Ruins, Cenotes and Flamingos

Four days is the perfect amount of time for us on a road trip. For this amount of time, the kids can hold it together and we can pack in a mountain of activity. However, to make things just a little more complicated, I had to drink too much on the lobster/booze cruise the night before our departure and caught some kind of flu. So, as we cruised down the Cuota (toll road) toward Merida, I could feel a fever coming on. The first night in Merida we caught the Easter celebrations in the main square. They close the roads to traffic on Sundays, so it was peaceful and pleasant. The next morning, despite that I wrestled with a fever all night, we explored a Mayan ruin south of town called Uxmal. This ruin was particularly scenic because its structures are built on hills, making for some amazing vistas. After about of hour of ruin exploring, I was ruined and Ilana drove us home. But, that afternoon, we made it to the art museum in the main square to catch a modert art exhibit that the kids really enjoyed.

The next day, we drove deep into the heart of rural Yucatan to find Don Victor's hacienda where we went on a horse drawn railroad car from underground cavern (cenote) to cavern on a swimming extravaganza. (This is one of my favorite things about the Yucatan!) It's like spelunking, while swimming. And, best of all, the water is clean, cold, and full of fish.

From there, we journeyed across the Peninsula to the North coast. The next morning we took a 4 hour flamingo tour that was amazing. We had a close encounter with two giant crocodiles and saw a myriad of birds including flamingos, blue and tri-colored herons, ibises, ospreys, hawks, roseated spoonbills, white pelicans, egrets, cormarants. In addition, we floated on top of some super salty water and took mud baths.

That afternoon, we high-tailed it back to Cancun, where our condo awaits, the weather is always warm, friends are around, the food is expensive, the beaches are large, and the bikinis are tiny.

To Belize and Back

Well . . . the kids visas had expired . . . and apparently the school didn't think it there responsibility to put the kids on my work visa (Ilana never got one!), so we were left with the dilemma of what to do. We decided to not wait until our final departure at an airport to see if the Mexican officials will notice the overstay. So, we headed to Belize-- 6 hours on a bus to Chetumal, another hour to the border. And, surprisingly, we pass out of Mexico with no problems. Then, we enter Belize with no problem. So far, so good. We then walk around a fence and go through the Belize customs for exiting their fine country. This is where it starts getting ugly. We were extorted a rather large sum by the Belize official who noticed the time between Mexico stamps in the kids' passports. We had very little choice but to pay it. Then, we walked across the free zone and to the Mexican border to pass through the Mexican immigration. They also noticed the error, only we had already left Mexico and now had Belize stamps in our passports. The official raged at me and I feigned complete ignorance of Spanish. Finally, the angry bureaucrat stamped our paperwork and waved us through. It was exhausting, scary, grueling, expensive, and completely avoidable.

We tried to make the best of things by exploring the 7 colored lagoon in Balancar and by swimming in the famed Cenote Azul. But, in then end we still had to spend another 6 hours on a bus which broke down and a became a 9 hour oddysey to get back to Cancun.

Turning 40 and Beyond

Well, my 40th birthday came and went. Luckily I knew myself well enough (after 40 years) to ask for a party that was my style. We were on one of the most beautiful beaches in Cancun, it was a Sunday afternoon so families could come, and we only invited a small circle of interesting people. There was plenty of alcohol and snack foods and the party didn't go on forever. This was my kind of event. My favorite part was the visit of Mendel, the rabbi from Chabad Cancun, an his family. He has an amazing sense of spirituality, which immediately affected the tenor of the party. Also, we brought the school's guitar and discovered that Eduardo, our neighbor, is a brilliant classical guitarist.

My sense of being forty is the following: In your 30's, life is a wild adventure ride, like a rollercoaster. But, in your 40's you discover it isn't a rollercoaster at all, it's actually some kind of ATV that you are on and you are sitting behind the wheel. It's my decisions that will shape what happens in the next 40 years of my life. That's a powerful idea.

Winter Break: Exploring the Ancient Mayan World

Our first discovery during our Winter break was the dollar beers and dollar fish tacos on Isla Mujeres. But from there, we explored more ancient venues. We traveled to Coba with Tammy where we ascended a Mayan pyramid that is steeper and taller than Chichen Itza. Going up was easy, but coming down was a bit nerve-racking. The kids did well, though, and despite my belief that we take no risks with our kids, I heard an American commenting as we were leaving the vicinity of the pyramid, "Can you believe parents let their kids climb that thing!"

