Canada Day!

Happy 143rd Birthday, Canada!

I had to work this afternoon, so unfortunately didn't get to see any fireworks (except the ones from the highway driving home), but did get to spend a few hours with the family. I met them at the grocery store parking lot, then we headed out to Crawford Lake. We walked around the Iroquois village where the kids loved feeling all the animal skins and antlers. (M commented that it was like a petting zoo, but better - no animals jumping on you or poop to step in!) After a short attempt at playing lacrosse, we walked around the native garden, snacking on raspberries and blackberries that we found, then down to the lake. We didn't walk around the lake, that would have taken too long - I had to get home on time and the kids needed to have enough energy to walk back up the hill.

Port Burwell

I spent the weekend camping with a large group from the church at Port Burwell Provincial Park. Except for a few minutes of rain on Saturday morning, the weather was perfect.

I had a site with my friend L, who picked me up Friday afternoon. We were one of the first to get there - a lot of people stopped for supper along the way and had to set up in the dark. Friday evening we just walked around after supper, saying hi to people as they showed up.

Saturday morning I helped L mark a few exams, then went off on my bike to explore Port Burwell. There isn't much to the town - a few stores and a lighthouse - but it was nice to get out on the bike for a while. After lunch, everyone went down to the beach. The water was pretty rough (3 ft waves), but it was great for fooling around in and it wasn't too cold. Supper was hosted by a few of the families - steak, potatoes, chili, salad, and veggie sticks - then it was off to the next campsite for birthday cake! We ended at a third campsite for a fire which went until well past midnight ... with the park wardens telling us off a few times.

Sunday was pretty relaxed. We got together for coffee in the morning, then back to the beach in the afternoon. The water was a lot calmer, but it wasn't as hot out, so not as many people went swimming. But we did find a giant moth on the back of one of our chairs and he didn't seem to mind L picking him up and showing him to everyone.

It was a fun weekend and neat to spend time with people I don't normally see or talk to, and the weather cooperated really well. I think next year I might have to go again ... but maybe drag along M's family!

Goodbye Cancun

My last day in Mexico! I tried to sleep in, but after all the early mornings it didn't work too well! I had a relaxing breakfast a the hotel, went to the internet shop next door to check-in for my flight home, then went with P to get massages! It was a very relaxing end to a sometimes hectic trip. P, A, and B were all on the same flight which left just a few minutes before mine, so we got a taxi together to the airport. P, A, and B had a long line at their airline desk while I didn't have any, so I went through security and waited for them there. After snacking on expensive airport food, we said our goodbyes and boarded our flights.

The flight home was uneventful, but I think from now on Mom and Dad will be adding an extra half hour to their pick-up time. I always have trouble getting back into Canada and even had my bags searched this time! I guess I didn't fit in with all the other people returning from the resorts!

Tulum

This was our last day together as a group, but there weren't any planned activities. Most of us wanted to see the ruins at Tulum, so got together in the morning and found a group taxi van to drive us to the ruins. The place was crawling with resort tourists and iguanas, and after all the much more impressive ruins we had seen, we all seemed more fascinated with the iguanas than with anything else! One of the reasons to visit Tulum is to swim at the beaches in the park, but the stairs down to the main beach were closed and the surf was really high, so we only looked down at the beach. After about an hour we were hot, tired and hungry, so found another group bus and went back to the hotel. We spent the afternoon lazing around in the hotel pool then went out for a fancy "last night" dinner followed by a few drinks. I went back to the hotel with part of the group early in the evening, but the others stumbled home the next morning.

Playa del Carmen

Back to Mexico today! We decided to pay a few extra dollars and take the water taxi back to Mexico - a 3 hours trip by boat instead of and hour by boat and then 5 hours by old school bus! The only problem was that the water was rough - the boat kept slapping down which got really tiring and really annoying pretty quickly.

We got through customs into Mexico without too many problems - still not a "normal" border check point (a table under a shelter at the end of a dock), but it seemed a lot more official that the other borders we had crossed. It was also interesting to watch the drug dogs go over all our luggage, including hand luggage, searching for drugs. Then it was back on the wonderfully cold ADO buses north to Playa del Carmen, our final stop on this trip. The drive up wasn't too interesting, except for the thousands of butterflies over the highway and being able to see the massive resort complexes along the coast.

After finally finding our hotel (we arrived in a different bus station than S thought we were at), we went out for a simple Mexican supper, then walked downtown. It was too touristy for me and so expensive compared to everywhere else we had been! We had a few drinks at a cheesy tourist bar that had a nice view, then went back to the hotel.

Caye Caulker

I spent our second day on Caye Caulker just relaxing, which is what most of the group did. I took my time getting ready, had a relaxing breakfast at the restaurant across the street, walked most of the island with M, watched a movie on the TV, then finally got to see a sunset that wasn't hidden by clouds! There are a few interesting things about Caye Caulker. One is that none of the roads are paved - it's all sand! Also, there are only a few trucks on the island, it's mostly just golf carts and bikes. And finally, by the third evening, you know exactly when the "cake man" and the kid on the bike come around to sell their (or in the case the the kid, his mom's) baking - and it's fresh, cheap, and delicious!

Swimming with the Fish ... and the Sharks and the Stingrays

Along with most of the group, I decided to do the full day snorkel trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve north of Caye Caulker. We loaded up our sail boat, then headed out to sea - our captain relaxing in the back of the boat leaning against the rudder and the guide cutting up shrimp and limes for ceviche.

Our first stop was outside of the marine reserve so that we could get used to snorkeling and swimming with the fins. There was some coral and a few small colourful fish - about the same quality and quantity as when I went snorkeling in the Dominican Republic.

Our second stop was at a place called "Shark and Stingray Alley" and the name doesn't lie! After we dropped anchor, the captain threw bait over the side and a bunch of large fish appeared. Soon after, a group of nurse sharks chased them away and started fighting over the food. Once the feeding frenzy had died down, we got out of the boat (the side opposite where the bait was being thrown) and into the water. I was the first one in and the first one around to the other side of the boat, looking at the masses of fish under the boat, when all of a sudden they turned and came at me. What I didn't realize is that the captain was throwing bait around me! It freaked me out a bit - some warning would have been nice! The guide is known by one of the stingrays (who appeared after we got in) and the stingray came right up into his arms to be held and let us touch him.

We separated into two groups and set off to see if we could find a sea turtle. We found a few, but weren't able to get too close to them - they are amazingly fast under water! We saw a lot of different types of fish, too, with the guide pointing out them out and telling us what they all were called. Then it was back to the boat for lunch while we sailed to the third spot.

The final spot was AMAZING! Unfortunately, nobody brought or rented a waterproof camera so I don't have any pictures, but it was just like what you would see in a National Geographic film or in a tropical fish tank at an aquarium. There were large schools of fish, more rays, turtles, moray eels, sharks, barracudas ... it was awesome! There was also a lot more coral in this area, though most of it was grey and brown, the beautiful coloured and textured coral is in a different area of the reef. We got back on the boat and had ceviche with nachos and a LOT of rum punch was drunk. My stomach isn't a fan of the ocean, so I was avoiding the punch, but the rest of the group had a lot to drink on the way home!

We spend the rest of the evening relaxing on the island, watching the sunset and later hanging out at the reggae bar. The island isn't that big, so there aren't that many places to go.