I finally had a chance to upload some pictures from the trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/David.Hahs/IslaMujeresChristmas2009
Enjoy :-)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday (Back to Reality)
Everything was well-choreographed Saturday morning. We all woke up, had a quick breakfast, finished packing our clothes, took the trash out, and had everything ready to go right as the two taxis arrived to take us away from paradise. We loaded everything into the cars and bid a fond farewell to the Casa de los Ninos. We drove off on our last tour of Isla Mujeres and arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to make the next sailing. As we loaded the boat, you could tell that it was a mass-exodus of tourists heading back to their real lives. Kristen and I say up on the outside roof deck to get one last view of the Isla as we headed back to the mainland.
Once at the ferry terminal in Puerto Jarez, we met up with our shuttle drive and were whisked away to the airport. As we passed all the Cancun mega-resorts, we were so thankful that we had spent the week out on Isla Mujeres rather on the mainland.
The airport was a complete zoo when we arrived. Brian and Kristen headed to the American check-in and the rest of us went to Continental. We got our boarding passes, but the scene was too chaotic to even ask for exit rows or aisle seats. We were just glad to have a ticket! After the Christmas Day bombing attempt, we were expecting very stringent security. The line was long, but it moved fairly quickly and we were surprised that we didn't even need to take off our shoes for the scanner. That says something about how we have gotten used to the stringent security when we are asked NOT to take off our shoes. The security agent mentioned that this was the 2nd busiest day at the airport (the busiest was tomorrow). Once through security and a maze of duty-free shops, we found out our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. We did some last-minute shopping, grabbed some lunch, and were ready to board. This was where the extra security occurred. As we boarded the 737-800, every passenger had their carry-ons checked (every pocked of every bag) in addition to a full-body pat-down. Since they only had two screeners, the boarding process for the 173 of us took almost an hour. By the time we took off, we were about an hour late. Luckily, we had a scheduled 3-hour layover in Houston so we weren't concerned. When we left, Brian and Kristen's flight was supposed to be an hour late. As we flew out, we got some great view of Isla Mujeres and had our last chance to say goodbye.
Landing in Houston, we followed the maze of hallways and corridors to the US Customs area. The line was deceptively long because it involved so many switch-backs, but it kept moving at a pretty good pace. We had to declare that we were carrying food with us (mostly Christina's food that we had brought from the US). The agent asked why we would bring food on vacation and Christina explained her food allergies. To that, the agent responded "That's a good reason, welcome home." After customs, we picked up our bags and dropped them off at the re-check spot. Thinking we were through the gauntlet, I wasn't concerned about my half-full water bottle. Unfortunately, as we went back upstairs to the main terminal, we discovered there was another security checkpoint to endure and I had to give up my water bottle (which cost about $6 in the rip-off Cancun airport). All told, it took us about 45 minutes from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in the main terminal. Several people on the flight from Cancun were faced with 30-minute layovers, which I'm sure they didn't make. We found our gate to Portland, grabbed some dinner, and settled in for the last leg of our journey.
The 757-200 was the oldest plane of our trip, manufactured in approximately 1995. The flight was smooth but long, but we played card games and watched the movie to pass the time. We were greeted in Portland by 40-degree temperatures but luckily no rain. There was a bit of panic when the car keys could not be located, but they were eventually found and we boarded the shuttle back to the car. We found the car, packed up our baggage, and made it back to Evelyn's around 10:00 (Midnight in Cancun).
As I look back at the trip, I can certainly say that I had a great time. Isla Mujeres was a wonderful place and we had a great time spending the week with everyone else. Would I go back? My answer is Yes, but there are many other places I'd like to go first. Christina and I are planning to finally see some of Europe with a trip to Italy in the fall. Then we'll have to start thinking about our next family vacation. Costa Rica? Hawaii? Only time will tell...
Once at the ferry terminal in Puerto Jarez, we met up with our shuttle drive and were whisked away to the airport. As we passed all the Cancun mega-resorts, we were so thankful that we had spent the week out on Isla Mujeres rather on the mainland.
