My wife and I are headed south of the border for a bit. I love to snorkel. She loves to get out of the cold, and be away from the snow and ice. We generally go somewhere warm in mid-winter, more often than not Mexico.
We’ll go to Isla Cozumel, where the snorkeling is excellent – and there won’t be a lot of snow. Or ice, except in the Margaritas. I talked to a Mexican man in his 40s last year, who said that he’d never seen snow, except on TV.
I love to get into the water with snorkeling gear, and see what I find. What marine life will I see? What behaviors? Cleaning stations, feeding behaviors, bait balls, hunting strategies. What finds might I spot within my surface diving depth?
I’ve found a good amount of stuff in the water, and get down surprisingly well for an old man. Last year I found a new, and obviously expensive watch. I went to the hotel nearest to where I found it and left a note at the front desk, offering to return it to whomever had lost it. I left contact information, but heard nothing.
The watch went home to Michigan, and was given to a young woman of our acquaintance who was sure her husband would love it. The watch was missing the little widget that attaches it to the watch band. The band was buckled – but only one side of the band was attached to the watch.
A big part of my interest in snorkeling is not knowing what one might see next. I love the freedom that snorkeling provides. I almost always go by myself, which allows me to change directions, and maybe follow an eagle ray, or stay by an octopus. I was able to watch a sharp tailed eel hunt once for half an hour. I could have reached out and touched the eel (but I didn’t); it didn’t seem shy at all.
I like the freedom to stay out as long as I wish. I’ve done some snorkeling tours, and they can be great, but there’s always the restriction of staying with the group, and returning when the group returns. Going out on a boat does provide the opportunity to see some things which otherwise might not be encountered, like mantas and whale sharks.
The Mexican people, especially on the Yucatan, are usually very warm and friendly, and patient with the visitors from Estados Unidos. While this is certainly true of waiters and bartenders, I have found it just as consistent from people who were just being friendly, and not expecting a tip. Like the guy on the street sitting on a porch with his wife, inviting me to crowd in with them to get out of the rain. Like the woman at the Carnivale (like our Mardi Gras) parade, who was pleased to allow me to help her 10- year-old collect candy thrown from the floats, while she tended to the younger child. She and my wife and the little one hung back, while the youngster and I crowed to the edge of the parade route. I gave all the candy I got to the child. She went home with a nice haul.
We’ll be on Cozumel this year for Carnivale. For a week or so, culminating on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, there will be music and parades and drinking and related festivities. As has become our pattern, we’ll bring 144 strands of beads as our contribution, giving them out a strand at a time to little kids, old ladies, and, in the interest of fairness, young women too.
The streets are lined with revelers, packed with locals and gringos, kids, the elderly, everyone apparently there to have a good time and overindulge prior to the time of sacrifice and quiet contemplation. I enjoy the party, but I confess I’m not much of a participant in being contemplative and quietly reflective in the time that follows.
And one more story very well told.