Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico Trip Report —
2010
© 2010 Tone Garot.
I received an E-mail from Peter Sprouse in
September of 2010
stating that he would be skipping Muzquiz over Thanksgiving
because of current
border issues. Instead, he was putting together a small trip
to Akumal,
Quintana Roo, Mexico, which is on the Caribbean coast. The
E-mail said,
"First two people who buy plane tickets get to come along!"
41
minutes later, I was ticketed from Fort Lauderdale to Cancun, a
direct flight
via Spirit Airlines for only $365 USD. (I later found that
this price was
deceptive—two checked bags, round-trip, added an additional $120
USD to this
price—but a direct flight can't be beat.)
Over the next several weeks, I procured gear and planned how to
get it
there. While a "dry" cave in Quintana Roo requires no SCUBA
equipment, it doesn't mean there is no water. I purchased a
shorty
wetsuit, snorkel, mask, flippers, Darren drum, and a waterproof
light. I
hoped I was prepared.
Peter Sprouse — Texas
Paul Bryant — Texas
Joe Datri — Texas
Tone Garot — Florida
Shane Fryer — California
Cyndie Walck — California
I flew from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Cancun,
Quintana
Roo, a neat, tidy direct flight. Apparently TSA hadn't yet
instigated the
new, and controversial, millimeter wave and backscatter imaging
units.
Nor was I patted down.
Mexico customs hassled me a little when I showed them an existing
FMT tourist
permit that I had gotten in Nuevo Leon some five months
past. The
official at the desk stated that, although the tourist permit is
good for 180
days, I must return it each time I go back to the USA. I had
never done
this via land travel. Looking around
the web, this seems to indeed be the required procedure.
Having secured my luggage, I headed out of the airport when
suddenly a young
woman stopped me, "do you speak English?"
"Yes." At this point, I thought she was peddling
transportation. She caught me off guard by saying, "Is that
your
wife?" "Um . . . no." She laughed at the way I
answered. We started a brief
conversation. When she asked if I was even married I
replied, "not
that I know of." When she asked if I was on vacation and I
answered
that I was going caving. She naturally assumed the tour
caves, and said
so; after which I smiled and replied, "no, we go into the wild
caves—we're
professionals!" She said that sounded like fun and asked how
she
could get involved. She took my E-mail address and told me
that she would
write—"expect a message from Curly Carla."
Fernando Dorantes, who represented Easy Way Rent a Car, met me
outside and
drove me to the office. Since Easy Way Rent a Car was out of Tsurus (which I reserved), I was
upgraded to
a Suzuki Grand Vitara. The representative at the desk told
me that Easy
Way would arrange to pick up this Suzuki in Akumal, at our
convenience, around
Sunday or Monday. (This never did happen. Had we
known, Shane and
Cyndie wouldn't have needed the second rental car.) Easy Way
Rent a Car
had me sign a blank credit card slip, at which point I balked,
stating that
this made me very uncomfortable. I had never signed a blank
credit card
receipt before. Unfortunately, I was pretty much over a
barrel, so I
signed. I looked the representative square in the eye and
said that if
anything happened, I would be looking for him. He laughed
saying,
"you can look for the company, my friend." I said, "no.
I'll be looking for you." That
probably didn’t sound good.
Since this vehicle was slightly larger than our intended, we were
able to use
it exclusively for most of the trip. I became the designated
chauffeur. One of the interesting points the Easy Way Rent a
Car
representative cited was that "partial theft" was not covered by
the
outrageous insurance ($25 USD/day) we were paying. When I
later mentioned
this fact to the guys I added "so . . . if our hubcaps are stolen,
I'll be
driving the truck into a cenote."
I drove the 66 miles south along highway 307 to the Centro Ecologico Akumal
(CEA). This took
about two hours due to construction and rush-hour traffic.
Our group was
given dorm-style lodging for the very reasonable rate of $12 USD
per person per
day. This included electricity, Wi-Fi, and a communal
kitchen.
Nearby was a reasonable little restaurant, Loncheria Akumalito, at
which we
breakfasted most days. It was a quick
walk from the room to a beautiful beach!
When I arrived in Akumal, I was introduced to Carlos, the
accountant for
CEA. Carlos showed me around the CEA campus, and we
eventually happened
upon Cyndie and Shane at Loncheria Akumalito. Cyndie and
Shane had
arrived the day before from California.
I mentioned to Carlos that I needed to pick up the rest of our assemblage later that evening, so Carlos asked if he could catch a ride as far as Xcaret. The pronunciation of this Mayan word is interesting. The "x" is pronounced “sh”, but has the briefest of an "i" sound because a consonant follows the “x”. Since there are only two syllables, it’s closer to say (i)shka-ret rather than ish-ka-ret.
After I sent a quick E-mail to my parents
letting them know
I had arrived safely, Carlos and I departed. As luck would
have it,
Carlos had an extra ticket to a wine tasting and concert at
Xcaret, and knowing
that I had some time to kill, he invited me. It was called El Bicentenario
con el Vino
Mexicano. I felt a little under-dressed in my caver
clothes, but
c'est la vie. After about an hour, the wine stopped so that
each vendor
could give a short speech. Multiple contiguous "short"
speeches
combined to a long time, thus, it was announced that one of the
songs would be
clipped from the concert. Carlos said that this is the way
it is in
Mexico.
We watched the concert inside a cenote! I do admit that, due
to the
fatigue of travel, I fell asleep during portions of the
concert. The
concert was very well received, so, as an encore, it was decided
to add back
the removed song. Carlos and I did not stay for that song
since I really
had to get to the airport. Carlos tagged along instead of
catching a bus
back to Akumal.
We met Peter, Paul, and Joe at the airport at Terminal 2.