The airport was a complete zoo when we arrived. Brian and Kristen headed to the American check-in and the rest of us went to Continental. We got our boarding passes, but the scene was too chaotic to even ask for exit rows or aisle seats. We were just glad to have a ticket! After the Christmas Day bombing attempt, we were expecting very stringent security. The line was long, but it moved fairly quickly and we were surprised that we didn't even need to take off our shoes for the scanner. That says something about how we have gotten used to the stringent security when we are asked NOT to take off our shoes. The security agent mentioned that this was the 2nd busiest day at the airport (the busiest was tomorrow). Once through security and a maze of duty-free shops, we found out our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. We did some last-minute shopping, grabbed some lunch, and were ready to board. This was where the extra security occurred. As we boarded the 737-800, every passenger had their carry-ons checked (every pocked of every bag) in addition to a full-body pat-down. Since they only had two screeners, the boarding process for the 173 of us took almost an hour. By the time we took off, we were about an hour late. Luckily, we had a scheduled 3-hour layover in Houston so we weren't concerned. When we left, Brian and Kristen's flight was supposed to be an hour late. As we flew out, we got some great view of Isla Mujeres and had our last chance to say goodbye.
Landing in Houston, we followed the maze of hallways and corridors to the US Customs area. The line was deceptively long because it involved so many switch-backs, but it kept moving at a pretty good pace. We had to declare that we were carrying food with us (mostly Christina's food that we had brought from the US). The agent asked why we would bring food on vacation and Christina explained her food allergies. To that, the agent responded "That's a good reason, welcome home." After customs, we picked up our bags and dropped them off at the re-check spot. Thinking we were through the gauntlet, I wasn't concerned about my half-full water bottle. Unfortunately, as we went back upstairs to the main terminal, we discovered there was another security checkpoint to endure and I had to give up my water bottle (which cost about $6 in the rip-off Cancun airport). All told, it took us about 45 minutes from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in the main terminal. Several people on the flight from Cancun were faced with 30-minute layovers, which I'm sure they didn't make. We found our gate to Portland, grabbed some dinner, and settled in for the last leg of our journey.
The 757-200 was the oldest plane of our trip, manufactured in approximately 1995. The flight was smooth but long, but we played card games and watched the movie to pass the time. We were greeted in Portland by 40-degree temperatures but luckily no rain. There was a bit of panic when the car keys could not be located, but they were eventually found and we boarded the shuttle back to the car. We found the car, packed up our baggage, and made it back to Evelyn's around 10:00 (Midnight in Cancun).
As I look back at the trip, I can certainly say that I had a great time. Isla Mujeres was a wonderful place and we had a great time spending the week with everyone else. Would I go back? My answer is Yes, but there are many other places I'd like to go first. Christina and I are planning to finally see some of Europe with a trip to Italy in the fall. Then we'll have to start thinking about our next family vacation. Costa Rica? Hawaii? Only time will tell...
Friday
This was our last day on Isla Mujeres and we all wanted to make the most of it. We slept in late and had our last breakfast out on the balcony (scrambled eggs and chorizo). After breakfast, Christina and I rode into town on the moped and finished our shopping. Trying to spend our last pesos, we bought a hammock for Christina, 2 blankets, a couple t-shirts, and some trinkets for our co-workers. We then headed back to the Casa for lunch.
After lunch, we had to endure a very sad event: returning the moped. It had been such a good little scooter, so fun and so fast. To see it go was one of the hardest parts of the trip. It was with great sadness that we bid it farewell. Mom and Jim picked us up downtown in the replacement golf cart (with working headlights!) and took us home. On the way back to the house, we stopped at Lolo's bakery for some fresh pastries. We were going to be there for dinner that night, so we asked Lolo what she was serving. In a very casual voice, she said "I don't know. How do you like lobster?". After telling her that we indeed did like lobster, she got on her moped and headed into town. We could tell that it was going to be a fun dinner!
We decided to go snorkeling one last time at Garaffon de Castillo, so we donned our gear and headed down the street. We spent about 20 minutes in the water, and then some ominous clouds started rolling towards us. Seeing downpours of rain over Cancun, we decided to cut our beach time short and head back to the house. The rain ended up staying over Cancun, but the wind made it such that snorkeling would be difficult.
The afternoon was spent watching the Rose Bowl (sorry Ducks!) and packing all our stuff back into suitcases. Luckily we had brought a lot of food with us, so there was enough room for our new acquisitions. After that, we headed to Lolo's for what was promised to be an "amazing food experience".
