January 4-18 2014

A second day with blue skies! We keep crossing our fingers that the rain will not start again. Something is strange in the universe. The Northeastern US and Canada experienced record snowfall and freezing temperatures in December and early January and we in the Yucatan have experienced more rain than anyone needs. It is time for a relief, both at home and in the Mexican vacationland. Carolyn and Lorie, Ray and I are glad we are on Cozumel for another week, hopefully enough time to appreciate the crystal clear waters and warm temperatures.

Ray and I rolled our plastic bag covered suitcases through the rainy streets of Playa del Carmen to the ferry for Cozumel a week ago. The ferry bucked and rolled its way to Cozumel, depositing us in the Cruise Capital of the Yucatan still under heavy cloud cover. We rolled our bags to Summer Place Inn, bypassing big puddles and flooded streets, the result of recent rains. We were warmly welcomed by our hosts, Henny, husband John and son Joe Watt, who also run a ReMax real estate office out of the same building. We have a large double room with bath and a shared rear patio. Carolyn and Lorie arrived at Cozumel airport, at supper time, two hours later than expected, but safe and sound. They have the room next to us and we both share a spacious outdoor kitchen and dining area adjacent to an inviting swimming pool. We have a very comfortable place to weather the next rainy, blustery days. 

We did have enough sunshine the first full day, Sunday, to bask by the pool and have a swim in the morning. Instead, we walked for lunch at the Blue Angel, a hotel and dive club on the beach, jointly owned by Henny and her sister, Eva, in increasingly heavier rain. By the time we had finished lunch the wind had picked up and the rain was torrential. Ray and I decided to wait out the rain instead of walking back to our hotel with Lorie and Carolyn. An hour later we took a taxi back. Henny told us the winds were gusting at 25 mph that afternoon. I believe her. 

In the meantime we have been walking to the nearby grocery stores to buy food and wine for our home cooked meals and walking to the center of town, always in our rain jackets, to visit the shops and the local museum. The Cruise ships continue to dock in Cozumel, up to six ships every day but Sunday. That make a lot of shoppers for the stores near the two ferry docks, but there seemed to be enough room for everyone.

Finally the sun shone forth on Friday morning. We rented a car for the day and drove around the island to have a look at the waves crashing into the shore on the wild, west coast. It was too rough for swimming so we continued on around to the more protected east coast to spend the day at Mr Sanchos beach and restaurant establishment. We had a good time sitting in the sun, snorkelling off the shore and having lunch. The trip was so successful we repeated it the next Monday. The only difference was that small jelly fish, no bigger than my fist floated into shore with the winds the previous day. I was concerned about possible stings until one of Mr Sanchos employees picked one up to show it was harmless. I picked one up too and it lay on my hand like silk. The swimming was fine. 

Friday night we had two-for-one tapas and drinks at the Blue Angel and stayed to listen to a young guitarist sing numbers to suit the small international audience. The tapas portions were so large we had enough food left over to feed all four of us at supper the next day. We returned another evening to hear another guitarist playing Spanish and Mexican numbers, more to our liking. We also learned that one tapas was enough to be shared by two people.

The closest place to snorkel for us, besides a boat trip to the reef, was off the rocks at Blue Angel Resort. The most fish were next to a large netted area separating a “Swim with the Stingrays” business from the rest of the beach. I couldn’t see the stingrays, which reportedly were quite large, but I did see lots of fish.

Unfortunately the weather continued mixed, with rain at least part of the day and winds strong enough to keep us out of the sea. One plus was discovering there was a pet turtle in residence at Summer Place. It came out after the rain one day and followed me around until I fed it the piece of bread Henny had given me.  At least we went for long walks each day and we had the nice pool at Summer Place Inn to sit by with our books and have a swim.

The second week of our stay in Cozumel was very quiet for Lorie. He came down with a fever that was eventually diagnosed as a sinus infection. He spent most of the time laying low, trying to recover sufficiently to fly back to Montreal, where he and Carolyn had left their car at their daughter’s place. Thankfully Lorie is completing his recovery in their home in Saint John.

Ray and I discovered Guido’s Deli where we had lunch twice in their pretty walled garden. Carolyn joined Ray and I the last day at La Mission restaurant in San Miguel where we enjoyed a good Mexican lunch and got to hear the Mariachi band play Carolyn’s favourite Mexican song “Besame Mucho”. There is a great Diana Krall version on You Tube.

 Ray and I left on the ferry back to Playa del Carmen on Saturday morning while Carolyn and Lorie flew to Montreal that afternoon. Despite the uneven weather, we did have a good time.