Mexico, Where Ambition Goes to Die

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April 8, 2024

It’s true. A person we met at our second marina in Isla Mujeras mentioned this to us. It IS just hard to get motivated. I’m having trouble doing this post, or anything else. But I want to…..

Apri1 13, 2024

You see? It is hard to get things done. I started this post after we moved down the coast from Isla Mujeras to Puerto Morelos. Our friend Leesa from Santa Fe joined us and we had planned to go north and west on Yucatan to Holbox and Rio Legartos before heading south. But, the weather was not looking good for the outbound and definitely not for the return trip by water, so we decided to head south. This would make an easier path for Leesa to fly out and for us to not get stuck north. There were also not very protected anchorages and definitely not any marinas. Glad we did!

Down to Puerto Morelos

The trip down was not very long, but father rocky. We knew we’d have beam seas most of the way and we did. Most of it was not too bad except for the occasional beam wave that was quite large. Wham, bam, of course we broke another glass and all the dishes in the cabinet slid all the way to the starboard side. Never had all the dishes slide that far before.

Lots of 30 – 40 foot fishing charters, 2 big sailing cats for “catamaran-ing” to the reefs and a few “visitors like us. We had a couple very stormy days, so we were glad to be behind the one giant “visitor cat” on the outside dock. You can see his bridge, sails and mast in the background.

We made it into our new home and safely to our slip. Side bar: Always pump out at sea when you can. The marina told us they had a pumpout, but not really. Thus, our partially full tank from Isla is now fuller and we have a pretty long walk to the bathroom. Our poop tank is still sitting on medium and hoping it will hold us for a few more days.

The primitive Puerto Morelos pumpout. Just a hose stuck in to pump out. Turns out it DID do a pretty good pump, but we did not know until when we left.

But, we have a full tank of fresh water as Jim solved our making water issue, so that is nice!

Being in Puerto Morelos

We didn’t really know what we’d do here as it is an all inclusive resort with a marina. We can use the pool and walk around, but can’t buy a drink at the bar without buying a day pass. Luckily, the town is not too far and we rented a car to make seeing things easier. We’ve been busy. I guess we got some ambition back.

April 19, 2024

Well, so much for writing ambition…

Food

We’ve enjoyed the food in Puerto Morelos. There is one very good restaurant we’ve been to twice (Punta Corcho) as well as his other restaurant in town Muelle Once.

These chocolate clams were sooooo good we ordered them the second time we ate there.
A lobster aguachile. An aguachile is basically a ceviche but with some level of chile kick. This one was oh so good!
This dish of fish wrapped in a hot pepper leaf with potatoes and onions and a mild chile sauce was truly wonderful!

We’ve also had good ceviche, and lots of tacos; shrimp, fish, arrachera and cochinita pibil..

Ruins

We spent a day and visited Tulum and then headed over to Coba. Jim and I had not visited these on our 6 week stay in Mérida back in 2016 so wanted to make sure we got them this trip.

We hired a private guide at Tulum. Well worth the money. He presented a very useful and complete view of the ruin and painted it into a picture of the location, culture and the wider civilization in the area. He did a very good job of tying it into other cultures and how we are all just one big world family
I think we are getting used to the water always being so clear and blue. But one has to have a picture of Tulum ruins and the water. It is a breathtaking location.
We drove over to Coba which is further inland. A small ball court. The winner of the match, as a testament to his strength and skill let blood from his penis. Ouch! Maybe being the loser would be better…
Coba has the 2nd highest pyramid in Yucatan. And, one can climb this one. We rode rental bikes to it and were almost ready to climb when the skies let loose. We did not climb it.
We waited for the rain to stop but the locals said it would not. Correct, it rained for about 45 minutes HARD. We got very wet on our ride back to the car.

Cenotes

All of Yucutan is a giant limestone deposit full of caves and under earth streams. No surface rivers here. Cenotes are basically swimming holes, some open to the surface, others underground. The water is cool, very clear and have fish! We visited a couple of them

Jim and I have visited several cenotes in the past, but not one that goes underground. There are multiple here that are connected by underground tunnels. Nope, I don’t want to dive under water to get from one to another, but these did not require that. This was Leesa’s first cenote.
The sunlight was so pretty in the clear waters. Chalecos (life vests) mandatory.
One of the openings into another cenote. The water is so clear you can see the stalactites down into the water.

It turns out Cenotes, which are often outside of towns (at least the ones for swimming) are great birding spots. So, we’d tend to swim a bit and then bird.

Ok, this little Common Tody-Flycatcher was not at a cenote but rather at the resort attached to our marina in Puerto Morelos. We came back several times before I could get a good enough picture to ID him. He is very small and very fast. Such a cute guy!
Toucans are one of those birds one never tires of. There were actually a pair Keel-billed Toucans that kept coming around. Love them!
The Turquoise-browed Motmot is one of our favorite birds. He flicks his tail around and is nice enough to sit there for us to get a good view.
Although not the best picture (taken through the windshield), I have to include the Black-headed Trogan. Another one of those birds that are just so very cool to see. They can be quite secretive so it is wonderful to see one along the road heading out of the Popol Vuh Cenote.

Valladolid

We had visited here in 2016 but it is a nice colonial town and this would be Leesa’s opportunity to get a different taste of Yucutan. There is also a wonderful home there Casa de los Venados (House of the Deer). It is a private home owned by a couple who have been collecting Mexican folk art since the early 60’s. It is their home but they have opened it for others to see. A celebration of Mexican arts.