Arriving a Lolo's, we were led back to a U-shaped table that had two other couples and a single Brit, making it 9 people total at the dinner. All of Lolo's dinners are 1 table, 1 menu, and 1 unforgettable experience. The other couples were from Minnesota and Vancouver, BC. All had been to Isla Mujeres multiple times and told many stories about their travels. The single was a helicopter pilot from England who had all sorts of stories about flying various celebrities around in his VIP copter.
The first course was a delicious goat cheese and olive oil tapenade on a toasted french bread crostini (hungry yet?). That was followed by a salad course that was a choice between goat cheese or mushroom and Parmesan with greens. After the salad course, Lolo came out from the kitchen with two large Caribbean rock lobsters and said "they come to say goodbye". Fifteen minutes later, we were presented with the main course of grilled lobster with butter sauce, along with a grilled jumbo prawn and spicy rice topped with scallops and a cream sauce. As if we hadn't had enough food, the dessert course was grilled pineapple slices with a home-made mango ginger sorbet. By the end of the meal, we were all in a culinary euphoria (yes, it was THAT good!). It took a while to let everything settle in before we were ready to head home and crawl into bed. Great to end the trip on such a memorable experience!
After lunch, we had to endure a very sad event: returning the moped. It had been such a good little scooter, so fun and so fast. To see it go was one of the hardest parts of the trip. It was with great sadness that we bid it farewell. Mom and Jim picked us up downtown in the replacement golf cart (with working headlights!) and took us home. On the way back to the house, we stopped at Lolo's bakery for some fresh pastries. We were going to be there for dinner that night, so we asked Lolo what she was serving. In a very casual voice, she said "I don't know. How do you like lobster?". After telling her that we indeed did like lobster, she got on her moped and headed into town. We could tell that it was going to be a fun dinner!
We decided to go snorkeling one last time at Garaffon de Castillo, so we donned our gear and headed down the street. We spent about 20 minutes in the water, and then some ominous clouds started rolling towards us. Seeing downpours of rain over Cancun, we decided to cut our beach time short and head back to the house. The rain ended up staying over Cancun, but the wind made it such that snorkeling would be difficult.
The afternoon was spent watching the Rose Bowl (sorry Ducks!) and packing all our stuff back into suitcases. Luckily we had brought a lot of food with us, so there was enough room for our new acquisitions. After that, we headed to Lolo's for what was promised to be an "amazing food experience".
Arriving a Lolo's, we were led back to a U-shaped table that had two other couples and a single Brit, making it 9 people total at the dinner. All of Lolo's dinners are 1 table, 1 menu, and 1 unforgettable experience. The other couples were from Minnesota and Vancouver, BC. All had been to Isla Mujeres multiple times and told many stories about their travels. The single was a helicopter pilot from England who had all sorts of stories about flying various celebrities around in his VIP copter.
The first course was a delicious goat cheese and olive oil tapenade on a toasted french bread crostini (hungry yet?). That was followed by a salad course that was a choice between goat cheese or mushroom and Parmesan with greens. After the salad course, Lolo came out from the kitchen with two large Caribbean rock lobsters and said "they come to say goodbye". Fifteen minutes later, we were presented with the main course of grilled lobster with butter sauce, along with a grilled jumbo prawn and spicy rice topped with scallops and a cream sauce. As if we hadn't had enough food, the dessert course was grilled pineapple slices with a home-made mango ginger sorbet. By the end of the meal, we were all in a culinary euphoria (yes, it was THAT good!). It took a while to let everything settle in before we were ready to head home and crawl into bed. Great to end the trip on such a memorable experience!
Thursday
Thursday was New Year's Eve. We woke up relatively early and headed into town for our snorkeling trip to Isla Contoy, a wildlife refuge about an hour North of Isla Mujeres by boat. Brian, Kristen, Christina and I headed up there while Mom and Jim stayed back to enjoy a relaxing day on the Isla.
It was fairly windy that day, so the boat ride out was a little choppy. We left Isla Mujeres behind and followed a string of shallow reefs North until a new island approached on the horizon. The first thing we noticed was the start contrast from Cancun and Isla Mujeres. There were no buildings, no boats, no sign of humans at all. As we approached the island, the captain put out a fishing line to catch our lunch. Christina offered to help with the fishing, so she took a seat at the back of the boat with the line in here hand (no fishing pole). After about 10 minutes of trawling, she had a few bites but no catches. Luckily, there were already a couple fish that had been caught that morning, so we didn't have to worry about starving.
