flipped the sand off of his wings and drifted off when we got too close:

God's imagination is extraordinary:

The best part was when we got home and Joy had started lunch.  Pina, mango and nachos made with leftover chicken from the night before.  I made guacamole with local avocado that I remember from my childhood.  They are big, green and watery.
Joy is small, smiley and adorable.

We intended to get out to the market today, but took a nap after lunch instead.  When we got up, Joy was jammied and said in her most endearing voice, "stay in tonight?".  Oh yea!  Happy to do that.  Tomorrow we are scheduled for an early deep dive at Punta Sur.

Wednesday, Dive Day

Click on the pics to make them bigger.
Woke up to clouds and a big black storm heading our way across the sea.

Had coffee and ice cream for breakfast (well, it IS vacation). and enjoyed the view from the patio. Two rainbows, each complete.  Cruise ships have not abandoned Mexico though tourism is way down.

As I  headed out the door I strapped my barf watch on dreading the rough water.  Did 4 dives on a sea as smooth as glass, a way pleasant surprise.  At the end of the 4th long dive, my computer started beeping at me, have no idea what it wanted.  Ev said "Probably your passport".
Robert was the camera man, and you can see at the bottom of the picture the reef is really looking healthy:

On this dive, we saw something we've never seen.  A lobster, whose body was at least two feet long, changed hidey holes while we watched.  It took him minutes to get up the nerve, when he found his hole he turned around and backed in.  His little tail parts flared in and out as he moved.

Ev usually dives behind me "to watching me" because he is the best buddy in the world.  On this dive, I was looking and looking and he had to wait for me. A Lot.  At least he looked good while he was doing it.

We dove with an idiot, he was kicking coral and Roberto actually saw him WALKING ACROSS THE REEFS.  By the time the first dive was over, he'd pulled my regulator out of my mouth and finned the camera man in the head knocking his mask askew.  No one was hurt and the guy never even knew what he'd done.  In the end, we were happy to know they've moved him to another boat for tomorrow. This is Darwin, our divemaster.

Papa Shillingi

All of these pics can be clicked on to see them in their full glory.

Swahili stories tell that God blessed the whale shark by throwing a handful of shillings on his back, thereby making the spots.  The creature repays God by swimming close to the surface so that God may admire his handiwork.
This beautiful creature was photographed by Roberto as he ducked under our boat playfully.

The tails of these big boys were taller than me by at least half.  They swayed very gently as whale sharks use their whole body to move through the water. This was an adult, you can tell because his tail is moon shaped and the top and bottom are close to the same size.

This big boy's mouth was wide open, you can spy his little eye.

He sucks water in and then pulls it past his gills.  How Robert was cognizant enough to snap this I will never know. Am ever so grateful he did.

I read this morning that whale sharks capture things out of the water up to a half inch long and they have been heard to cough under water.  My third time to slip into the sea with these guys was mighty fine.  We had two, and the second one slowed way down and gave me the opportunity to swim in front of him and gaze down into the gaping maw.  As you can see, my shnorkel was full of water...

Nature displays the holy beauty of God if we can just take the time to notice.  Thanks, Roberto, for taking and sharing the pics.

It was a epic journey....

Hard to describe what we just experienced, but I'll try.  We journeyed to the whale sharks this way:  Chauffeur (Evdad), ferry, foot, bus, foot, combi, ferry and foot.  Arrived at Isla Mujeres hot and sweaty, dragging our dive gear.  Lucked out with our hotel, rinsed off and went walking in search of water.  Turns out, it was the Island's 160th birthday so there was quite a celebration,  We found a wall to sit on and had a great time watching and listening to music.  I was traveling light so did not have my camera-so sorry.  The girls were all in traditional dress, just like the one Gram made for me when I was little.

We had an early morning wake up call this morning and an hour boat ride to reach the sharks.  Robert took these pictures.  I am posting them big so you can click on them and see them in full glory.  We were in about 140 feet of water.  There were 8 of us on the boat, and we were allowed 2 at a time in the water with a guide.

The whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea. Although there was some variation in size today, we were with guys whose mouths were close to 5 feet wide.  Their spots are unique to them, most were accompanied by a half dozen remoras.  They were clean, clean.  We had to paddle like crazy to keep up with what they seemed to be doing effortlessly.

Will have to upload the pics tomorrow-Roberto is hogging bandwidth uploading to facebook.  :-) We are happy to be home, clean and cool once again.

We interrupt this program.....

Briefly.  For whale sharks.  Taking a small detour off of the porch to go on a overnighter to swim with them.  Will be back tomorrow night.  Dreams come true.  It's a beautiful morning and all that there and everything.
No worries, grannies.
xoS

Lordy, lordy

On our flight down, Ev slept and I kept my nose pressed to the glass.  This is what I saw,  but beneath those fluffy white clouds, you could spot big ugly pink blobs of oil on the surface of the water.  Chilling.