Some spots were simply decorated. A cat on the stair.
Now isn’t that a fun bathroom? Jim and I own multiple alebrije’s (wooden carved figures from Oaxaca) but did not know about the shapeshifter connection in alebrijes. It is a theme in Indian culture in New Mexico and it makes sense it would also be part of Mexican or Mayan folklore.
The collection had lots of references to mermaids for some reason, but also the Esmeralda from Mexican folklore
We also made a quick visit to the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena, an early location for conversions of Mayan peoples to Catholicism.

Back to Isla Mujeras for a Moment

I do have to back up for a moment.

Semana Santa

Jim and I have experienced Semana Santa in Guatemala which is an incredible event with carpets made of flowers and foods and multiple processions every day for a week. It is not quite as elaborate in Isla Mujeras, but the believers are just as devoute.

Jesus has just been charged with his crimes. They will now walk though the streets, stopping at the 12 stations of the cross, ending up at another church.
Jesus is hung on the cross.

Feeding the Fish

After Leesa arrived in Isla, we had to show her around. Most of the same pretty and interesting spots we’d visited with George and Frances. But, we did encounter fish pedicures. I would have never done it, but Leesa is very convincing. My feet have never been so smooth and soft. And the guy gave us some great tips on visiting Rio Legartos (which of course we did not end up doing.)

Leesa and I watch our little fish go to work. They are all imported from Thailand. The owner says it takes him a few weeks to “train” the fish to do their job.
Now don’t get grossed out. It sort of tickled, but was really fun. Took about 20 minutes to get us all cleaned up.

Heading Farther South

Jim and I have hemmed and hawed in our planning for moving further south. Playing around Puerto Morelos and Yucatan with Leesa was more fun. We basically have known what we needed to do but have struggled as charts are not as good, we’re still fighting the Gulf Stream down the coast, the trades create roll in the boat, Belize is a pain and full of graft to enter, etc. After Leesa left, we finally got our act together and so today we are moving south to Puerto Aventuras. A short day but we are beginning to learn how much wave and roll we can comfortably tolerate. An occasional 10 degree roll is OK, but keeping it to 4 – 6 is much better.

The waves in the distance? That is the reef. There are some cuts through the reef but I don’t know if they are natural or man-made, to get to the shore side where all the pangas are.

There is a reef along the coast that runs basically from Cancun all the way to Guatemala. The 2nd longest reef in the world. One needs to be outside the reef, but close enough to stay out of the Gulf Stream which is 2 – 4 knots of current against us. One then needs to find the cuts in the reef to get to towns, marinas or anchorages. Check, 1st marina at Puerto Morelos. Today we do the 2nd one into Puerto Aventuras. We are hoping the winds stay down as southeast winds of 17 knots or more create rage conditions entering the breakwaters. And, to top it off, there are reefs outside the breakwater and yesterday a sailboat did not go far enough out and got stuck on the reef. Hoping to avoid both situations.

We ran from Puerto Morelos to Puerto Aventuras about 400 yards off the shore in 45 – 60 feet of water. This kept us out of the reef and for the most part out of the Gulf Stream. More than about 400 yards out and we’d drop into 200 – 500 feet of water and get two knots of current against us. Stay close and the waves were also not bad. Isn’t that pretty water for 60 feet deep?

The Kittens

Before leaving Isla Mujeras we visited a vet to get travel documents for the kittens to get them into Belize. A pretty basic vet, but very devoted to spay and neuter programs for cats. We got the docs but in retrospect, we were way too early. So we went back and he gave us a new set with a later date. The docs had to be within 14 days of entering Belize. Wait, it will still be more than 14 days before entering Belize.

The kitten “enclosure” at the vet in Isla Mujeras

We found a very good vet in Puerto Morelos to get the 3rd set of documents. But, before we do that, Nikki get sick. Quite sick. Throwing up and diarrhea for several days and she became dehydrated. We were very worried. Turns out she had a bacterial infection. Dirty cat plates??? 8 days of antibiotics and she is healthy. Oh, Chicha seems to have a very mild case. So, she is now on her antibiotic regiment. She seems fine though. We have the kittens new traveling papers but are not positive they will fit our 14 day window. See, it is HARD to move quickly here!

Sorry Nik, showing your pic when you were not feeling well.

Puerto Aventuras

We are now in our new marina in Puerto Aventuras. Possibly our last until we get to Guatemala. We’ll see. A bit of a tricky ride into the cut, but we made it. Besides it being narrow, there were 2 big catamarans one coming in, the other going out and a fishing boat. And slightly rough seas. This entrance is known for issues and we knew a boat had gotten caught in the reef two days earlier. But, we made it.

The cut into our marina in Puerto Aventuras. Not nearly as calm today. Luckily we have 3 boats ahead of us now to shelter from the wind and waves. Looking out, the reef starts right at the end of the breakwater on the right. 4 boats have been caught in the reef in the last year, including the one two days ago of a guy we met in Puerto Morelos. They pulled the boat off last evening and amazingly, it did not get any holes in the bottom.

Now to regroup for the next leg south.

I have to include a few other pictures to wrap up…

The inside of the women’s bathroom at the Popol Vuh Cenote. The men’s had a similar image with roles reversed although not quite as graphic.
Typical Mayan Riviera dress. Jim and I still need to upgrade our wardrobe.
One needs to close with iguanas. They are pretty much everywhere. Some are timid, others, not so much.