Travelog of our Cozumel trip
Saturday 09 June 07
Really great day. We got up ~5 a.m. to meet the plane @ 9:20. Oddly no problems. Of course we had taken the cars and truck to the Parking Spot last night to save time. We were directed to check in at the first class desk because the lines were much shorter. The plane ride was uneventful and short.
As we stepped off the plane in Cozumel, I could feel the tension in my body palpably easing… even as we walked the tarmac. We piled our six and four others into a taxi-van headed for El Cantil since they failed to meet us as expected.
The condo here is beautiful. Sixth floor- three room wide balcony viewing the ocean- three bedroom three bath, full kitchen and bar, sitting area- covered parking for you rental. For our first meal, we ate open-faced tacos across the street with a beer. Really good. Then we went to Chadraui, the supermarcado, where we bought groceries and such. Then back to the condos… then we hit the water. That night we ate at Palemeras and listened to live music on the square (with a bit of dancing). Charles and I walked around a bit, then we all headed back to the condo at the end of a really good day.
Sunday 10 June 07
Breakfast at Jeanie’s Waffles (deceptively gringo name) without the boys who slept in. Back at the room we saw a lovely rainbow stretching over the water to the mainland. We scheduled a parasail for 2 p.m., then hit the water again. Rain brought us in early from that. On returning from lunch (Jeanie’s) we found a note canceling the parasailing due to weather. Bummer. But we did schedule a tour to Chichenitzà for Monday. That’s where we stand. I’ll write more later. I’m going to try to get Charley to dive this afternoon from the dock at the Cozumel Palace, formerly the Plaza las Glorious.
~later~
Charley and I dove this afternoon. He did great on his first salt open water dive! We weren’t weighted properly so we kicked over to the Aqua Safari dock in very surging seas. Just as we got there, I noticed 2 weigths on the bottom. I got them and the guy brought out some more for me. After that, no problems. Charley handled it like a champ. We saw a cuttle fish among all the others. Coming back, we walked around the front of Scuba Safari after returning Charley’s gear. Earlier they would not let us dive from their steps/pier since they were part of a neighboring hotel- so we had to schlep the gear back over to El Cantil to dive. But we could return the gear from their dock. Of course that meant that we couldn’t get back in to the condo beach area- we had left our keys back with the others. We had to go to the office to get them to let us into the beach area. It’s funny now—then, not so much.
For dinner we went to La Veranda (Beth’s choice). Delicioso! Beth ordered flan for dessert. When it came it was full of coconut- which she and Brian both despise to the point of gagging. We traded our key lime pie for hers and all went fine. All in all, another really good day. G’night.
Monday 11 June 07
Got up early and hit the ferry dock by 6:20. Our rep was nowhere to be seen till nearly time to go. The promised “continental breakfast” consisted of a granola bar, drinkable yogurt, and an apple obviously just bought at the store. Brian got a little queezy on the ferry. After the Playa Carmen rep led us through town to the van, it was discovered that one couple had not had their spots reserved by the agency. Since they had gotten this trip to Chichen Itzà from a timeshare presentation, well… Anyway they didn’t get to go ‘cause we were full- 14 in a single van! Our 6, a couple from Sweden (she’d had a stroke some time back), 2 newlyweds from Spain, and 4 Mexican nationals rounded out the group.
Chichen Itzà (Chee= mouth chen=well itz=magician ha=water) was a lot of fun. The rain held off for us while we were walking in the ruins, but stayed cloudy for coolness. Saw a lot of cool buildings, learned a lot of Mayan history (our guide was Mayan), and bought a lot of stuff as gifts. We left for lunch at the Restaurant Yucab. It was all you can eat buffet and very tasty. They had traditional dancers there to entertain. We stopped next at a colonial village with a nice 400 year old church (in which I took some picstures). We only stayed a few minutes, then on to the cenote-
At the cenote, I was walking through the light rain to the actual pool with Kathy when a wasp flew into my mouth and stung me inside my lip. Serious ouch! I went back to the cantina area, scraped some ice from the ice cream freezer, and iced the stind down as much as possible. Xavier, our guide, said to rinse my mouth with tequila, swallow, and repeat. Back at Playa Carmen I tried it at a tequila factory store… and it worked. The sting went out almost immediately and the swelling went down a lot. Even the painful sting didn’t spoil the good day we had, and of course it gave me a great story to tell.
Tuesday 12 June 07
Today we mostly laid around. Brian and I parasailed finally from the condo dock. It was very nice- peaceful and serene actually- that is until Brian told them it was OK to dunk me in the water! They just let me down…down…down… until I was sitting in the water. I’m glad he did it; it was a nice way to end the time. Sounds like some of the others may go another day. I realized later that Brian and I skipped lunch. Not a problem. Ate dinner a Leeza’s on the Plaza. It was OK. The boys are out at Señor Frog’s partying. Hope they don’t come it too late.
