Christmas

We all had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at the home of Catriona...the saucy Aussie I met here years ago and is in some way responsible for my being here.

Family visit

Laura and Bonnie came to visit for the first time!! Annie was stuck in the blizzards of Colorado, she got a voucher to come in the spring to do the diving in clear water coral reef that she is so looking forward to!! We took in the ruins of Tulum, dancing at the Blue Parrot in Playa del Carmen after we had drinks in a real cave (Alux), partying at Tuna's, checking out the Cancun beach scene, and general laying back in Puerto....Cousin Donna and boyfriend David were here at the same time...a real family affair!

Jungle Mapping

All this play requires some serious work....I was fortunate enough to get a small job locating some land in the jungle for real estate purchases, using my GPS and a machete. Learning a lot about plant life. There is a tree "Chechen" that is like poison ivy on steroids! Never mind the snakes and varmits, I was watching the vegetation!!

Zipping through the Jungle

A new craze....ZIP LINES! This tower was built to enable the sport of zip lines in the jungle...its like creating highways without putting down a road base! This tower took 4 men 4 months to build using a 5 gallon bucket, pouring the cement as they went.....almost 100 feet in the air!

Verde Lucero Cenote

Its always a treat to swim in the many cenotes of this area....the sinkholes filled with fresh crystal clear water........imagine swimming in the underground aquifers.....its like that.....a huge honeycomb layer of limestone that makes up the entire Yucatan! This particular cenote is about 8 miles inland from Puerto Morelos...it has been modernized with a zip line and ropes for play.

Dia de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead is heavily celebrated all over Mexico Nov. 1....altars are built to honor them....we built one at the Artisans center in Puerto....lots of flowers, copal incense, singing and playing by concheras, pictures of the dead...blowing of conchs, playing maracas all to call to the dead!

Misol-Ha

There are some wonderful waterfalls about 20 km south of Palenque...in the Lacandon jungle. A cave behind the falls had many bats....Cueva de los murcielagos!

Tropics provide

Picked bananas with Flor de Maria, my partner in crime!

Palenque

One of the first things I did when I got here was a trip south to the Mayan ruins of Palenque. About a 12 hour drive south to the state of Chiapas....in the foothills of the Chiapas highlands....dense jungles...birds, monkeys, waterfalls everywhere! Hard to imagine what could have caused the Mayans to leave this site....it's so beautiful!! of course the Mayans are still nearby. Constructed around 600 AD...temples, ball courts, residence quarters, astronomical observation tower, aquaduct, cascades everywhere. We camped at the closest place to the site we could find................rented each a palapa for $4 dollars a night where we strung our hammocks....nice clean showers.....slept in a hammock for 6 nights...figured it out on the second night...you have to sleep diagonal....you can actually massage your body with the different positions....very comfortable! There were howler monkeys in the trees above us as we slept.....monkeys larger than me!! that howled all night!!

Puerto Morelos

This town of Puerto is about 30 miles south of Cancun and 20 miles north of Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, also known as the Maya Riviera.....a small fishing village struggling to stay small.....the signature leaning lighthouse was tilted in Hurricane Beulah 1967, but withstood the last cagegory 4 Wilma that stayed here for 3 days!!

Mi casa

This is the house where I am staying now...it is a guest house of Dinah and only 100 yards to the beach!! There is a loft with a view from the hanging bed!

My first entry thanks to the Griffins

I have intended to start this for a couple months now.....where has the time gone?!! I spoke with my dear friends Greg and Kate Griffin tonight through Skype and they inspired me to begin this blog.....thanks guys! ok here it goes..........................