We got our little rent car, cranked up the ac and proceeded to get what supplies we needed to make our house a home.  Thirty poop smeared eggs from the market?  Check.  Fresh local coffee? Check.  Jugo natural? Check. 

Had a great night's sleep and woke up this morning to water so still and clear that from the 4th floor you could see the bottom.  We're headed out now for a walk and a shwim.  Then to the airport to pick up Roberto and Joy at noon and maybe a check out dive tomorrow.  Can not wait.

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand. They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, They danced by the light of the moon.

I can't believe August arrived so quickly and we're headed to Mexico once again.  I pulled out the largest of the shitcases as Ev has warned me that American is charging for all checked luggage now.  We can get our diving gear in one and the requisit "2 flops, 2 tees and 2 shorts" (plus hair goo, razor, dancing dresses, coozies and etc for me) in the other. 
Am looking so forward to holding down the patio with Joy, crying at the beauty of the reefs with Rober and eating fresh fish grilled by Ev.  I hope the needle fish are still in our bay, the nudibranchs are still on our dock and that our divemaster who knows how to make our dive gear into easy to carry "babies" is still there.  Lordy, lordy can I wait three more days?

For general info:
Leaving at 6AM on American Air on Friday, August 13.  Through Dallas and toes in the sand in Cozumel by 12:45pm.
Leaving Cozumel at 1:45 on Saturday, August 21.  Through Dallas and home again,home again at 6:40pm
Contact info for the apartment:
U.S. Office
18356 Coral Sands Way
Boca Raton, Florida 33498-1971
(800) 833-5971 Fax: +1 (775) 361-0598
Cozumel Office
70 AV # 690 entre
Hidalgo y 7 Sur Colonial Cuzamil
Cozumel, Quintana Roo 77600
(987) 872-1724 calling from Mexico
(561) 208-8144 calling from US
Email: webmaster@athomeincozumel.com
www.cozumel-villa-rentals.com

We are in the apartment called  Vista Dulce (sweet view, which it is) and I vaguely remember that there is a toll free phone in the front hall.  Regardless, there is the heavenly flow of wifi there and we will each have a computer.  No worries.

I leave you with a peek at where we'll be:
Vista Vid

Azufrera Panamericana

Is now Mexichem.  Getting there we passed the school, made the curve to the left past the avocado tree where mom and I got our windshield broken.  Over the railroad tracks and then nothing was right.  Met a guard, begged, showed him the pictures I brought from the 60's of the houses and mom sitting in the guest house. No, no, no.  Workers were beginning to gather and I could see it was turning into a power play and I could not win with the guys looking on.

We turned around and I called Vicky Prince's husband so we could find our way to her house.  As we drove back by the school, there he was standing in the driveway to receive us.  Adorable, darling man.  MariaElena was there, Vicky was flying in from Houston that night.  Soon, here came Nacho, the baby brother.  I remember changing his diaper.  He is a "facilitator" Exactly Like His Dad.  He made some calls and off we went.  Same guard dude, same workers.  In like Flynt.  I felt bad as the guard dude took some ribbing.  Oh well.

Here is our house.  It was bigger then.

As you can see, they have taken out all the windows and doors and cabinets.  They are refurbishing them.  Even tiling over this:

Presidente Calderon came to inaugurate the new plant.  When he came to review the thing, they toured him on the one completed house.  The house of Richard Mills.

Vicky's husband is a chef and fixed us dinner.  Went home to our hotel, be it ever so humble and got up the next morning to have breakfast with them.  Took a tour of the school.  Was a fun experience as you can see by these.

The kids were great, wearing the same uniforms we wore.  La directora has kept a good historical record of the school, pics I will upload later.

Now it is 930pm, we have to get up at 5:30am to fly home tomorrow.  Hope to see you soon!
xo xoxo

Getting Weirder

We drove towards town, looking for the square.  I already knew the church was going to be different, but when we reached the square it was shady, full of little planters and very different from the wide open rollerskating arena of my childhood.  I'd already told Ev about the big Olmec head in front of the municipal building.  This is what we saw.

First of all, he's in the Wrong Place. Second of all, they painted his eyes blue!  Third of all, it was cool and breezy.  People were wearing sweaters, which explains some of the mystery I've experienced looking at pictures of myself as a kid in sweaters.  The zocalo was full of people out enjoying the weather. 

We quickly (ha ha) found our 16 dollar a night motel, threw our shitcases in, found our travel cooziees, bought four beers and made our way to the plant.

