Beauty at the Beach

 One of the best things about Cozumel is, of course, the waterfront. It looks so different at different places and times.  These are some of my favourites from this year. 

1-The view from La Monina.  One of my favourite places to be late in the afternoon.

2-This massive yacht was anchored off the coast for about a week.  It had a helicopter and landing pad, garage doors on its side to park about 8 water craft like Sea Doos and a 20-30 foot motor boat. 

3-The ferry dock and a marina seen from downtown.

4) Some of the small fishing boats that the locals use. Turns out, most of the fish sold and eaten in Cozumel comes from Campeche, a city on the other side of the Yucatan peninsula. 

5&8) It's so nice to see locals and Mexican tourists enjoying their country. 

6-This ship wrecked sailboat has been off the Cozumel shore for several years.  Locals have been painting murals on it since the beginning.  It's much easier to do now, that the boat is in very shallow water close to shore. It was much further away when it first grounded.
7)  This vacant lot on the waterfront is a popular place for people to go watch the sunset.

Food in the Hood

It's been lots of fun to discover and enjoy some of the local food options in Cozumel. These are some of this years discoveries.

1) The fried fish at the mercado is always a treat. Especially the Philipino salsa that goes with it! 

2) Our pastry platter! There are so many bakeries in Cozumel.  The platter served as our personal pastry buffet :)

3) La Rosita Restaurante y Mariscos is still a favourite. It's only open on the weekends and the staff are high school students learning real world skills. Cool. Delicious garlic shrimp. Carb overload! 

4) This downtown taco place had all kinds of  juices on the menu.  Who knew our watermelon juice would come in a mini aquarium?! 

5) Toby really liked these jello cups.  Me, not so much.  Except they're pretty and fun looking. 

6) The sopes we had at this place in the mercado weren't crunchy like the ones at La Terraza de Mami (Feb 12, 2023).  So I didn't love them as much.  But these nice ladies made up for it.  It was easy to see they were tired. But their little food stand was well organized and tidy, and they made such an effort to be friendly.  It was touching.

7) This young man had just opened his pastry and coffee shop a week before we found it deep in the neighbourhood.  He was proud to tell us all about it. And continued his work as we ate. So pleasant! 

8) This fruit stand was a fun find. Located behind a municipal office building, it was clearly popular with locals and well priced.

9) This man "imports" coconuts from the Yucatan. Then turns them into coconut water that's sold all over town.  

A Day Trip to Belize!

I first heard of Belize when I was about 20 years old, after I took my scuba diving classes.  It was, and likely still is, a major diving destination.  I've been curious about it ever since. 

It was a crazy trip!  6 hours each way, including rides on a ferry, intercity buses,  taxis, some walking, a local bus, and a busted up collectivo taxi van.  

Our destination was Corozal.  A town about 15 km from the broder. Most tourists only stay there one night, on their way to somewhere else. Like most border towns, it probably doesn't fully represent Belize. It was small and a little run down. But I still enjoyed our visit, and I'm glad we went.

My favourite parts were the water front park which was pretty and about 1 km long.  Listening to the local patois. A mix of English, Spanish, Creole, and maybe even Chinese since there's a strong Chinese presence in Corozal.  And our breakfast! My ginger lemonade. What a way to wake up your mouth in the morning. And tasting fry jacks. A wheat flour dough that puffs open when it's fried in oil.  Yummy! 

Pictures

1,2,4,5) Scenes from around town

3) Our van back to the Mexican border

6)There were several hot sauces in the small store. Likely because there seem to be many Mexicans/ ex Mexicans living in Corozal.  But the labels were so kinda British.

7)Toby enjoying a Guinness at the Chinese restaurant where we had dinner. What a cultural mix!

8) My breakfast. Complete with ginger lemonade and fry jacks!

Vintage Green VW Beetle

I kinda always wanted to ride in a VW Beetle.  Especially a convertible Beetle. In Cozumel, I got my chance!

Toby was curious about the time share presentations. So we went to one. The motivation? A free rental car for a day. Turns out it was a Green VW Beetle. Convertible! Awesome! 

Until we got into it. Then it was still a lot of fun. But a little scary...

Toby drove.  Lucky he's experienced driving standard. Lucky too that our friend Dave, who joined us for the day, was familiar with the shift pattern in old Beetles.  Cause there were no markings to tell Toby where the various gears were. Nor did it have brake lights. Or a few other things. Mere details, right?! 

The goal was to drive around the island. To chill at a beach on the wild side. And another on the south end of the island.  Check and check.  

At the end of our day, while lounging on the south side beach, we had an unexpected extraordinary bonus adventure. Well, according to me...

We had been lying on our back a while. Under some trees. About 50 feet from a jungle.  When all of a sudden.  A local had a hunting type knife out, and was beside Toby yelling " serpente"!  Snake!  None of us saw it.  But Toby felt it on his neck!!!  

I might have thought cool! After I learned it probably wasn't dangerous.  But Toby grew up with deadly snakes in Sri Lanka.  To say he's not fond of them is a slight understatement!  I'm sorry he had that scare.  But what a story!

Pictures

1) Dave had to climb up and into the back seat. Lucky he's super strong and flexible!

2) The boys admiring the Beetles fine engineering! 

3) Proud vehicle co-pilots!

4) Me, enjoying the wind and the view in the back seat

5) Dave posing at a monument at Rastas Bar 

6) The boys posing on the wild side of the island

7) Toby looking confident in the drivers seat.

8) We stopped along the way to get BBQ for a picnic 

9) Relaxing on the beach near Playa Mia, just before the snake incident...