Wednesday 13 June 07
The four guys got on up and headed to Carlos n Charlie’s to meet the ATV group. They took us out to El Cedral where they relocated after the hurricane washed the other side of the island away. It was better than before. There was more jungle to the route and we visited a cenote, a cave, and a small ruin on the trip. Our guides gave us Mayan culture talks at each. The rain had left mud everywhere- we got muddy literally from head to toe. It was great. However, I wish we had used their shoes as we ruined ours. Afterwards, they took us to Uvi’s Beach Club. We had to wash off in the surf before sitting down to eat. We were that dirty. After we ate, we snorkeled a bit. Saw lots of fish- Brian saw a seahorse. We headed back to town to some happy ladies; they had stayed in town and had a massage while we were gone. After some serious cleaning up, we started laundry and ate dinner at Casa Denis. It started raining just as we got there. Balthazar was still there- his same affable self. As always, delicious.
Thursday 14 June 07
SCUBA today. We- Charley and I- went with the Austin group with Wildcat Diving on a reef dive today. Charley was a bit nervous, I think, but he was excited as well. Victor, owner of Wildcat Diving, had sent a second dive master besides Juan just to be with Charley and me since this was only his second saltwater dive and his first reef drift dive and twice as deep as anything previous for him. His name was also Victor. He was a nice guy, very safety conscious, and very helpful. Everyone on the boat was jovial, friendly, and very supportive of Charley and his “first time”. One glitch- getting in the water on the first dive, my tank came loose and fell. Aaaarrrgh! Next time I’ll put it on myself. Got it back on the BCD and hit the water.
The dives were very good. Charley was able to get down reasonably and he seemed to have a good time. We saw lots of fish, coral, several lobsters (langosta), and a nice turtle. On our second dive, we actually saw more. We did see a stingray, which I chased a bit to get a picture. Don’t know if it turned out yet. We saw 2 eels: a small spotted moray eel and a huge green moray eel. I would have to recheck my log to list all we saw. Between dives it pissed rain. We kept our setsuits on for warmth. Everyone shared food. They had fruit, granola, trailmix, and nuts. The boat provided drinks. Charley opted to eat our peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars. As the Germans say- Gemütlikeit. This was the group’s last dive of their trip, headed home tomorrow (Friday). They were a great band of friends who treated everyone around them as if they were part of the group as well. They even invited Charley and I to dinner with them that night. I declined because I didn’t want to leave out the rest of my group who had no real connection to them.
That night we ate at La Missiòn. It was good, but expensive. No sexy coffee. Later Jeff caught the bargaining bug. He, as a salesman, enjoyed being on the other side of the battle for a change. The boys stayed out- we grups headed back. I gave Beth one of my especial foot massages, and Kathy got the shorter version. Very pleasant evening.
Friday 15 June 07
Lazy day. We rented a jeep today around lunch time and headed around the island. We had lunch at Rasta’s. The shrimp quesadillas were apparently quite good. We ate inside then walked the beach. I found a nice black coral fan in the surf. Since I knew it would get broken in the luggage, I gave it to the folks in the bar.
>> Time shift>> Before we left the condos, while we were renting the jeep, we met 4 ladies newly arrived on the island. They appeared to be two couples on vacation together from near Denver. Two were wanting to fish. Brian and I spoke to them for a while about the island including restaurants that would cook their catch, and then we went on our way. We saw them again at Rasta’s about 30 minutes before we left there. We spoke some more, then we headed out.
We drove up the east side of the island to the turn, then we u-turned and headed back the way we came to avoid going back through town. We swung by beach club row, but the ladies were wanting to get back to the condo. There we snorkeled and swam till 6+. We got to Casa Denis around 7. A few minutes later, here came the ladies. I had recommended Casa Denis and Balthazar to them. They had also gone to Uva’s beach club. Brian sent the musicians to their table. They loved it.
After dinner, we went to La Veranda for dessert and coffee. We had key lime pie, crepes Suzette, and bananas flambé. The boys also had Mayan coffee- a flaming extravaganza with citrus, licorice liquer, and cinnamon. The boys stayed out for a while. The old folks enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
Saturday 16 June 07
Last minute shopping. Charley wanted a Hard Rock, Cozumel shirt from the Hard Rock itself. The boys and I got back to the condo just about in time to finish packing and load up the taxi. I’m sitting here now waiting for the plane- it’s been delayed due to weather till 13:00. Oops… make that 13:20 now. We also have had our carry-ons searched again. Must be some security scare of some sort. They even patted down Jeff at the first security entrance. Wish I’d gotten a picture. Okay headed out now. Wish we could stay another week (or six).
[This blog has been transcribed from my journal. Pictures will be posted soon.]