Then, we departed on our Mayan ruins odyssey. Our first stop was Chichen Itza. We stayed in a small, peaceful village about a kilometer from the park. We journeyed into the center of the . . . Grutas Balanchen where we saw bats, stalagmites, stalagtites, and ancient pottery. We caught the sound and light show our first night without the translator headphones. Then, the next day, we entered the park as it was opening at 8 a.m. and had virtually the whole park to ourselves. It was fabulous. But, we failed to employ a guide and that was a mistake, in retrospect. So despite having our guidebook, we really had no idea what we were looking at.

That afternoon, we explored our first cenote of our Yucatan journey. It was crowded, pricey and not very clear, but still a thrill to jump into cold water inside a cave. On our second night, we went back to the sound and light show to hear the words in English. It was better this time, but still not all that impressive.

From Chichen Itza, we traveled toward Merida, stopping in Izamal for another pyramid climb before the big city. But, when we got to Merida, our reservations were not honored. Yes, he remembered taking them and he remembered promising to hold the room until we arrived between 2 and 5. But, at 2:30 he must have had a better offer, because he gave the room away. We ended up at a more expensive, smaller, noisier place down the street. Urrrgggghhh. That afternoon we played at the Merida zoo. There they have an amazing accumulation of animals in a horribly small space. The hippos, giraffes, lions, tigers and bears have hardly any room to move about. That night we tried our best to enjoy the famous plazas of Merida, but the traffic, pollution, and crowds didn't make it easy.

So, we hightailed it out of Merida, for a last night in Ek Balam, another Mayan ruin. We lunched in Valladolid and had a wonderful swim in the cenote there. Then, after finding a pretentious retreat in the middle of nowhere, we explored the ruins. Very cool sunset amongst the Mayan structures. Afterwards, we went back to our retreat for a fabulous (though pricey) dinner and an interesting night. Ilana had a spider about the size of a softball a few inches from her head. I had to chase the spider out of our hut. Needless to say, Ilana hardly slept. Then, the next morning, after my cold shower, I heard Ilana shouting for help from her shower. She'd been stung by something and her wound developed into a giant festering pus filled lesion (mosquito or wasp bite). All this and the owner charged us an arm and a leg for our stay there. But, we explored the ruins again in the morning, this time climbing to the top of the Ek Balam pyramid, and then we went to the adjoinging cenote. It was pricey but quite clean and very empty. Ilana even did a zip line across the cenote and enjoyed it fiercely.

In the end, we were eager to get back to our beds, our buzzing refrigerator, and the beaches of Cancun.

Thanksgiving with the Vasiliks

Thanksgiving was enjoyed with the Vasiliks. First, we had a feast at school in which I saved my calories for the amazing carmel coated apple pie created at Costco. Then, the next night, we had the Vasiliks over for a Thankgiving chicken mole. Nothing says Thanksgiving more than the Mayan cooking of a traditional Mexican dish.

The Grandparent's Visit

In October, for the kids' birthday, Granny Becky, Grandma Evey and Papu Al came to Cancun. There were trips to Isla Mujeres, a day on the bay at Akumal, seafood paella, and lots of playing in the pool.

Dolphin Encounters

I never thought I would spend so much time in the water with a large mammal that can balance me on its nose. But, fortune would have it that the father of Benji's best friend in school is a corporate V.P. for the company that runs Dolphin Encounters.

Our first adventure took place in Puerto Adventurus. We climbed into the dolphin pool and took turns streaking thorugh the water with the help of the well-trained dolphins.

After we had our fill, we then had a spiritual experience with the manatees. They are gigantic and ginger beasts that only care about chewing lettuce. We swam around them and stroked them and generally marvelled at how gentle they were.

Our next dolphin adventure was on Isla Mujeres. First, though, I must digress into a description of the amazing lunch we had prior to our dolphin experience. After playing on Playa Norte for an hour, we jumped on a bus and traveled down the island to a restaurant reknown for its traditional wood fired, smoky Yucatan fish. It was amazing!

Then, a short taxi ride and we were at the gorgeous Isla Dolphin Adventure site. After playing in the pools, we got a tour of the animals. There were rays and sharks and acrobatic dolphins leaping 25 feet into the air. We got up close and person with a pair of dolphins and fed them while they practiced their tricks. We touched their tongues, felt their teeth, stroked their bellies, kissed them. (Sounds like some kind of teenage first date.)

Jordan, Holley and Mike are now in Napa and we miss them. They are wonderful biologists, storytellers, and generous friends.