Exploring and Fox!

Took off for a day of beach combing and bird watching in the mangrove. It was a very hot windy day, a strong wind blowing from the south for 2 days, tempered now by a bit of rain overnight. Saw a flock of what I think are coots in the mangrove, and took a long walk on a new (to me) beach with rolling surf, something we don't see in Puerto Morelos because of our protective reef.


Starting Sunday, the 29th, we are puppy sitting Fox, a dear little rescue dog our friend Sarah saved from the street. When she found him at 3 months, he was covered in mange, fleas, and had a bloated stomach from starvation. Many vet bills later he is happy, healthy and will be staying at our casa for 3 weeks while Sarah goes off to find herself a livaboard sailboat in Florida. It will be fun to have a little dog in the family for a while - he is very gentle, sweet and friendly- and some day maybe he will grow into those big ears!

Balankanche Caves

March 21. Saturday as part of our retreat to El Balam, we went to see the Balankanche Caves near Chichen Itza. These caves were used by the Mayans as a ceremonial space specifically to honour Chaac, the god of rain. The Yucatan peninsula is very dry, even though it is a tropical jungle, so rain is vitally important both thousands of years ago and today. This cave was discovered in the 1950s, and the ceremonial articles in the cave were left and are there for all to see. You walk from a jungle path down into very hot humid temperatures, and walk almost a kilometer through the caves on a good stone path. The lowest ceiling height is 1.75 meters, and when you finally get to the centre, you are treated to a great display of Mayan art. At the very end of the caves is the underground cenote river. By the time we walked the full lenth and back with the guide, we were both streaming with sweat and happy to drink some cold water! Amazing place!

To see more pics, please paste this link into your url.
http//picasaweb.google.com/daphneandmiki/BalankancheCaves#

Spring Equinox

March 20 Another special retreat at Genesis in Ek Balam allowed us to rest, read, and enjoy the quiet beauty of this wonderful little resort. We arrived on Friday around 1 pm and were able to get to Chichen Itza by 3 pm. Unlike last year, when we were rained out, it was a clear hot day, with just the occasional cloud. The serpent at the base of the main pyrimid, is designed so that when the sun reaches a precise point every year, it appears that the serpent is slithering down the pyrimid - an amazing site. A better camera would capture the effect better, but you can see the shadow of the building which looks like the serpent moving. The equinox was a time when Mayans gathered to celebrate the change of season and hope for a good growing season and abundant harvest. You can see a lot of people even today gather to share in this event.

Last week of grand kids

Vanessa and Jonah joined Nana in her water aerobics one day, and they managed to keep up right to the end! Many large and small beach building projects were undertaken this week, with Jonah building a castle complete with freeways, and Vanessa's decorated with lots of beach flotsam.
Sadly, our last dinner together at David Lau's, where Mom and Dad joined us upon their return from a night in Tulum and a visit to the ruins.
Monday, March 16 sees them all packed up and on their way back to chilly Canada!! It was a wonderful visit and we look forward to the next time! See you in 6 weeks, dear family!

Swimming with the Dolphins!

Vanessa's big dream while in Mexico was to swim with the dolphins. Of course anything Nessa does.....so Jonah and Mama went too.
Jonah was almost more excited to see the seals than the dolphins - he has an affinity to seals.

So their group went into the water after an orientation, and spent about 30 minutes patting, stroking, holding and even kissing the dolphins.



A dream come true for a very happy little girl!

Fun with kids!

While Mama and Papa were exploring Isla Mujeres for a couple of days, we had lots of fun with the kids. One day we went to Wet n Wild, an enormous water park in Cancun.


There was a huge water playground, with every imaginable slide and water fun.






There was a huge Lazy River, where you floated - fast - all around an island that had a restaurant on it - probably a kilometer in length.

















The bumper boats were a big hit - the kids could stay on as long as they wanted - and they DID!


Then there was a wave pool where we went body surfing in the big waves.



Last was a huge slide, where 3 people get into a huge inner tube and roar down into a warm pool. Took Jonah a while to screw up his courage, but after watching Vanessa go down and survive, he and I went down with one of the life guards and he loved the ride!

To top it all off, all food and beverages were included, so we ate grilled chicken, paella, hot dogs, chicken strips, salads, limonada (wonderful Mexican lemonade made with limes), and a couple of Margaritas for the Nanas!!!

Beach kids in PM

March 10 Jutta and Andrew went off to Isla Mujeres for a couple of days of adult R & R, so we have been spending lots of time at the beach, having fabulous wings at John Grays Mother In Laws, and the kids have tried out both playgrounds - the one in town and the one in the Colonia, where they chatted about the merits of both......! We have watched videos, read books, played in the pool and had a ball with the kids.

Grand kids in PM!

After a delay in arrival time, the family finally comes off the plane at the Cancun Airport! Many thanks to Rob for being our second vehicle for luggage and parents while we took the little ones in our car.

We have been hanging out at the pool, going to the beach - complete with lunch at Ojo de Agua and entertainment from the wandering musicians as well. The weather has been hot and sunny, so the poor refugees from snow country in Sooke have enjoyed the heat.

Another concert

March 6. Another of the free (with donation) concerts in the town square to support the kids of Puerto Morelos. Guitarists, singers, Mayan women dancers - the square was full of people enjoying a warm March evening and fine entertainment. We were working at the bookstore that evening, so listened from the store and popped over once in a while to take a pic. Jutta, Andrew and grand kids Vanessa and Jonah arrive on Sunday for 8 days, so may not get back to the blog for a few days!

Farewells, licences and car wash.

Mar 1 - 3. Our friends Connie and John leave to go home to Iowa on Tuesday, so we met them at Acamaya, had a great snorkel, and then had muchies, drinks and pizza with them and Daisy, Denis and son Noel. Dog Rambo kept everyone entertained as well.
Tuesday we went into Cancun to get our Mexican drivers licences. We had gone there the day before, but had to come back because we didn't have our passports with us. So the process is that you line up at the door to get an application from the fellow at the desk there. You fill out the application, and go to 4 separate departments. You are sent for a blood test - a thumb prick which they analyze and give you a document with your blood type ($7). Then you go to Infracciones (in case you have a previous outstanding ticket); then to the Caja (cashier) to pay for the licence ($11); then you go get an eye test (with your glasses on, if you wear them); and then you go get your photo taken, do a fingerprint, and they give you your shiny new licence. The whole thing costs $18, took 2 hours, and allows us to get discounts all over the place. Ours are just temporary until the end of April, so will do this again when we come back next October.





Finally, the underground parking lot at Plaza Americas (and many other underground malls in Cancun) has a portable car wash for which you pay a few pesos and they haul around this little carwash machine and wash your car while you are shopping. In the above ground lots, they just use a bucket of water and a rag and do an amazing job.

Swim Meet in Puerto Morelos

Feb. 28. The annual swim meet in PM brings swimmers from all over Mexico - with 3 races out to a buoy - 2 km, 3 km and 5 km, and all age ranges. There were bands playing, lots of food, lots of families out to cheer on the swimmers, and when I find out who actually won, I will let you know!