Sunday March 20th. Today we docked in Costa Maya Mexico. The port is a short drive from the village of Majahual. We chose to go to see the ruins of Kohunlich. This is a Mayan city dating back to around 300 B.C.
One of the other tours went to the Chacchoben ruins. I’ll even post photos of them here as well as George and I were here last October on the Virgin Scarlet Lady. I’ll also give photos of the newly built port "city" as we spent an hour or so there last trip as well. I’m sure you will already realize that we did not like this one either. It is even more Disney than the last port because of the ancient Mayan temple waterslide in the background.
First, the guide we had was wonderful. He explained the history of the area and a bit about the area we were going to, but nothing about the ruins on the bus. I also heard nothing about the tax system, or the education system, or the price of gasoline, or how houses are built. It was rather refreshing.
One tidbit that was 'off topic' was that Majahual is a fishing port and once a month the fishermen donate their catch to the locals restaurants and everyone in the community comes out to eat. It is a village of around 1500 people so this monthly event must make people come closer together. He also mentioned that there is very little crime because everyone knows everyone else.
The area we were going to was around 170 Kilometers from the port. This port was purpose built and opened in 2001. Like yesterday’s stop, it was made with funding from both the major cruise lines and the local government. Also like yesterday’s stop it was very Disneyesque. We didn’t spend any time there this time as our excursion took the entire day, but as I said, we were here in October 2021 so we had seen enough then.
Once you enter the area, you are overwhelmed with shops. Everywhere you turn as far as the eye can see that is what you encounter. Inside there is also a rather large pool area and beach chairs laid out on real sand! I bet that cost a pretty penny to construct. As we saw yesterday, there was also a bird sanctuary in Costa Maya. Here they had some brightly colored parrots that were just hanging out above the pool deck. There is also an above ground area you can walk through, but again we passed on this.
As we walked through more shops after we returned from the excursion, we saw the fishy pedicures that we had gotten for free yesterday. I know from last time it was $30 and the tanks didn’t have many fish in them. We walked past tequila tasting rooms and more bars and eateries than you can shake a stick at.
But enough of that. On to the real excursion.
The guide, as I said, was very knowledgeable. He told us of the underground rivers and caves in the area that attract tourists and long ago natives as well. He explained that the area is a shallow mangrove-meaning there is about 1 to 2 inches of soil with limestone below it. This, he told us was the reason that the Mayans and their descendants are shorter people than others in the area. His reasoning was that because the water has so much limestone in it the people developed thicker bones which caused them to be short and stocky. Sounds good to me!
Today there are over 5 million Mayan descendants throughout Mexico with the majority being in the Yucatán peninsula. Yucatán by the way is three words in the Mayan dialect that means, "I don’t understand you". This was repeated in reply to the Spaniards asking where they were. Back to the Mexican population. Mexico today has over 3 million speakers for whom it is their first language. There are 68 different indigenous people in Mexico with over 220 dialects. That’s a lot of languages being spoken. I wonder if the government here is doing the same as the government in Guatemala.
Enough about languages (can you tell what my career was?) on to a bit more history of the people before I get to the ruins. In less than 150 years of traversing the country in war and trade, the Aztecs took over Mexico. However, the Mayans were still a predominant culture because unlike the Aztecs, they had a written language. Sadly, the written books that the Mayans kept were all but destroyed by the Spaniards in the mid 16th century. The conquistadores were trying to civilize the natives and a part of that process was to convert them to Catholicism. If you’ve ever seen the Mayan glyphs, they look very evil and the church did not like this. The solution of course was to simply destroy them. Sadly at that time, there was no thought of preservation, just conquest.
Bishop Diego de Landa ordered all of the codexes to be destroyed during the Mayan inquisition on July 12, 1562. He later repented, as it were, and had 2 Mayans believed to be of the ruling dynasty write down the Mayan glyphs that corresponded to the Spanish language. Years later it was discovered that the transcription was not of a language but of syllables. Later, the language was able to be translated. Therefore, the history that we were told is not just stories, but more based on fact. I like this kind of tour. Although, the myths are also wonderful to hear.
