Victoria's World Travels

Snorkeling

On Tuesday, we ventured forth early in the morning. Our tour bus took us to Xel-ha where we rode bikes, inner-tubed down a lazy stream past mangroves, and watched iguanas and large fish stare down the tourists. We then got back on the bus and spent some time at Tulum. Tulum has an amazing setting - Mayan ruins on a cliff above the turquoise Caribbean. We were lucky with the weather - sort of. Bright sun meant the view was beautiful, but we both got a tad bit sunburnt despite our layers of sunscreen.That evening, we went to the fancy Italian restaurant at our resort and lucked out, since it was Prime Rib Special night. The prime rib was great and we had some great wine.

Wednesday was our snorkeling day. We went out to Puerto Morelos (a small town just north of our resort) and snorkeled in two different spots. We saw tons of colorful fish and some interesting coral. Fan coral and brain coral were in abundance. We also saw a few sea cucumbers, a brittle star, a few squid, several barracuda, a huge parrotfish, and a stingray. My favorite was the tiny, nearly translucent squid - it was delicate and colorful. Sky's favorite was a particularly large squid. The brittle star's favorite was Sky's bright blue swim trunks, which it clung too after it wriggled out of Sky's hand. (The guide had handed it to me first and then I gave it to Sky.) We eventually disentangled it and then traumatized it further by handing it to the other snorkelers.

Speaking of traumatizing, did I mention the cricket conspiracy yet? The other day, Sky and I were walking down our 3rd floor hallway to the stairs when Sky accidentally kicked what he thought was a leaf on the ground. He figured out his error when the leaf buzzed up into the air, right at him. We hurried to the stairs as it buzzed angrily in our direction and then landed at the top of stairs, as if it were about to launch itself after us. It was a cricket bigger than my index finger! In flight, it resembled a hummingbird in size and movement. We left quickly while it glared at us from the top of the stairs. Early the next day, as we waited for our tour departure, we noticed another huge cricket on a pillar holding up the bus stop roof. As soon as it realized we'd seen it, it quickly crawled to the other side of the pillar, but probably not before making a
report to its superiors. We saw several more crickets that day, including one trying to blend in to the wall of the restaurant we were leaving. They were watching us. If they weren't 3-4 inches long, I wouldn't be concerned...but I know they're planning something. I haven't yet figured out if the bees and sand fleas are in on it, but they've upped their efforts to distract us too. I must remain vigilant...

posted by Victoria @ 6:57 PM