Really great day. We got up ~5 a.m. to meet the plane @ 9:20. Oddly no problems. Of course we had taken the cars and truck to the Parking Spot last night to save time. We were directed to check in at the first class desk because the lines were much shorter. The plane ride was uneventful and short.
As we stepped off the plane in Cozumel, I could feel the tension in my body palpably easing… even as we walked the tarmac. We piled our six and four others into a taxi-van headed for El Cantil since they failed to meet us as expected.
The condo here is beautiful. Sixth floor- three room wide balcony viewing the ocean- three bedroom three bath, full kitchen and bar, sitting area- covered parking for you rental. For our first meal, we ate open-faced tacos across the street with a beer. Really good. Then we went to Chadraui, the supermarcado, where we bought groceries and such. Then back to the condos… then we hit the water. That night we ate at Palemeras and listened to live music on the square (with a bit of dancing). Charles and I walked around a bit, then we all headed back to the condo at the end of a really good day.
Sunday 10 June 07
Breakfast at Jeanie’s Waffles (deceptively gringo name) without the boys who slept in. Back at the room we saw a lovely rainbow stretching over the water to the mainland. We scheduled a parasail for 2 p.m., then hit the water again. Rain brought us in early from that. On returning from lunch (Jeanie’s) we found a note canceling the parasailing due to weather. Bummer. But we did schedule a tour to Chichenitzà for Monday. That’s where we stand. I’ll write more later. I’m going to try to get Charley to dive this afternoon from the dock at the Cozumel Palace, formerly the Plaza las Glorious.
~later~
Charley and I dove this afternoon. He did great on his first salt open water dive! We weren’t weighted properly so we kicked over to the Aqua Safari dock in very surging seas. Just as we got there, I noticed 2 weigths on the bottom. I got them and the guy brought out some more for me. After that, no problems. Charley handled it like a champ. We saw a cuttle fish among all the others. Coming back, we walked around the front of Scuba Safari after returning Charley’s gear. Earlier they would not let us dive from their steps/pier since they were part of a neighboring hotel- so we had to schlep the gear back over to El Cantil to dive. But we could return the gear from their dock. Of course that meant that we couldn’t get back in to the condo beach area- we had left our keys back with the others. We had to go to the office to get them to let us into the beach area. It’s funny now—then, not so much.
For dinner we went to La Veranda (Beth’s choice). Delicioso! Beth ordered flan for dessert. When it came it was full of coconut- which she and Brian both despise to the point of gagging. We traded our key lime pie for hers and all went fine. All in all, another really good day. G’night.
Monday 11 June 07
Got up early and hit the ferry dock by 6:20. Our rep was nowhere to be seen till nearly time to go. The promised “continental breakfast” consisted of a granola bar, drinkable yogurt, and an apple obviously just bought at the store. Brian got a little queezy on the ferry. After the Playa Carmen rep led us through town to the van, it was discovered that one couple had not had their spots reserved by the agency. Since they had gotten this trip to Chichen Itzà from a timeshare presentation, well… Anyway they didn’t get to go ‘cause we were full- 14 in a single van! Our 6, a couple from Sweden (she’d had a stroke some time back), 2 newlyweds from Spain, and 4 Mexican nationals rounded out the group.
Chichen Itzà (Chee= mouth chen=well itz=magician ha=water) was a lot of fun. The rain held off for us while we were walking in the ruins, but stayed cloudy for coolness. Saw a lot of cool buildings, learned a lot of Mayan history (our guide was Mayan), and bought a lot of stuff as gifts. We left for lunch at the Restaurant Yucab. It was all you can eat buffet and very tasty. They had traditional dancers there to entertain. We stopped next at a colonial village with a nice 400 year old church (in which I took some picstures). We only stayed a few minutes, then on to the cenote-
At the cenote, I was walking through the light rain to the actual pool with Kathy when a wasp flew into my mouth and stung me inside my lip. Serious ouch! I went back to the cantina area, scraped some ice from the ice cream freezer, and iced the stind down as much as possible. Xavier, our guide, said to rinse my mouth with tequila, swallow, and repeat. Back at Playa Carmen I tried it at a tequila factory store… and it worked. The sting went out almost immediately and the swelling went down a lot. Even the painful sting didn’t spoil the good day we had, and of course it gave me a great story to tell.
Tuesday 12 June 07
Today we mostly laid around. Brian and I parasailed finally from the condo dock. It was very nice- peaceful and serene actually- that is until Brian told them it was OK to dunk me in the water! They just let me down…down…down… until I was sitting in the water. I’m glad he did it; it was a nice way to end the time. Sounds like some of the others may go another day. I realized later that Brian and I skipped lunch. Not a problem. Ate dinner a Leeza’s on the Plaza. It was OK. The boys are out at Señor Frog’s partying. Hope they don’t come it too late.