When we got to the ruins, I was impressed. The government has unearthed and cleared away much of the surrounding foliage. The temples are impressive. There were two that were quite wonderful. Both of which were used in rituals. We were shown the doors that align with the noon day sun on a day in mid-April (I didn’t write it down, but I think it was the 12th or the 15th).
The major significance of this site is that it was first established in around 300 B.C. The other major significance are the 5 masks that are still in tact at the site.
The site has a palace for the ruler, and a number of civil buildings. One of which is an ancient set of 'apartments'. These had a sleeping bed with a number of cubby holes under it to store personal belongings.
The city was occupied until around 1000 AD when it was abandoned due to heavy drought in the area. The city was later repopulated by others who were displaced from their original homes by the same drought. The city fell into final ruin around 1200 A.D. caused by a schism in the different cultures that were occupying the former city.
If you get the opportunity to see these ruins, I highly recommend it. It is well worth the trip.
After we left the ruins, we then went to Balcalar Lake to have lunch. It was a rushed affair. We had something like 20 minutes instead of the hour planned, but I’m not complaining as we were able to have more time at the ruins. Lunch was chicken fajitas and yellow rice. The sauce was fierce. After I finished eating what little I could of it (too many peppers and food allergies) I decided to step into the water of the lake and test the temperature. After all, who knows if I’ll ever be back.
Along the edge of the lake there are these rocks that I noticed people standing on so I went on to them and took a photo. I wasn’t there but for a few minutes and was yelled at to get off. The man told me the rocks were breathing and I was hurting them. Odd. Later the guide told me they are stromatolites. I had no idea and saw no signs saying don’t step on the rocks. Watching the others in the area, I assumed it was ok. I suspect I was just wearing too many clothes. Having said that, I do feel terrible about hurting the things. We were not told of them in advance so I can’t be entirely to blame for my mistake. One cannot research everything in advance.
The other tour offered that day was to the Chacchoben ruins. As I said, we were just there in October 2021. I enjoyed that day as well and will only add a few photos here so you can see the difference between the two archeological sites.
On the 21st of March we arrived early in Cozumel Mexico. Today would be our last dive of the trip. We packed our gear the night before and were up at 7 am in anticipation of the day. I fully planned to do 2 dives today and savor the experience.
We rushed downstairs to meet our other divers at 7:30 on the dock. Around 2 minutes later I got a text saying we were not at the right pier and would need to take a taxi over. The other divers came out over the next 1/2 hour and we all took a long walk over the pier and through a shopping center to the taxi stand. 5 minutes later we are at the dive shop signing our lives away again.
This time we had a new diver who was doing an introduction to scuba dive. He was given gear and we all had a good laugh when he put his feet through the arms of the skin. It was a real hoot watching him try to get it back off his feet.
Our boat ride to the dive site was over 1/2 hour long. It was not an unpleasant ride this time. I’ve never seen such clear blue water. When we arrived at the spot, we didn’t drop anchor and the dive master explained to us this is a protected site and they aren’t allowed to do that. He also said no to gloves as people usually wear the to grab the coral. I assured him mine were to keep me warm only and he told me he was watching me. I think he believed me though because of the skins we were wearing and my second jacket that I brought along for the second dive.
We were off! The water was amazing. As I said, it was so blue and so clear. Visibility went for miles. I can’t even begin to explain the sites we saw. There were species of fish I’ve not seen before, we watched an eel and fish engage in one of the most beautiful dances I’ve ever seen. There was a massive one clawed crab as well. Sadly, about 10 minutes before the dive ended my phone had one of those stupid emergency alerts come through and it shut off the camera.
