6: Drunken Tortugas

Happy campers!

Load em up and move em out... 12 of us made our way to the Dive Shop in Akumal.  We had a very important adventure awaiting us.  Little did we realize how awesome the experience was going to prove to be (nor how strong the drinks)!  With SPF and shades in tow, our first stop landed us at Akumal Beach. We received clear instruction in Spanglish (I kid... our guide was great!) on how to use our snorkeling gear.  A handful of us braved the oh-so-slimming affect of the wet suit including yours truly. 



Instructor at the Akumal Dive Shop

You wanna see something funny?  Watch an Amazon try to put on a wet suit over an already sweaty frame... it made the sweet noises of flatulence for the entire duration.  Luckily I couldn't understand enough Spanish to really get the full affect of the giggles coming from observers.  My graceful attempt at donning the skin tight suit left me feeling about at as sexy as a Spanish sausage roll.

We followed behind our guides in the white special bus (i.e. our rental van) through about 15 minutes of jungle.  The sites of minmal shelters that many called homes, and the tiny yet charming escola, gave us all another take on life in the Yucatan peninsula.  Welcome to the jungle, it's all not fun and games.  Exotic as it may be, I don't think I have what it takes to live there.  Granted, I am thinking this from the comfort of our air conditioned ride, but it was my initial thought.  Part of me likes to think that I could make it work... and then I realize that I digress and would rather focus on the destination at hand.

The Yucatan Peninsula has a vast array of underground waterways known as Cenotes.  The water is fresh, clear and approximately 72 degrees... not your normal bath water mind you.  I was happy to be a Spanish sausage. 

Making our way from the van to the cenote, we walk single-file to the place of entry.  It's a bat cave.  With amazing stalagtites that make the earth around it appear as if frozen in time mid-drip.  Two-by-

Cenote

two we ease into the cool waters and get a true feel for the idea of snorkeling.  Donned with fins, mask, snorkel and flashlight, the group proceeds to weave in and out of this magical cave with the gentle reassurance of our wonderful guides.  We see prolific rock formations, some only visible by use of the flash light. 

Several members of the group risked the fear of tight spaces to visit this place... and once captured by the beauty of our natural surroundings, the fears were faced and conquered.  With much jubilation and chattering teeth, we reached the end of our journey in the cenote greeted by the cuddly-hanging faces of the bats the reside there (yes, by this point they were actually cute as opposed to scarey). 

The fish help to keep the sea turtle's shell clean.

Our next stop lead us to the Akumal shore line to swim with sea turtles, sting rays, squid and a
beautiful cornicopia of tropical fish.  The whole adventure lasted several hours.  The experience will last a life time.  Luckily, the hickey that the snorkeling mask made around my eye balls only lasted a few minutes.


We finished our adventure with much-needed refreshment in the town of Akumal.  Stumbling upon a charming restaurant who's name escapes me (I will blame it on their strong margarita's), we enjoyed a delightful meal in the cool shade of the palm trees.  The waiter treated us each to a shot of Cacau, which I believe is a local liquor made from a tree or something like that.  At this time I was less than able to fully comprehend any pertinent information.  However, I do recall that the service was excellent despite that fact that I needed to dilute the same margarita TWICE.  Whoosh!

Once again, we returned to our regularly scheduled programming at the casa... it's a hard life.

Viva la Mexico.