A Carnival Ride? Sure!

My reasons for doing it were good.  But the cost was pretty yucky! 

A midway came to town, about 2 weeks before Carnaval.  It's fun to walk through it.  There's all the usual colourful, noisy, yummy smelly stuff - games, food vendors, and of course, rides....

I get motion sickness pretty easily. In cars, buses, boats, and of course, midway rides.  So nope!!!!  I was definitely not considering getting on one!!  But then...

At a quiet end of the midway, we were watching a mother and her pre-teen daughter on the platform of a ride.  The mom really wanted to ride.  The daughter, not so much.  No one else was on the ride yet.  The mom makes eye contact with me.  Asks me to join her, instead of her daughter.  I said sure!!! In my best Spanish of course.

Why oh why???? Because I was under the influence of a mojito.  I wanted to support this fun lady. And be a good participant. 

The minute the ride started, I knew it was a horrible idea!  I tried with my eyes open . With my eyes closed. With my whole face pleading the ride guy to stop it!!  The minute the ride ended, I did a thing I thought was legend.  Was sick without letting it out...  Then I let it all out! In a patch of dirt beside the ride... It took about a day to fully recover.

Toby was a good sport.  He took pictures.  Laughed mostly with me.  Understood my good intentions.

Pictures

1) The ride...

2& 3) During Carnaval, some of the troops, give performances in various locations throughout the city.  I think people pay them, and it's a way to raise funds.  These were some.  It's amazing to watch them do this in the hot sun with it smiles on their faces.

4) There are 3 parades during carnaval.  Saturday ad Sunday night and on Tuesday evening, the day before lent.  Each parade can last up to 4-5 hours!  This is one of the more elaborate costumes we saw.

5) Each year, a series of Carnaval Kings and Queens are chosen.  This display in the Cozumel Museum, was possibly a previous years junior Kings costume.

6) A part of the fun is watching the "ordinary" people who attend the parades.  This includes the dude pushing the cart and the moose!

7) These dancers kept dancing, ad the ad kept playing eve as the truck pulled them away.  Kinda like the band that played on the Titanic! 

La Alberca Municipal

Thank you, Barbara, for showing me that I can use this wonderful swimming pool.

I've known for a while that there was/is a city run swimming pool in Cozumel.  I've even sat in the bleachers to rest and knit while my bicycle was being fixed, at a nearby repair shop.  

But I didn't think I could swim there. Unless I was a resident and agreed to give a poo sample and an unknown sum of money, to get a monthly pass.  Turns out, that's no longer the case.  I swam a few times with Barbara on a drop in basis. All I needed was a swim cap and 60 pesos (about $4.25 CDN).

Then I learned that I could get a monthly pass!  With my passport and 300 pesos (about $21 CDN).  This is for 2 swims per week, on Mondays and Wednesdays at 11 am.  Yep.  You have to choose the number of days per week you wanna swim, and they adjust the price accordingly.  You also have to choose the specific days and times.  Residents pay half these amounts.  I'm OK with that.  The average Mexican earns considerably less than the average Canadian.  

PS.....Yes, there's a wonderful ocean to swim in here.  But the pool is much more accessible, and less wavy.  I'm enjoying that for training type swims :)

Pictures

1&2) The pool has 8 lanes.  I think it's 25 meters long.  The saltwater is warm.  Delightful! I very much enjoy sitting in the stands after my swims.  To rest, snack, knit when I'm alone, and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere.  I especially like watching the little kids come for lessons around 1:30.  And watching a group of special needs (one blind young adult, a teenager with down syndrome I think, and a kid maybe with autism) young people take their lessons.  It warms my heart to think they have rewarding activities.

3) There are idoor washrooms for the pool, ut the showers ad hooks for clothes are outside.  Most people, who other to chage their clothes at the pool, do it outside.  Usually with a towel as a personal change space.

4) The pool is one component of a large sports facility with tennis courts, a soccer field, and baseball diamond)

5) Toby and me, looking very cool in our swim caps!

La Terraza de Mami and Ceviches d'Angel

Eating tasty food is important to me, for sure.  But for Toby, it's a sport! And we are on our way to a gold medal!                                     

When I'm alone in Cozumel, I mostly eat at home.  For a few reasons.  Including. It's kinda expensive to eat in touristy places, and I'm not motivated or brave enough to eat alone in most local places.  But once Toby joins me, the food adventure begins! 

So far this year, we've discovered 2 new favourite places.  La Terraza de Mami.  A mom and pop place that opens at 7:30 pm. Or at 7:45 or at 8:15... And closes at 4 am!  One of the items on their  menu, that isn't on most menus are sopes. I've never had a sope before La Terraza de Mami.  Now I'm a fan!!  What's a sope?  A big corn tortilla with upturned edges like a small pie crust, grilled to a delicious crisp, and filled with delicious stuff like beans, cheese, meats, and avocado.  Super yum!  

Our n find is Ceviches d'Angel.  A take out place a few streets further into the hood.  They make the ceviche in what looks like their home.  And serve it from the front doorway.  It's well priced and yummy! Thanks Pat! For telling us about it! 

Pictures

1 & 3) The kitchen and hand washing station at La Terazza de Mami.

2) Sopes!!!

4) Ceviches d'Angel had 2 of these delivery bikes when we were there today!

5) The lineup today at Ceviches d'Angel!

6 & 7) The menu and our take out ceviche.  A small bucket of shrimp and conch ceviche for 240 pesos, aout $15 CDN.