Today’s dive took us through some of the most spectacular coral I’ve seen yet. There were caves and tunnels everywhere. My words simply won’t do the beauty of the area justice. We dove today to a maximum depth of 80 feet and I fully plan to do the advanced open water next year so I can do that again. Sadly, around the time my camera stopped working my body temperature dropped. My teeth began to chatter and I almost lost the regulator. The beauty around me was so amazing that I didn’t want the dive to end. Sadly though it did. We were down for almost an hour and one of the others was on reserve air. We made our decompression stop and surfaced. While in Miami I managed to get a few videos added to my youtube channel.
As we were talking on the boat, one of the other divers told us as far as coral goes, this was better than the dive we missed in Belize. But she felt that there was much better sea life there than in Cozumel. George and I decided that we will return to Belize to dive again and that on the same trip Cozumel will also be a stop.
After we returned to the ship we rinsed our gear and set it all out to dry. Next up was lunch before we headed out for a scoot. While we were in the car we saw some amazing graffiti and I wanted to snap a photo of it. Once this was done, George and I headed around the town to see a bit more of it an how people live here. Every city is different isn’t it? We made a stop at a mega store and found a puzzle we didn't have. Or so we thought. (I'll blog about that soon.) We didn’t stay out too long as it was getting later in the day and we wanted to be back to the ship on time.
When we returned to the ship, I packed all of our puzzle purchases and our scuba gear once it was dry in preparation to have it returned home during our stop in Miami. We had 4 large suitcases and a very large duffle bag filled with puzzles, warm weather clothing and scuba gear. I had to call the front desk to get a porter for the morning we arrived in Miami to help me get it all off the ship. While on the phone, I was told bringing them off was ok. It was bringing them on that wasn’t. Oh dear! This would be a problem as I only have these suitcases with me.
I went downstairs to talk to Claudio about this and to get our passports for disembarkation. I wasn’t the only one in this situation. I know of at least 4 other couples from the South Florida area doing the same thing as we were. We were to follow the sun, and I don’t know about you, but to me 75 degrees is cold. I needed warm clothes.
After a few hours he got back to me and said it was ok to bring on empty suitcases, but if I wanted to bring along extra clothes they would have to be put into a hand carry bag. Odd, but doable. Around an hour later I was called again and told no suitcases could be brought on ship. I had resigned myself to purchasing cheap luggage in Europe.
I didn’t sleep well for thinking about this and how I could get everything done in the one day I had in Miami.
March 22nd was a sea day and to be honest, after all that excitement yesterday we needed it. We slept in late. I guess I awoke around 9. Too late for yoga or pilates or whichever activity it was that morning. In the afternoon we played cards and had an early dinner as usual. It wasn’t a day to remember. The only thing of note that I did was make a 23 point list of things I needed to do as soon as I returned home. Again I didn’t sleep well.
On March 23rd we awoke to the alarm at 7. By 7:30 the porter arrived and we were taken off the ship with our luggage. We breezed through immigration with one small hiccup. I brought out too many bottles of alcohol. The agent told me I was only allowed 1 liter and in all honesty, I was genuinely unaware that there was a limit. We were allowed to bring it all home though and I am wiser for the experience.
My daughter arrived around 8:15 and my brothers-in-law around 2 minutes after her. We put the smaller bags inside the bug and the suitcases in the truck. Off we headed for home. An hour later, I was pulling into my front driveway. George and the boys had already arrived and the suitcases were waiting for us to unpack. They only got there first because I stopped to get milk and orange juice and top up the kids grocery store card.
I did a quick inspection of the house after having a cold glass of milk. All was right with my world. And then I got to the list. Within about 15 minutes, I was able to knock off 1/2 of the things I needed to do. George sent the boys out to get some insect bombs and he vacuumed up the pantry. We managed to get a cockroach in there and it ate through a plastic container of cake icing. Yuck! The caretakers of the place didn’t catch it before we returned home. For those who don’t know, it’s almost impossible not to get a roach in South Florida. Sometimes I think they live in the marble floors and just grow out of it when they are not being watched.
I sorted through the mail getting rid of the flyers and other junk. I was happy to see that our Oceania pre-cruise book arrived mid-January. The date stamp tickled me as printed on the envelope was something to the effect of "urgent-time sensitive material".