We docked at the Isla Contoy research station, which is on a breathtaking white-sand beach with crystal clear water and lots of fish. Just stepping off the dock, we could see many schools of brightly colored fish. As we got settled in on the beach, we looked in the water and saw this big black object approaching the beach. We went to get a closer look and realized that it was a huge manta ray! Turns out that the tour boats feed it every day, so it knows when to show up and make an appearance.
We went snorkeling right from the beach and saw all sorts of fish and one huge starfish. Out near the rocks that were supposed to have the best snorkeling, the water started getting murky from the waves, so we stayed out in the middle of the bay. The snorkeling was about on par with the beach right by the house, but the scenery was absolutely amazing. We spent time walking around the nature trails and climbing to the top of a large observation tower. Lunch was bar-b-cue fish and rice, followed by more snorkeling.
On the boat ride back, Christina tried her and at fishing again to no avail. The other guy who tried had caught 2 barracuda, but Christina just didn't have any luck. The wind had picked up in the afternoon even more than in the morning, so the ride back was a bit harrowing.
Back on Isla Mujeres, Christina and I went shopping and purchased a Mayan mask that was similar to the one we liked so much at Chichen Itza.
After shopping, we headed back to the Casa for a siesta before the New Year's festivities. We all slept for about 3 hours and headed back into downtown. We had dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant owned and operated by a full Italian staff. It felt a little odd to be eating pizza in Mexico, but the food was very good. We finished dinner around 11:30, so we set of in search of a place to ring in the new year. To our surprise, all the beach bars were closed and the only place where things were open was the tourist avenue. They were having a celebration in the town square as well, but we decided to head to a bar on the main drag.
We were enjoying our 2-for-1 drinks (seems to be a common deal on the island), when around 11:50 some fireworks started going off. Thinking it was the New Year, people started cheering in the streets, only to discover it was a false alarm. We waited a few minutes and I looked down at my phone and saw that it was officially 2010. There was no countdown, no watching the ball drop. It was a couple minutes after midnight that the fireworks started in force and continued for quite a while. We wandered down to the town square so see what was going on only to find it relatively quiet. By that point, we were all pretty exhausted, so we headed home. The golf cart lights had stopped working that night, so we escorted them home to avoid an accident. Turns out the cart maxed out at about 29 km/hr. It took some discipline to stay that slow on the moped, which I knew could easily top 60 km/hr :-).
It was fairly windy that day, so the boat ride out was a little choppy. We left Isla Mujeres behind and followed a string of shallow reefs North until a new island approached on the horizon. The first thing we noticed was the start contrast from Cancun and Isla Mujeres. There were no buildings, no boats, no sign of humans at all. As we approached the island, the captain put out a fishing line to catch our lunch. Christina offered to help with the fishing, so she took a seat at the back of the boat with the line in here hand (no fishing pole). After about 10 minutes of trawling, she had a few bites but no catches. Luckily, there were already a couple fish that had been caught that morning, so we didn't have to worry about starving.
We docked at the Isla Contoy research station, which is on a breathtaking white-sand beach with crystal clear water and lots of fish. Just stepping off the dock, we could see many schools of brightly colored fish. As we got settled in on the beach, we looked in the water and saw this big black object approaching the beach. We went to get a closer look and realized that it was a huge manta ray! Turns out that the tour boats feed it every day, so it knows when to show up and make an appearance.
We went snorkeling right from the beach and saw all sorts of fish and one huge starfish. Out near the rocks that were supposed to have the best snorkeling, the water started getting murky from the waves, so we stayed out in the middle of the bay. The snorkeling was about on par with the beach right by the house, but the scenery was absolutely amazing. We spent time walking around the nature trails and climbing to the top of a large observation tower. Lunch was bar-b-cue fish and rice, followed by more snorkeling.
On the boat ride back, Christina tried her and at fishing again to no avail. The other guy who tried had caught 2 barracuda, but Christina just didn't have any luck. The wind had picked up in the afternoon even more than in the morning, so the ride back was a bit harrowing.
Back on Isla Mujeres, Christina and I went shopping and purchased a Mayan mask that was similar to the one we liked so much at Chichen Itza.
