OLA!!

Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Darin and I have just returned from our honeymoon in Mexico, what an amazing place! Below is an account of our trip, as well as some pictures.

Until I figure out how to set up another page for pictures, all of our photos may be viewed at snapfish.com - just copy and paste the web-address listed in the aqua box above.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

We began our honeymoon on Oct. 12th/04, leaving from Philadelphia to Cancun. We had arranged for a driver to meet us at the airport which made things really easy as you are bombarded by drivers as soon as you exit the airport. Alex was great, had a sign with our name on it, and drove us to the Mosquito Blue hotel in Playa del Carmen, about 45 min. away from Cancun.

Darin had been to Playa about 12 years ago when it was just starting to become a tourist destination, it had grown a lot in the last decade and is the fastest growing Latin American city in the world. The tourist strip is 5th Ave and the side streets that connect to it. The road is pedestrian only and made of red connecting bricks, with Mexican stores mixed in with American stores like Diesel and Rolex. Playa del Carmen has a European flare to it and apparently most of the shops, hotels, and restaurants are owned by Europeans. For that reason the dining on the main strip is Italian, Swiss, French, and some Mexican, but the best food is found out in the "real" Playa del Carmen.

Our first full day in Playa we went to the ancient Mayan city of Tulum. There are vans that leave Playa regularly and cost $2.50 each, not bad at all. Tulum was once populated with 1 million Mayan people and is the only Mayan city on the ocean. We learned that it was very segregated with the rich/religious people living inside a gated community which now make up the ruins. The "locals" would venture inside the wall to leave offerings to the gods, collected by the religious leaders. It is through this small gate that people now enter to visit and explore. The area is on top of rocky cliffs, but for one area that was where the boats came in to port, now used by tourists to swim and sunbathe.

Tulum
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

The Mayan ruins in Tulum. The only Mayan settlement that is on the ocean. At its peak there were 1 million people who lived here, most of which were not allowed into this area which was reserved for religious leaders. During the equinox the sun aligns perfectly with man made holes in this ancient building.

We spent the rest of our time in Playa del Carmen hanging out on the beach, swimming, playing frisbee, and exploring the areas off the beaten path. We stopped in to one local Taco stand for a snack and we still aren't sure what we ate. We don't speak Spanish and the owner didn't speak English, but the meat was unlike anything we'd eaten before, rather grissely, got stuck in my teeth, and I think it just may be dog ... tasted OK. There are dogs that run wild in Playa, and I have never seen dogs as happy as the ones in this city; like Darin said, the scenery is beautiful, the weather is perfect, you make friends with tourists who feed you, you get to do what you want wouldn't you be happy?

On our third day in Playa, we had gone for breakfast and were making our way back to the hotel via the beach when Darin decided to wait for me on the beach while I went to get changed and get sunscreen. Our hotel was a few blocks away from the beach, a very beautiful hotel with a great pool and waterfall, and when I got back to the beach about 30 min later Darin was surrounded by topless, hot, European, female sunbathers! I mean I know Darin is a hotty, but the fact that a handful of women chose to spread their towels beside him while the tanned, well, he thought he was king, thought he'd won the jackpot!

After a few days in Playa del Carmen we ventured over to Isla Mujeres. Our trusty driver picked us up at 2 pm with his 11 year old son, and we have never seen a more beautiful child! Arturo helped me learn some Spanish and I taught him some English, we had a great time. We had to catch the ferry in Cancun to take us over to Isla Mujeres and Alex drove us through the tourist strip of the city ... I felt like I was in an American city. All the stores were first world stores, the hotels were huge, the all inclusive kinds, and I was glad that we had chosen not to stay there; I like to be around locals, a place that is different than what I know.

Our favourite Taqueria
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Our favourite Taqueria - not the one with the mystery meat. Most of our meals in Mexico were under $10, including 2 to 4 Margaritas or beer.

ISLA MUJERES

Darin and I fell in love with Isla Mujeres, a 20 min. ferry ride from Cancun. It was the perfect match for what we both wanted for our honeymoon - Darin wanted a beach, I wanted to do more than suntan and to see how other cultures live. There were more American tourists on the island than in Playa, and the local Mexican people, dogs, and cats all hung out together. We checked in to Hotel Secreto, were greeted with Mamosas and friendly staff, and shown to our room. Darin had arranged for a beautiful bouquet of flowers for our room and a bottle of champagne, it was a perfect.

Originally uploaded by petrinat.

The bouquet of flowers that Darin had arranged to be in our room at Hotel Secreto on Isla Mujeres - they were absolutely stunning!

Isla Mujeres is less than 10 km long and less than 1 km wide, but there are roads, taxis, and a bus or two. Most locals commute on scooters, the whole family on one scooter, it's insane. Darin and I rented a scooter one day and a golf cart, the preferred means of transportation for tourists, on another day. With wheels we were able to explore more of the island. Our hotel was on the north end, near the "downtown" part with all the restaurants and shops, but we ventured to the south end where the residential area is, as well as the Turtle farm and Dolphin Discovery. The homes on Isla Mujeres are basically shacks, I'd say no more than 500 square foot rooms, all in a row. We took a peak into one as we drove by and it looks like they are just one room with the kitchen and living space, and for sleeping they hook up hammocks, very different than our multi-roomed houses where each room has one purpose!