I had asked my daughter to put out the clothes and other items I wanted in advance so I spent a bit of time bagging everything and put the bags in the suitcases hoping that we would be unhindered returning to the ship. George went in search of some puzzles to mail off, and later I gathered together a bunch for the crew. I believe I brought along around 30 different puzzles to give them over the coming months. Most designed or prototyped by George or helped to market by myself.
I set about opening some of the packages that came in because I was looking for a couple of necklaces for my daughter. This photo only shows a portion of the packages I've had delivered since we've been on the trip. I know there will be many more before I'm back home. We'll have to have an unboxing party.
The orchids by the pool were in bloom. They were such a wonderful site when I looked out of the back windows.
I crossed off all but the last two items on my list; visit an ATM, and fill the vehicles with gas. At 12:20 we all headed to the clubhouse to have lunch. As soon as we dropped the car at the valet, I was greeted by friends that we haven’t seen in 3 months. It was nice to be back home even if only for a few hours. There was a lot of quick catch-ups and I promised to return to the golf course in the fall and call for cards in July.
The lunch was lovely as always. And as per our usual, we ate outside on the back veranda. The view of the golf course there is lovely, and there is always a cool breeze going through. The boys had wraps and beer, and the kid and I had iced tea and soup. There’s no place like home is there. Below is the view of the golf course from the veranda.
After lunch we headed over to the museum to show the guys what we had done with the place. They hadn’t seen it since we put the puzzles in place. While there our caretaker told me they will be quitting in April. I thought pregnancy, but it turned out to be just homesickness. So much for all of our planning. The good news though is that our daughter will be finishing her semester on 20 April so she will be moving in on that day. Problem solved.
Our next stop was to Costco to get a COVID booster. Israel says your booster can’t be more than 6 months old for entry to the country, and ours would be 3 days too old. I was told the ship would take care of it if I was correct with this understanding of the news I’d been reading, but with George being afraid of needles, I thought it best that we do it on dry land. Better safe than sorry. We waited 45 minutes after our appointment, before I politely asked if we could get our injections soon. They didn’t realize we were waiting. The last nurse left and didn’t tell anyone! We were immediately taken care of and I was even able to sneak in a jab for our daughter. All is right again.
George returned to port with his brothers, and I drove with the kid. Any extra time with her is precious. It is becoming less frequent as she gets older. On the drive back to Miami we ran into three accidents and my stress levels were going through the roof every time the ETA on her Waze app ticked up minutes. I called George and told him to just bring the luggage through and I’d meet him on board. Worst case, one flight to Bermuda would be cheaper than two.
My brother-in-law told me to bypass the mess and take the express lanes. Brilliant idea. I made up the 20 minutes we lost and after a quick hug goodby and handing over money for the gas I didn’t have time to put in the car, by 5:15 I was in Martinis ordering a glass of wine. Turns out it was happy hour and so I grabbed two before heading to the room. I unpacked our warmer clothes and the other things I brought along. George had already put the suitcases away and the room is now livable! One last call to my father before leaving port and we headed down to dinner.
And guess what. There is yet another itinerary change. Bermuda is out. I guess the excuse was bad weather, but I am not believing that. I think it is more along the lines of not everyone got all the paperwork done. I spent a long long time trying to load the covid results and even had to go to the front desk for help. I’m pretty computer savvy and was very frustrated by the process. I can’t imagine how people without the computer knowledge felt. When I was at the desk, there were 3 people in front of me, and another 4 or 5 came up behind me. But sure, weather. 4 days in advance. Weather. Instead, we now will have 1/2 a day at Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Another purpose built private island for Norwegian Cruise lines. I’m not passing judgement early, but I’m guessing this one will be a carbon copy of the last and I won’t enjoy it.
We had dinner with a new passenger and said hello to another gentleman eating alone. Both seemed nice enough. With 70 or so new passengers embarking today, there will be a lot of new faces walking around. On to the next part of the trip. Europe, here we come. Until next week; Happy Puzzling and Smooth Seas.
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