06/03/2012
We went on a Disneyland ride once where you were supposed to be underwater. The lighting shimmered realistic and the rock formations which were a nice replica of the real thing. On that very smooth ride you got the feeling you were floating in space. Diving the Dos Ojos cenote ( sin-no-te) was just like that except, we were underwater. The clarity is so fantastic we were flying like Peter Pan and Wendy over exotic rock formations. Our hearts raced in anticipation for what incredible sight could possibly be around the next turn or the beyond the current stalactite.
The Yucatan Peninsula encompasses 73,000 Sq miles. This flat land mass was once an ancient reef. As the sea level dropped thousands of years ago the Yucatan emerged forming a giant limestone platform. As the limestone weakened and collapsed it formed natural entrances to the underground aquifer and natural wells called Cenotes. This name came for the Mayan word 'DZONOT" which means; sacred wells. The Mayans believed these wells to be the emergence of life and in them lies the forbidden underworld god Xilbaba and Chac the rain god.
What ever deity may exist in the Dos Ojos Cenote, on the day we dove, it's presents was felt. Upon surfacing the smiles on our faces and the feeling in our hearts was spiritual.
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Comments [4]
05/28/2012
Go over to Photo Gallery and check out the new album Xcalak.
If you have ever envisioned a village on the beach in Mexico where western civilazition has not touched. Here it is. On you bucket list put 'go to Xcalak', and be prepaired to fall in love with the pure and simple life.
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Plenty of Time
"Do you have enough time to get that report done Mr. Smith?", the boss asked. "Yup, I got plenty of time", he replied. Do you have enough time to read that novel? Sure, I got plenty of time. Wake up, wake up stupid, it's a dream. Except for the people who no ambitions and do absolutely nothing with their lives, who among us has plenty of time? We all wish there were more hours in the day. More than once in my career I've said,"If only I had a few more hours to finish this job . There was a Today Show topic where they asked the Today's Professionals their thoughts on the statement: 70% of married women would rather have, plenty of time, over sex. It appears we have a value judgment going on here. How valuable is plenty of time ? We all know sex is very valuable to some and maybe not so valuable to others. But, plenty of time, what price tag would be on that. I mean what if, what ever you did you had plenty of time to do it?
Aboard Tradewinds cruising the Western Caribbean, we get more done in a week than most people get done before lunch. "what? you ask. Do you think you are on permanent vacation here?"
Well...let me see. No one expects much from me, the bar never closes and...oh yea......I've got plenty of time.
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Saturday 26th
We just got back from another dive. What a great way to start a day. There was another couple, the dive master (Mauricio) & the 2 of us. We started at 90 ft. then graduated up to hang the majority of the time at 45 ft. The reef over here is still in pretty good shape. The purple fans, brain corals & conchs are huge! We have also seen quite a few lion fish so Fernando is killing them off as best he can. We never seem to get enough of the underwater world. Today we were down for an hour & did not want to come back up. There is so much to look at. We saw a couple logger head turtles & 1 of them was about 30 inches around. We drifted about 2 miles. The current was actually stronger the deeper we were.
We decided to do the Cenote dive on Tuesday. As we understand it, we will leave by van & drive to the location. We then do a 1 tank dive, come up for lunch & then go back & do the second tank. We are both really looking forward to this. This will be our 1st fresh water dive. Mauricio was telling us this area has the largest underground rivers in the world. Cool! We will tell you all about it afterwards.
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05/27/2012
Wednesday 23rd
Today is my Moms Birthday. Happy birthday Mom!
We went to Playa Del Carmen via taxi & spent the day with an ex nephew & his wife. Jose Antonio & Patty Iniguez have a restaurant named El Gran Taco, where you can get the most delicious food! We got there in time for breakfast. I had 2 chicharron in salsa verde (pork rind in green sauce) tacos & Fernando had 3 mixed pork tacos (which included pork stomach) & a chicharron. With the restaurant being busy, Patty was gracious enough to accept Jose taking us around Playa to find some things. We were able to locate fuel additive & rust remover, both items from the States. When I knew Playa, 30 yrs ago, I think there were only 2 main roads made of brick. Now it is a thriving metropolis that I do not recognize. 2 Walmarts, Sam's, shopping malls all over the place. Ahh, how commerce takes over. Jose was telling us that the place has tripled in size since they moved there 9 yrs ago. After getting dinner (chilies rellenos & stuffed jalapenos) to take with us, we made the taxi ride back to Puerto Aventuras. Playa is about 10 miles up the road & it was a $20.00 taxi ride. Not bad considering taxi prices in KW.
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