The turtle farm would be a neat place to visit when the turtles come on to the beach to lay their eggs. The farm is now a protected park, preventing people from taking the eggs and harming the turtles. They do have some captive turtles to view, and some of the suckers are huge, a few hundred pounds! Although the turtles were neat to see, we got more of a kick out of watching the pelicans dive for food. The birds basically dive beak first at full speed into the water, looks like a suicide dive, and collect fish that they then swallow. The sea gulls hand around too, as when the pelican comes up from a dive there are fish hanging out of it's beak that the gull tries to steal - loads of fun to watch!

When I had hear that you could swim with the dolphins and it wasn't an insane amount of money, I had to sign up for the experience. I had done research about he company to ensure that money raised from tourists did go back into research to help wild dolphins, and that the 20 captive dolphins they had were well taken care of. Basically you are in a group no larger than 8, we had 6, and usually there are 2 dolphins that play with you, we were lucky to have 4. Play time is in the dolphin pin which is a large netted area of the ocean, so even though the dolphins are captive, they live in their natural habitat. The experience was incredible! You start by hugging and kissing the dolphins, then you swim out into the pen and lay on your stomach (everyone wears a lifejacket) with your knees locked. Two dolphins then swim up and in perfect synchronicity push your feet so you move forward and almost stand up, it's incredible. Everyone also gets to hold a pole for the dolphins to jump over and you get to do a dolphin pull where 2 dolphins swim beside you and let you hold their dorsal fins as they pull you along. The session ends with free time where the dolphins swim around you and let you pet them, it was so awesome - I want to go back and do it again! They have people taking still photos and a video of the session which they show you afterwards and sell, it's pretty cool to see the video of you swimming with these amazing animals. Luckily Darin was watching and taking pictures.

Swimming with the Dolphins
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Swimming with the Dolphins
This was the beginning of the dolphin pull,
so AWESOME!!

There was a lot more to do on the island that I had thought, but in all honesty, after swimming with the dolphins I really didn't care what else we did ... the high from that experience carried me for days. A trip to this part of the world wouldn't be complete without going snorkeling. We were enjoying a drink at the "2 for 1" Margarita place one night, mainly known for it's tequila, when we met a New Zealander named Mat who informed us that the area has some of the best snorkeling in the world. He also informed us that it is tradition on Isla Mujeres, the Island of the Women, once home to an infamous pirate who was involved in slave trading and died of heartbreak, that one must do a Scorpion Tequila shot. Since my stomach was a bit upset from consuming alcohol I had to promise, and shake on it, that I would do a Scorpion Tequila the next night. So I sat watching as drunk Darin and Mat ate Scorpions. The way they work is the shot glass arrives with a Scorpion in it, then the bartender fills the glass with Tequila. You drink the Tequila until the tail of the Scorpion pokes out, grab the Scorpion, eat it, and down it with the rest of the shot. When I did mine the day after Darin, I was sober and gutsy, put the thing in my mouth, bit into it and this mushy center popped out, which made me jump! The bug is pretty chewy and once I realized I wasn't making any progress by biting into it, I just swallowed it whole, the remaining Tequila came in handy to down the sucker!

Scorpion Tequila - the beginning

Scorpion Tequila
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Scorpion's going in!

Scorpion's going in!
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Scorpion exploding in mouth

Scorpion exploding in mouth
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Darin and I made it out snorkeling twice. We booked a boat with 2 guides and the first time out went to the south end of Isla Mujeres. It was really cool, all kinds of fish and corral. Because we were in a national park we had to wear life jackets so we couldn't dive down and touch anything that would disturb the natural habitat. The fish were all kinds of different colours, bright blues and purples, grey, and my favourite, yellow and black striped. At one point our guide called us over and released food in front of our faces. Hundreds of these yellow and black fish swarmed around us, you could feel them brush up on you as they came for the food, it was really cool!!

The next day we went with the same guide and a different helper to Isla Contoy, a wild bird sanctuary. We fished along the way to catch our lunch and Darin was able to reel in a barricuda, the only catch of the day. We also snorkeled on our way out to island and saw parrot fish, blow fish, which all seemed to look right into my eyes and say, "how you doin?". Darin even dove down to get a better look at a lobster.

Isla Contoy is a national park that is small and has no inhabitants, though you are allowed to camp on it, but be aware of the mosquitos! The island is known for it's birds that stop for a break during migration. Although there weren't any groups of Flamingos, like I was hoping for, we did see 2 of them fly overhead. The island also plays home to lizards, hermit crabs, and fish, including a Stingray that showed up for lunch and some attention, allowing us all to pet it, very cool! Unfortunately this was our last full day in Mexico, and my bum got burnt from sticking out of the water while snorkeling, ouch.

We had such a great trip, temperatures in the 100s (30s in Celsius), only one day of rain, people to watch, but not so many that it felt crowded, great food, great drink, great company, and a piece of paradise ... we can't wait to go back!!

Isla Contoy
Originally uploaded by petrinat.

Isla Contoy is about a 30 min boat ride from Isla Mujeres. It is a national park known for the birds that stop in for a break during their migration. It is absolutely stunning!