After shopping, we headed back to the Casa for a siesta before the New Year's festivities. We all slept for about 3 hours and headed back into downtown. We had dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant owned and operated by a full Italian staff. It felt a little odd to be eating pizza in Mexico, but the food was very good. We finished dinner around 11:30, so we set of in search of a place to ring in the new year. To our surprise, all the beach bars were closed and the only place where things were open was the tourist avenue. They were having a celebration in the town square as well, but we decided to head to a bar on the main drag.
We were enjoying our 2-for-1 drinks (seems to be a common deal on the island), when around 11:50 some fireworks started going off. Thinking it was the New Year, people started cheering in the streets, only to discover it was a false alarm. We waited a few minutes and I looked down at my phone and saw that it was officially 2010. There was no countdown, no watching the ball drop. It was a couple minutes after midnight that the fireworks started in force and continued for quite a while. We wandered down to the town square so see what was going on only to find it relatively quiet. By that point, we were all pretty exhausted, so we headed home. The golf cart lights had stopped working that night, so we escorted them home to avoid an accident. Turns out the cart maxed out at about 29 km/hr. It took some discipline to stay that slow on the moped, which I knew could easily top 60 km/hr :-).
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we headed in different directions. Brian and Kristen woke up early and left for a day at Xcaret, an eco-part about two hours south of Cancun. The rest of us slept in a bit later and headed off for a day at Chichen Itza. We drove the golf cart into town, took the ferry across to Puerto Juarez, and met our van driver on the other side. It turned out that there was a guide in addition to the driver, so there were six of us in a 12-person van.
The drive out to Chichen Itza took us through the official downtown of Cancun, where people are abundant and road lanes are missing. We survived the harrowing traverse through town and eventually made it to the toll road that goes to Chichen Itza. Once on the toll road, the traffic virtually disappeared and it was smooth sailing for the 2-hour drive to the ruins. The drivers offered to stop at a small town along the way, but we wanted to make it out to Chichen Itza with plenty of time. The driver had lived in LA for about 10 years, so we spent time talking to him about why he returned to Mexico. I don't remember actually talking about the ruins much at all before we got there.
Arriving at Chichen Itza reminded me of Disneyland, with no shortage of tour buses and tourists. We were dropped off at the entrance and handed off to an "official" Chichen Itza guide who led the tour. For 90 minutes, he led us around the site telling stories that were a little disjointed and didn't always make a lot of sense. The ruins were very impressive and a sight to see, but we learned more about it from the signs that our guide. The most impressive part, aside from the huge pyramid temple, was the ball court. It was a little larger than a football field and was the location of many of the famous Mayan ball games. Depending on who you believe, either the winner or loser of each match was sacrificed. After the 90 minute "tour", we had 30 minutes of free time to wander around. We checked out one of the cenotes (large sinkholes) and browsed all the vendors. Christina and I found a wonderful wooden mask that we liked, but we didn't bring enough cash and no amount of bartering could get it down to what we had. Overall impressions of Chichen Itza were good, but I would have liked to spend more time there and had a better guide.
We loaded back into the van and headed to our next stop, a cenote that had been developed into a swimming hole. We had a quick lunch buffet and then changed into our swimsuits. The cenote is essentially a large hole in the ground that is filled with water from underground rivers. The water is a little chilly, but not too bad. The best part was that they had a staircase up to a ledge that you could jump off, about 20 feet in the air. Both Jim and I jumped, but we couldn't convince my mom or Christina to do the same (they were the photographers). Everyone ended up swimming though.
By the time we finished swimming, it was already time to head back to Cancun. The drive back was uneventful, though our "guides" spent the whole time talking in very rapid Spanish to each other. We made it back to the ferry terminal just in time to make the boat back to Isla Mujeres.
Once back, we wandered around downtown looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Our criteria was to be able to stick our feet in the sand as we ate. After much searching, we finally found a beach shack that looked closed but was in fact still open. We were the only people there, so the waitress gave us much attention. We had wonderful chips and guac and enjoyed the 2-for-1 drink specials. We made it back to the house just in time to wind down and go to bed. Brian and Kristen made it back around 11:30 and reported the Xcaret was fun but very crowded and hectic.
