Every trip comes to an end…
I’m not going to post much tonight. I’m tired and kind of blue about heading back north of the border…not to mention having my camera die. Some people think it may come back if I put it in rice, so I will give it a try.
I will post more when I get back and get my pictures organized . I have pros and cons about the places I have stayed and will post those when I collect my thoughts. Living through Hurricane Ernesto wasn’t that bad. I fell asleep at about 10:30 when I learned that none of my neighbors were going to evacuate. I woke up at about 3:45 to the same sounds of rain and wind that I fell asleep to. The electricity and internet were working, however, so I just went back to sleep. Today was still extremely windy…so much so that you really couldn’t do anything on the beach. A few people went swimming, but there were no boats or snorkelers. When I went out to the beach this morning, I expected a big mess but it really wasn’t that bad. Mostly seaweed and some plastic trash like bottles, etc. My neighbors told me that the winds only got to about 35 kilometers per hour, so that wasn’t much…although to me as a newbie to hurricanes, it was pretty noisy. My thinking was that if they weren’t going to worry…I wasn’t going to worry.
All in all, it was a good trip. I definitely would have done some things differently and I will explain those in the next few days. I will end this on a shot I got of the beach south of Akumal Bay before my camera died. This beach is amazing and clean and blue…and reminds me of Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres.
Do you think these logs just really appear on the beach?? Or does someone put them there? Either way…I wonder how long this log has been floating in the sea.
Ernesto is here…
Just a quick post tonight because I’m afraid the electricity and/or internet may go out depending on how strong Ernesto becomes. The day started out pretty gloomy…
It poured for awhile, then let up a bit, so I decided to bike into town so that I didn’t go stir crazy here in the condo. It’s a cute place, but I don’t want to spend every waking hour here while I’m on vacation.
My first stop in town is the little convenience store for these…
Because on my bike ride, my flip flop got caught on a damn topes. I lost the flip flop and the bike pedal came up and hit me in the shin. It’s like, “Really, Deb??? You can climb a mile up Coba (well, maybe not a whole mile, but it felt like it), and you get wounded on a freaking bicycle??” Tell me about it. At least I didn’t fall. That would have been one major embarrassment. But I did have to stop the bike and go back for the damn flip flop. Lovely, huh?
So, on the way back to the condo, it started pouring. And the weather has been pretty awful since then. The wind is the worst…it just won’t let up. It also rains…but not continuously. Sometimes it will just drizzle, sometimes it will pour and right now it’s not raining at all. I took a walk on the beach just a few minutes ago and the waves are fierce. A couple may seem pretty tame, and then all of a sudden a big one will come and just about knock you off your feet. I took this picture this morning when it was raining…
This is from the window of my dining area where I do all my blog work. As you can see from the blurry photo, the wind and water are working up a storm. When I took a walk out there a little while ago, some of the waves were getting up to that middle palm. The condos right on the beach have their hurricane shutters up. I don’t have any hurricane shutters! I look out on that churning sea and I can see how powerful it is. I don’t think we have anything to worry about here, but it definitely is a reality check when it comes to Mother Nature.
On a final sad note, there was one fatality from Ernesto. While biking back from town, the downpour effected my camera and it’s pretty much gone. I’m very sad. That camera has accompanied me on many trips to Mexico and I’m sorry to see it go. I didn’t bring another camera, so I won’t be taking anymore pictures during my stay. Luckily, I saved all my previous pictures on a flash drive, so I will still be able to do posts on Tulum and the cenotes. Right now, I’m kind of in mourning. Goodbye, G12…you’ve been a good traveling buddy.
The cycle of life…
I didn’t do much of anything today. I did rent a bicycle from the condo office, though. Quite a sweet ride, wouldn’t you say? Especially the basket…I love the basket. Much easier to bring home trinkets from the souvenir shops. Although I have to say that after climbing Coba…and now the bicycle…my legs have had quite a workout this vacation. That’s not a bad thing, though.
So I drove into town, although I didn’t really take many pictures. Did a little shopping, ate a little lunch, came back and sat out on the beach for awhile. While I was sitting out there, I noticed these little areas in the sand surrounded by rocks and coral with little signs that looked like crosses.
While they may look like mini grave sites, they are, in fact, the opposite. I asked someone who was passing by and these little areas note the places where mama sea turtles have laid their eggs. This person also told me that some had surfaced just a short ways down the beach. Luckily, I had my camera, so off I went. I should have taken a picture of the group of people surrounding this little scene, but I was so intent on what was happening, I didn’t think of it. Apparently, the mother turtles come to the beach during the night and lay their eggs about a foot underneath the surface of the sand. (This is what one of the people who was in the group told me.) When the eggs hatch, the turtles slowly make their way to the surface. It is a very slow process and when a few turtles pop their heads through the sand, it can still be awhile before they come all the way out.
The woman who seemed to be the head of the group said that they would probably be popping out at about 7:00 p.m., so I made it a point to be there by then. Well, these baby turtles’ schedules weren’t exactly “on time,” and we anxiously waited about 45 minutes before they made their appearance. The few that had popped their heads through were motionless for almost the entire 45 minutes that I was there. Then the one that was on top started to move his flippers. That’s all it took and then what was probably about 50 or so baby turtles poured out of that hole and headed for the sea. It was pretty amazing.
For these little guys to come to life and know exactly what they’re supposed to do is a miracle. And I couldn’t believe how fast they moved!
And after about only a couple minutes, they were all gone. These little guys were only about four inches long. They can grow to over three feet and weigh about 400 pounds. I wish them well…they certainly made my day.
It’s raining now. I think Hurricane Ernesto is stopping by for a visit. I have my window open and I hear the sea crashing against the shore…and the rain. Two of my favorite sounds. Life is good.
Random Travel Musings 
