Don't let this be the end

First off, I must throw out a huge thanks to my mom for snapping this picture of Olivia's fang:

Don't worry, she is growing the other three top teeth, all at the same time, so this vampire threat will be short lived.

July 1st, 2010: Ah, the last day of our Mexico trip, and what a day we had planned. We had a ten o’clock reservation with Budget for a car. Our last day would consist of driving inland a few hours to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World: Chichen Itza. These are more Mayan ruins, some of the largest in Mexico, and some of the most well preserved. Tulum was going to look like an anthill in comparison. As I said, we had a reservation, but that mung bean never showed up. Liz and I arrived just before ten and waited around an hour; no luck. On the other hand, the office was on the beach in Playa del Carmen and, even better, right by the dock for the ferry going to and from Cozumel. Liz had wanted to snorkel so badly this trip. It seemed like the more we waited for our rental car guy, the more Liz got excited about going snorkeling at Cozumel. So, we went to Cozumel.





Our first order of business was to rent a scooter. The island was small enough that we could cruise around on our own and not get lost. We zipped around the coast until we found the first of the couple recommended beaches for snorkeling. After some light snacks (cookies and crackers; this was our lunch) we headed into the water.



I’ll admit, I was a little wary of the enjoyability of snorkeling. Let me kill that for everyone: snorkeling is a fun activity. It is a great activity. It was the best thing we did on this trip. Go snorkel.







Anyway, Liz and I hit a couple beaches, some with clubs on them, others just as stretches of beach with a place to park our scooter. In each spot we saw different things, so moving from one place to another was more than just having a fun ride together, but also a way to see more fish. We saw (pardon the lack of proper names) yellow, purple, gray, brown, and fluorescent fish. We saw a few stingrays, some huge urchins, and eel, and one of those fish that lies on the bottom of the sea and blends in with the scenery (like in “Finding Nemo”). I saw this particular fish twice, but every time I tried to show it to Liz, I had lost it again.

Hitting some potholes.

A flatfish that Liz never ended up seeing. Here are some more things we saw:

Taking a break and doing some reading.

In one spot, we made a friend. I heard Liz laughing from time to time (laughing through a snorkel also sounding like screaming) and found that there was a little fish that kept swimming around me. This fish would hang out by my armpits, but when I swam the fish would jump down to my nethers, and when I would kick the fish would cruise up and hang out under my chin. It was funny when the fish did it to me, but when it switched to Liz, well, she was less than enthusiastic. She kept squealing whenever the fish did a switch from one side of Liz’s head to the next, passing right in front of her goggles. Because this fish hung around us so much, we dubbed it Olivia, regardless of its gender.

Meet Olivia!

We finished snorkeling around six-thirty and headed back in to town.

We found a little restaurant, Café Denis, and ate a simple meal, then waited an hour or so for the last ferry back to the mainland. We both read a bit, but then Liz got restless and took some pictures of the island. After the ferry ride back, we spent our last forty pesos on a colectivo to the resort. As we walked from the front gate to our room, we soaked in the sights and smells of our last Mexican night. It had been a full trip, and we loved that the best day had been the last. And we owe it all to Budget. Thanks for sucking! We wouldn’t have snorkeled without it.

More pictures:

Goodbye, Mexico.