paul has been living here for almost 6 years and is a reef activist. to raise awareness and money he swam from cozumel to cancun, 35 miles, solo. incredible. in his early 60's, and only the second person to do it. i asked if i could join him the next time he did it and he just laughed, that's not gonna happen. but after 3 years his reef project is finally making headway and doing some good, so if anyone wants to donate please go to www.swim4thereef.org, its a wonderful project started by a very caring and committed person.
the first dive yesterday was at palancar gardens, the second, shallower dive was at la francesa. both great. i would like to come back to dive the famous wall someday.
i had to catch a taxi with 2 others to the dock because it is illegal on cozumel to give tourists rides in your private car. our dive guide told us that the taxi union is pretty much like the mafia, they have a huge amount of influence and are able to get drivers fined thousands of dollars for taking away their business. after the dive, though, all of the taxis got filled and left the harbor so he snuck us into his truck, and anna (from mexico city) told me that i could only speak spanish until i was dropped off, and that i was a visiting cousin if we were stopped.
for some reason today i cannot remember our dive guide's name. which is awful because this whole next bit is about him and maybe i'll just call him francisco for now.
francisco was great on our dives, every bit a professional. i was running low on air during our safety stop and he made sure that i held on and used his backup regulator, just to be extra careful. he led us carefully through tunnels and pointed out hidden animals. he sat next to me on our way home and told me all about the reefs, and asked me if i'd like to see the east side of the island where people surf. there's only 1 hotel, 1 restaurant and 1 road on that side of the island, so of course i had to see it.
we got in his dune buggy (!) and drove about 25 minutes, first on the one road that goes west to east, then south to the bottom of the island. he pointed out all of the surf spots, none being over 2 feet and mostly crumbly, but compared to the lake that is the west side it would be fun. he parked and we walked the beach to a spot in the reef and sat in the water. then it was octopus arms. i hadn't realized that this was a date, oops, that didn't quite translate.
i've had trouble with the men in mexico from the beginning, its a huge cultural difference that i'm not sure how to get around. at first in san miguel i avoided eye contact with any man, but the women avoided eye contact with me, so i didn't get to talk to anyone. then gradually i started saying hola or buenos dias to everyone, and found people to chat with. then came the tourist areas where i had to be careful who i looked at because they'd immediately try to sell me things, so i could only look at people that were not working. but through it all, being overly nice or chatty with guys here has been taken as interest in them and has lead to mostly uncomfortable situations. nothing i can't handle but i hate hurting people's feelings. or their fingers.
so yesterday i'm at a pretty isolated beach with francisco and realize that about 20 cars have stopped on the side of the road nearby, great reason to run that way to check it out. and good thing he took me here to get friendly otherwise i would have never seen baby turtles hatching! the environmental group that marks turtle nests was there, along with everyone connected to them, with the purpose of making sure that every surviving turtle makes it to the water. in real life only 1 turtle from a nest of 120 or so lives to adulthood so the nests are monitored and during hatching they dig out the bottom turtles, smooth the sand down to the water, and keep birds away. there were about a dozen vulture type birds hanging about.
i got to watch all the newly hatched turtles claw their way to the ocean, sometimes they'd get confused and go the wrong way and the people crowded around would head them in the right direction. one man was in charge or digging out the bottom turtles to make sure none were buried alive, and they all lived to make it to the water. more amazing nature.
back to francisco. it was getting dark so i suggested we start home. and clouds were rolling in, our dune buggy had no roof, and his laundry was hanging outside. so long story short, we went to his house, took in his laundry, and i told him that i was late for meeting paul and the guys at the no name bar. francisco doesn't drink but dropped me off there and told me he'd meet me later at my hotel, feelings were hurt, and i was free for the nite.
i wish i had found the no name bar when pam was here. i remember that we walked past and commented on it but we didn't go inside. its just the kind of place that i could hang out. paul and his buddies were there, we had some drinks and laughs, and then it was my bedtime. what a nice day.
after 63 days in mexico its finally time to leave today. just when my peso math gets good. but its time for new adventures and lots of scuba diving in belize. and apparently there's a hurricane headed this way, its probably time to start paying attention to events in the real world.
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| run turtles run! |
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