The drive out to Chichen Itza took us through the official downtown of Cancun, where people are abundant and road lanes are missing. We survived the harrowing traverse through town and eventually made it to the toll road that goes to Chichen Itza. Once on the toll road, the traffic virtually disappeared and it was smooth sailing for the 2-hour drive to the ruins. The drivers offered to stop at a small town along the way, but we wanted to make it out to Chichen Itza with plenty of time. The driver had lived in LA for about 10 years, so we spent time talking to him about why he returned to Mexico. I don't remember actually talking about the ruins much at all before we got there.
Arriving at Chichen Itza reminded me of Disneyland, with no shortage of tour buses and tourists. We were dropped off at the entrance and handed off to an "official" Chichen Itza guide who led the tour. For 90 minutes, he led us around the site telling stories that were a little disjointed and didn't always make a lot of sense. The ruins were very impressive and a sight to see, but we learned more about it from the signs that our guide. The most impressive part, aside from the huge pyramid temple, was the ball court. It was a little larger than a football field and was the location of many of the famous Mayan ball games. Depending on who you believe, either the winner or loser of each match was sacrificed. After the 90 minute "tour", we had 30 minutes of free time to wander around. We checked out one of the cenotes (large sinkholes) and browsed all the vendors. Christina and I found a wonderful wooden mask that we liked, but we didn't bring enough cash and no amount of bartering could get it down to what we had. Overall impressions of Chichen Itza were good, but I would have liked to spend more time there and had a better guide.
We loaded back into the van and headed to our next stop, a cenote that had been developed into a swimming hole. We had a quick lunch buffet and then changed into our swimsuits. The cenote is essentially a large hole in the ground that is filled with water from underground rivers. The water is a little chilly, but not too bad. The best part was that they had a staircase up to a ledge that you could jump off, about 20 feet in the air. Both Jim and I jumped, but we couldn't convince my mom or Christina to do the same (they were the photographers). Everyone ended up swimming though.
By the time we finished swimming, it was already time to head back to Cancun. The drive back was uneventful, though our "guides" spent the whole time talking in very rapid Spanish to each other. We made it back to the ferry terminal just in time to make the boat back to Isla Mujeres.
Once back, we wandered around downtown looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Our criteria was to be able to stick our feet in the sand as we ate. After much searching, we finally found a beach shack that looked closed but was in fact still open. We were the only people there, so the waitress gave us much attention. We had wonderful chips and guac and enjoyed the 2-for-1 drink specials. We made it back to the house just in time to wind down and go to bed. Brian and Kristen made it back around 11:30 and reported the Xcaret was fun but very crowded and hectic.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday
Tuesday we awoke to very windy weather. The sky was a beautiful blue and it was warm as usual, but the pesky wind kept blowing. Our plan was to head up to Isla Contoy with everyone for some great snorkeling. As we rode into town on the moped, the wind was so strong that our helmets were getting blown back on our heads.
We got to downtown with enough time to make a quick run to the public market to pick up some fresh tortillas. Arriving at the boat dock, we learned that it was too windy to go to Isla Contoy. It was a little disappointing, but we were glad the captain made the decision rather than taking us out on the rough seas.
Instead of snorkeling at Isla Contoy, we headed back to the house to try the local beach across the street, Castillo de Garaffon. We were pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few fish and great scenery. The Castillo charged $5 admission, but from the beach we could snorkel over to Garaffon Park, which charged $55. It worked out well except the time when we discovered that crossing the line of yellow bouys will cause the park rangers to blast their whistles!
After a relaxing day of snorkeling and lazing on the beach, we all headed back to the villa for a wonderful dinner of pork tacos that Christina had cooked in the crock pot all day. The food and company were both wonderful, and the view from the balcony couldn't be beat!
We got to downtown with enough time to make a quick run to the public market to pick up some fresh tortillas. Arriving at the boat dock, we learned that it was too windy to go to Isla Contoy. It was a little disappointing, but we were glad the captain made the decision rather than taking us out on the rough seas.
Instead of snorkeling at Isla Contoy, we headed back to the house to try the local beach across the street, Castillo de Garaffon. We were pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few fish and great scenery. The Castillo charged $5 admission, but from the beach we could snorkel over to Garaffon Park, which charged $55. It worked out well except the time when we discovered that crossing the line of yellow bouys will cause the park rangers to blast their whistles!