But right now Ev is waiting for me to walk to the market so I will leave you with this-the plant is under high seguridad and we couldn't get in.

Surreal

We left San Cristobal this morning at 10, the appointed hour.  It was cool and cloudy, the drive was cuota most of the way, and absolutely stunning.  Farmland, rivers, lakes-really pretty. 

Tunes are playing, windows are down, chauffeur in good spirits.

As we approached Jaltipan, the ice cream turned to shit right away.  We were unceremoniously dumped off the cuoata onto a pot holed, traffic choked screaming mimi of a mess.  Not a freaking sign in sight.  Map was wrong.  Ev was cussing. Fumes were giving me a headache.  Strangers were solicited for help.  Hats were removed and heads were scratched.  In a fit of frustration, Ev said, "we're just gonna keep going and you can call your friends and tell them we couldn't find the place." I nodded in total agreement. "Let's get the hell out of here", I thought. In a last ditch effort to find my hometown, we swung off into a ditch to ask some local cops where the heck we were.  Getting back in the car smiling, I noticed this:

San Cristobal, at the end of the day

The internet here is spotty, too frustrating and time consuming.  We had a great day (rated only good by those with hurty feet) walking all over town.  Ev requested a no drive day if possible.  We started with an excellent breakfast and long chat with our hostess, Margaret, owner of Casa Bolomchon.  She's lived here 16 years, and in this house 5 years.  Delightful.  We had lots of questions for her and she was gracious in answering them.  Her house is in the old part of town, built in the Mexican tradition: an unassuming front gate that opens into a courtyard with rooms all around the edges. She only rents one room in her compound, and everywhere you look is a gorgeous little detail.  I think the pictures above are clickable.



The main thing I was interested in seeing today was the Na Bolom Foundation.  Franz Blom was Danish Archeologist who came here in the early days and fell in love with the area and indigenous tribes.  He and his wife Gertrude look like my kind of people.  Ev wants me to include that Franz was a card carrying member of the Explorers Club.  That got him all excited.  This is a picture of the courtyard of their home that has now been turned into the foundation headquarters.

This is her jewelry box and the contents of one of her trunks.  I love being allowed to nose around in other people's stuff.

San Cristobal was downright cold.  The indigenous people were all wrapped up in wool, many wearing heavy wool tufted skirts called "bear skirts".  Never got to ask if they actually were bear.  We walked up to see another working museum of Mayan medicine.  Plants are being grown and distilled in this location that are known to be used for healing.  Rituals are being documented.  These people were in a ceremony being led by a shaman. The floor was covered in pine needles and everything used is symbolic.  Later we saw huge bags of pine needles being sold at the market.

It was a full day, tomorrow we drive to Jaltipan to see what we can see...by the way, those women are actually mannequins.  Made you look.

It's a 7 hour drive and Susan wants fried chicken

So the road from Huatulco to San Cristobal was beautiful.  Much of it toll.  So beautiful and so easy that we took a couple of small detours.  Is that salt pans I see over there?  Let's go see...It was salt pans, and then another beautiful, clean little beach.


Wait...are those mangos hanging from that tree?  Why, yes they are.....

Not quite ripe....

Until we get to the mango capital of the world....

As we left Huatulco in the morning, we got an aviso that the road to the airport was closed due to striking teachers.  We avoided that road, but as we approached the new toll road from Tuxtla to San Cristobal we ran into another roadblock, had to make a u-turn and drive in on the old road.  Curvas peligrosas in heavy traffic coming and going.  And to make it even more interesting, a cloud descended on us and we were in pretty heavy fog.  Lots of beautiful native women with wood piled high on their heads walking along the side of the road with NO SHOULDER.  Wish I could have taken a picture, but I was too busy clenching and puckering.
Arrived here in good spirits, will post up more pics of this delightful home later.  Right now, there are adventures to be had and I can hear Ev folding the map.  These were taken early this morning before the rooster crowed.

In the sad chair...

Leaving the beach this morning, headed to San Cristobal.  Will be close to 8 hours in the car, not sure about internet there.  Grannies: don't worry if I don't post right away.  Heard about the killings in Juarez.  We are not there.
xo

From my viewpoint under the palapa

When mama's happy, everybody happy...

My boss, Marty, was skeptical when I told him we were staying in Puerto Angel.  Last night, sweaty, stinky night; I saw what he meant.

Viva Mexico's options!  Last time I stayed at a Camino Real, Pop complained the bar bill was higher than the room bill....gonna be hard to make me pack up and leave here.

Before we settled in, we dropped a shitcase full of laundry off to be done downtown.  Seven kilos of laundry to be exact.  Paying around 5 dollars to have it washed.  Sure hope they iron Ev's Savers T-shirts.