Wednesday 13 June 07
The four guys got on up and headed to Carlos n Charlie’s to meet the ATV group. They took us out to El Cedral where they relocated after the hurricane washed the other side of the island away. It was better than before. There was more jungle to the route and we visited a cenote, a cave, and a small ruin on the trip. Our guides gave us Mayan culture talks at each. The rain had left mud everywhere- we got muddy literally from head to toe. It was great. However, I wish we had used their shoes as we ruined ours. Afterwards, they took us to Uvi’s Beach Club. We had to wash off in the surf before sitting down to eat. We were that dirty. After we ate, we snorkeled a bit. Saw lots of fish- Brian saw a seahorse. We headed back to town to some happy ladies; they had stayed in town and had a massage while we were gone. After some serious cleaning up, we started laundry and ate dinner at Casa Denis. It started raining just as we got there. Balthazar was still there- his same affable self. As always, delicious.
Thursday 14 June 07
SCUBA today. We- Charley and I- went with the Austin group with Wildcat Diving on a reef dive today. Charley was a bit nervous, I think, but he was excited as well. Victor, owner of Wildcat Diving, had sent a second dive master besides Juan just to be with Charley and me since this was only his second saltwater dive and his first reef drift dive and twice as deep as anything previous for him. His name was also Victor. He was a nice guy, very safety conscious, and very helpful. Everyone on the boat was jovial, friendly, and very supportive of Charley and his “first time”. One glitch- getting in the water on the first dive, my tank came loose and fell. Aaaarrrgh! Next time I’ll put it on myself. Got it back on the BCD and hit the water.
The dives were very good. Charley was able to get down reasonably and he seemed to have a good time. We saw lots of fish, coral, several lobsters (langosta), and a nice turtle. On our second dive, we actually saw more. We did see a stingray, which I chased a bit to get a picture. Don’t know if it turned out yet. We saw 2 eels: a small spotted moray eel and a huge green moray eel. I would have to recheck my log to list all we saw. Between dives it pissed rain. We kept our setsuits on for warmth. Everyone shared food. They had fruit, granola, trailmix, and nuts. The boat provided drinks. Charley opted to eat our peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars. As the Germans say- Gemütlikeit. This was the group’s last dive of their trip, headed home tomorrow (Friday). They were a great band of friends who treated everyone around them as if they were part of the group as well. They even invited Charley and I to dinner with them that night. I declined because I didn’t want to leave out the rest of my group who had no real connection to them.
That night we ate at La Missiòn. It was good, but expensive. No sexy coffee. Later Jeff caught the bargaining bug. He, as a salesman, enjoyed being on the other side of the battle for a change. The boys stayed out- we grups headed back. I gave Beth one of my especial foot massages, and Kathy got the shorter version. Very pleasant evening.
Friday 15 June 07
Lazy day. We rented a jeep today around lunch time and headed around the island. We had lunch at Rasta’s. The shrimp quesadillas were apparently quite good. We ate inside then walked the beach. I found a nice black coral fan in the surf. Since I knew it would get broken in the luggage, I gave it to the folks in the bar.
>> Time shift>> Before we left the condos, while we were renting the jeep, we met 4 ladies newly arrived on the island. They appeared to be two couples on vacation together from near Denver. Two were wanting to fish. Brian and I spoke to them for a while about the island including restaurants that would cook their catch, and then we went on our way. We saw them again at Rasta’s about 30 minutes before we left there. We spoke some more, then we headed out.
We drove up the east side of the island to the turn, then we u-turned and headed back the way we came to avoid going back through town. We swung by beach club row, but the ladies were wanting to get back to the condo. There we snorkeled and swam till 6+. We got to Casa Denis around 7. A few minutes later, here came the ladies. I had recommended Casa Denis and Balthazar to them. They had also gone to Uva’s beach club. Brian sent the musicians to their table. They loved it.
After dinner, we went to La Veranda for dessert and coffee. We had key lime pie, crepes Suzette, and bananas flambé. The boys also had Mayan coffee- a flaming extravaganza with citrus, licorice liquer, and cinnamon. The boys stayed out for a while. The old folks enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
Saturday 16 June 07
Last minute shopping. Charley wanted a Hard Rock, Cozumel shirt from the Hard Rock itself. The boys and I got back to the condo just about in time to finish packing and load up the taxi. I’m sitting here now waiting for the plane- it’s been delayed due to weather till 13:00. Oops… make that 13:20 now. We also have had our carry-ons searched again. Must be some security scare of some sort. They even patted down Jeff at the first security entrance. Wish I’d gotten a picture. Okay headed out now. Wish we could stay another week (or six).
[This blog has been transcribed from my journal. Pictures will be posted soon.]
posted by J. Lamb @ 2:33 PM
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