After a relaxing day of snorkeling and lazing on the beach, we all headed back to the villa for a wonderful dinner of pork tacos that Christina had cooked in the crock pot all day. The food and company were both wonderful, and the view from the balcony couldn't be beat!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Monday
We woke up Monday to another beautiful day in paradise. After breakfast on our own, we drove into town on our fun little moto. Our first stop was the mercado, where we found a tortillaria making fresh corn tortillas. Still brushing up on our Spanish, we thought that it was 70 pesos for a half kilo of tortillas. We were surprised to get back 63 pesos in change! Cheers to subsidized corn crops.
Our next task was to find a boat to take us to Isla Contoy on Tuesday. The island is a bird refuge which is supposed to have great snorkeling. We headed over to the island's boat cooperative and found a place that would take us on Tuesday. Brian, Kristen, Christina, and I decided to also go snorkeling today at some local spots around the island.
While Mom and Jim hung out on the beach, the rest of us boarded a small boat and headed South along the coast of Isla Mujeres. Arriving at the first snorkeling spot, we were told that we had to wear life jackets and follow a guide. This made for crowded and rushed snorkeling and also seemed to scare away the fish. The first location had pretty slim pickings for fish and underwater scenery. The second was a little better, but very crowded with more touristas than fish. There was a nice lighthouse and an underwater statue.
From there, we headed down to Playa Tiberon, or Shark Beach. Brian and Kristen had the chance to swim with a small nurse shark, and then we headed over to a sea-turtle research facility. It had quite a few turtles of various sizes as well as a small aquarium with other sea creatures. Sea turtle sightings are rare around here due to extreme over-hunting in the past, so this was our only chance to see live turtles on the trip. We then had a great lunch of barbecued fish, guacamole, and rice. It was then back to downtown through very choppy waters. At one point, Christina's hat flew off in the breeze and we had to turn around to retrieve it!
We met up with my Mom and Jim back in town and we all headed over to a travel agent to book our trips for the following day. Brian and Kristen decided to go to an eco-park called Xcaret and the rest of us would head to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. The rest of the day included stops at the market, bookstore, and a wonderful French bakery called Lolo's.
Christina came home and tried to roast chicken for dinner only to discover the oven could barely get warm. After 90 minutes of trying, she gave up and cooked it on the stove. In the end, it turned out to be a wonderful meal of chicken and fried potatoes that we ate out on the balcony in the tropical breeze. Dessert was empanadas de manzana from Lolo's bakery.
Our next task was to find a boat to take us to Isla Contoy on Tuesday. The island is a bird refuge which is supposed to have great snorkeling. We headed over to the island's boat cooperative and found a place that would take us on Tuesday. Brian, Kristen, Christina, and I decided to also go snorkeling today at some local spots around the island.
While Mom and Jim hung out on the beach, the rest of us boarded a small boat and headed South along the coast of Isla Mujeres. Arriving at the first snorkeling spot, we were told that we had to wear life jackets and follow a guide. This made for crowded and rushed snorkeling and also seemed to scare away the fish. The first location had pretty slim pickings for fish and underwater scenery. The second was a little better, but very crowded with more touristas than fish. There was a nice lighthouse and an underwater statue.
From there, we headed down to Playa Tiberon, or Shark Beach. Brian and Kristen had the chance to swim with a small nurse shark, and then we headed over to a sea-turtle research facility. It had quite a few turtles of various sizes as well as a small aquarium with other sea creatures. Sea turtle sightings are rare around here due to extreme over-hunting in the past, so this was our only chance to see live turtles on the trip. We then had a great lunch of barbecued fish, guacamole, and rice. It was then back to downtown through very choppy waters. At one point, Christina's hat flew off in the breeze and we had to turn around to retrieve it!
We met up with my Mom and Jim back in town and we all headed over to a travel agent to book our trips for the following day. Brian and Kristen decided to go to an eco-park called Xcaret and the rest of us would head to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. The rest of the day included stops at the market, bookstore, and a wonderful French bakery called Lolo's.
Christina came home and tried to roast chicken for dinner only to discover the oven could barely get warm. After 90 minutes of trying, she gave up and cooked it on the stove. In the end, it turned out to be a wonderful meal of chicken and fried potatoes that we ate out on the balcony in the tropical breeze. Dessert was empanadas de manzana from Lolo's bakery.
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