Trip Report - Part Two

In today's trip report, I'll try to cover Cozumel and Grand Cayman although, both of those will be difficult since each of these days were packed full of fun things.  But here it goes....

It's Tuesday, we must be in Cozumel

We were supposed to meet at the end of the pier for our excursion at 9:30 on Tuesday morning.  We didn't bring watches that we could wear on excursions, so my sense of time was all messed up.  Since I wasn't sure what time it was, I was rushing Jenny as we left the ship.  Once we got to the end of the pier, we found out that we were like 30 minutes early and then had to wait around.  So, that was kind of annoying.  Finally, after waiting around for a while, our group was ready to head off on the Dune Buggy and Beach Snorkel excursion.  I had been on this excursion before several years ago.  About a year after the first time, I went on a Jeep and Beach Snorkel and both of those excursions were identical with the exact same stops and the very same route.  I expected this one to be the same but I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

We started out with me driving our dune buggy.  The gears are hard to find in these old beat up dune buggies with VW engines.  Anytime you get it in gear, you really can't afford to question which gear it is, you just have to go with it.  We took off leaving town and since there was no speedometer or mileage thing, I'll just estimate and say that about 6 or 7 miles down the highway we turned onto this dirt road which took us past the lighthouse and to a place where there were already a big group of dune buggies parked on the side of the road.  To the right you could see what looked like a lookout tower of some kind.  Our guide took us down the road a couple of hundred feet and to a small Mayan ruin on the left side of the road.  He told us what the ruin would have been used for back in the day and blew on a conch shell for us.  

Our dune buggy pre-rain.

The guide "Willie" blowing on a conch shell in front of the Mayan ruin.

After the conch shell demonstration Willie took us to the other side of the road to look at the crocodiles.  Now keep in mind that about 30 yards behind Willie's back in this picture is the Caribbean Sea.  About 100 yards in front of Willie is a grassy, marshy area full of crocs living in the wild and eating whatever they want.

 Willie told us that the crocs in Cozumel migrated from Africa.  Don't ask me how, I don't know.  Maybe they hopped on board a boat at some point.  Anyway he said they first came to Cuba and then they made their way to Cozumel.  He said that they don't get as big as the ones in Africa simply due to the diet.  (There are no wildebeests for them to eat in Mexico, so they have to survive on scrawny deer and raccoons.)  So basically, you walk about 100 yards out on this boardwalk and suddenly you are standing over this water and there are crocs below you who look kinda hungry.  Willie got a big stick that was leaning against the boardwalk and splashed the water around some so that the crocs would come closer... because apparently somebody wanted them closer. So, anyway the picture to the left is the place and the picture below is a close up of one of the cute and cuddly little guys.  Adorable, huh?

I can only assume that the vulture below was waiting for me to fall in the water so that he could clean up the leftovers.  He was out of luck, I didn't fall a single time all day long....  Not the same could be said for some of the other days on this trip.  ADIOS VULTURE!!!!!

After looking at the crocs, we got back in the dune buggies and went further down the dirt road.  This time it was Jenny's turn to drive.  Right after we got back in the buggy, it started raining.  Let me tell you that an open top dune buggy, a white dirt road and rain do not mix well.  Anytime we hit a puddle, white mud splashed up on us and we were a mess before we got to our next stop where Willie had us park and get out.  He told us to bring all of our stuff.  It was still raining as we left the dune buggies.  We walked through the mangroves until we came to the beach where we were going to spend some time, snorkel, shop and have lunch.  It was a nice place.  Below are a few pictures of the rainy part of our drive.  Thank goodness for water cameras!

 On the beach there was a big pavilion that Willie had everyone grab tables in.  Then he told those of us who wanted to snorkel to grab our gear and follow him.  We all went down to the beach and snorkeled for 45 minutes or so.  As far as beach snorkeling in Cozumel goes, it wasn't bad.  The reef was not too far off shore and we saw plenty of fish.  The rain continued the entire time that we snorkeled.  But, what the hell, we were going to get wet anyway.  So, you may as well have a good time.  The only complaint was that the rain was kind of cold.  But we all survived.  There was a very loud and annoying woman along with her husband who were part of the snorkeling group.  It was her first snorkeling experience.  Prior to leaving the city, she and her husband held us up as they negotiated a price with Willie's partner for joining us.  Apparently, they had not booked this excursion on the ship, (if they were even on a ship).

Once we were on the beach and ready to start snorkeling we all had to wait again while Willie explained to her how to wear her snorkel gear and exactly how to snorkel.  As we stood on the beach in the cold rain and he explained it she complained that we were standing out in the rain rather than under the pavilion.  By this time, I had had enough of her and informed her that she was going to get wet anyway once we were in the water.  She probably didn't like me much after that.  But it was ok, because the feeling was mutual.

After snorkeling, we were supposed to eat lunch and if you wanted to buy any junk from the vendors in the pavilion, you could shop.  There were fresh water showers in case you wanted to rinse off and change clothes.  I just threw my cover up on once I started to dry a little.  The obnoxious woman and her husband, shopped while the rest of us ate.  The food wasn't very good, I would recommend waiting until you are back on board the ship unless they drastically improve the food in the future.  When Willie came back over and said it was time to go, the obnoxious woman decided it was shower time!!!!!  We all went out to the dune buggies as Willie had told us to do, while the obnoxious woman and her husband showered and changed.  It took Willie at least 20 minutes to finally get the two inconsiderate idiots to their vehicle.  We all dried our seats while we waited since they had filled up with rain water while we were enjoying the beach.

Next time you are on an excursion, listen to the guide and follow his instructions and don't make people wait on you, or you could become the subject of someone's blog and not in a flattering way.

After leaving the beach we headed back in the direction from which we had come stopping at the lighthouse.  I had seen the Cozumel lighthouse on occasion but always from a distance.  So it was nice to finally get to stop there.  We had the opportunity to climb to the top, but I didn't.  I did buy a black coral cross from someone who was selling trinkets there.  Then Jenny came and found me and said that down by the water, there were iguanas.  So, I followed her.

Iguana!

Terri and her friend Kerri on the beach.

Willie feeding a wild raccoon!

Following the stop at the lighthouse, we left and headed back to the pier.  It was a fun day overall in spite of the loud obnoxious woman and the rain.  In fact, the rain might have made it a little better just because it was sort of fun riding around in a dune buggy in the rain.

At the beginning of today's post, I said that I was going to try to cram Cozumel and Grand Cayman into this post.  Well, I wasn't able to do it.  So, tomorrow, you will get to read all about Grand Cayman and our time with the stingrays.  Have a great Wednesday!  Oh, by the way, the picture at the top of the blog is from snorkeling in Cozumel.