Our entire group went to Río Secreto
to meet with Gustavo
Vela Turcott, a caver whom I had met only a few weeks prior at the
Texas Cavers
Reunion (TCR). Apparently Gustavo had just finished mapping
the
cave. Unfortunately, Gustavo's status as cave-mapper did not
extend
admittance to his friends for free; however, we did receive
preferential
treatment—a tour twice the normal duration! It was well
worth the $20
USD. Our tour guide was Tania Ramirez, who graciously gave
up her day off
to show us around. We also met Fátima Tec Pool,
Carlos Duarte, and
Roberto Rojo who joined us on the tour. We donned our
wetsuits and went
through the cave.
Initially, Río Secreto was dry, so the walking was
warm. Soon we reached
a point where our leader zipped up her wetsuit, thereby indicating
that we were
going to get wet. From this point on, there was much wading
and some
swimming.
Río Secreto Skylight
After the underground water tour, most of us met at a beach
restaurant in
Paamul. The price differential between a beach restaurant
and a
restaurant west of highway 307 (opposite the beach) was
substantial. This
was true in most every town we visited. During dinner, we
met Gil Harmon
who discovered Río Secreto. He would later join us in
our adventures.
Speaking of highway 307, it was a most unforgiving highway.
If you wanted
to take a left turn, or turn around, you might go two to five km
before an
opportunity presented itself.
That evening, we went to Soriana—a large grocery chain in Mexico—
in Playa del
Carmen for a few goods. Playa del Carmen was a fairly
progressive town
for the area, sporting a Soriana, a Wal-Mart, and multiple fast
food
restaurants. I still hadn't converted dollars to pesos yet,
but when I
saw a cambio in the Soriana mall, I didn't do the exchange.
I guess I had
a moment of incredible non-lucidity, figuring that I could do
better than 11.6
to 1. I should have changed money at the airport.
That night, most of us went for our first night snorkel.
Later, Paul
mentioned that something went wrong with his Sten light—probably
due to the
corrosive nature of salt water on the wire connections. My
Underwater
Kinetics flashlight performed admirably.
Night snorkel with helmet
Before the trip began, Peter had secured a project from the Quintana Roo Speleological Survey, QRSS, called Sistema Del Tercer Ojo. This survey had begun by a caver named Jim Coke who mapped the initial 370m. Our on-site contact was a really nice guy named Armando. Steps led into the cave, then it was immediately necessary to swim.
Shane traversing Sistema Del Tercer Ojo; Joe’s camera in a waterproof bag
After initial searching for prior station
points, Cyndie,
Shane, Joe, and I went to the lake room to start our survey.
Fátima and
Carlos, who had joined us for this day of survey, assisted Peter
and
Paul.
The lake room was quite interesting—waist deep at the deepest with
substantial
roots from ceiling to water. Thus, the lake room was dubbed
"El lago de las
raíces." We had been told to avoid
the roots as they
caused itching, similar to Mala Mujer. In addition to roots,
the lake
room also had a skylight called the Venado entrance. Little
fish loved to
swarm a person. Although the fish didn't bite flesh,
apparently the fish
did nibble through Joe's waterproof bag, containing a camera
flash, thereby
compromising it’s waterproofness.
After survey, we stopped for a snack at Casa Cenote. I
wasn't overly
hungry, but since Paul wasn't feeling well, I received one of his
chicken
quesadillas. We then went for a snorkel in the Ocean just
beyond the
restaurant. This was an interesting experience because we
swam near, and
sometimes over, the interface between the ocean and the
cenote. The
current was minimal, but even if it hadn’t been, the current
pushed instead of
pulled. The water from the cenote was warm! After we
departed the
ocean, Cyndie and Shane decided to enjoy the cenote, and they paid
$20 pesos to
go inside. That’s just shy of two bucks—the price a cenote
should cost!
Dinner was in Pueblo Akumal, on the non-beach side of the
highway. The
prices were much better than a beach restaurant; however, Peter
noticed that
even so, the prices had gone up since he had been there several
weeks earlier.
There were little stickers covering the original prices. Obviously, prices rise during tourist
season.
That night, Joe and Paul photographed some of the creatures found
in or near
the cave. This included a scorpion and a tarantula.
Cyndie was
none-too-pleased that the photo shoot was occurring in the dorm
room. While placing the critters in
the
refrigerator for 15 minutes slowed them, we were all entertained
when the
scorpion warmed and climbed up Paul’s glove.
Perhaps Paul wasn’t as entertained.
Joe shooting a spider in our dorm room
Monday morning saw us at Casa Valentina to
inquire about
potential cave leads. Casa Valentina is a resort get-away,
off the beaten
track and really quite nice and comfortable. After some
conversation, a
date for ridge walking was finalize for Saturday. We then
went back to
Sistema Del Tercer Ojo.
This was our second day of mapping. Cyndie, Shane, and I
again went to
the lake room to continue our survey while Peter, Paul, and Joe
went to a
different area of the cave. Most of the survey beyond the
lake room was
dry, thus my wetsuit was rapidly becoming a liability.
Eventually I
ditched it. The cave was warm enough to survey in only my
swim trunks,
although I certainly looked a filthy savage at the end of the
day. No
problem—we went through water to get out.
Due to the low crawl spaces (think Airmans cave), elbow
pads would have
been useful in this particular cave. Kneepads were, of
course,
essential. I was fairly wiped out from scurrying in these
low, tight
passages.
Dinner was at a place in Pueblo Akumal (not Playa Akumal) run by a
nice couple
of Canadians. I was finally able to exchange money next door
to the
restaurant for 11.5 to 1—about as good as I was going to get in
this
region. Cyndie, Shane, and I had margaritas. The
margaritas were
not cut with any sweetener, so each sip was akin to biting into a
lime. I
referred to it as a "taste explosion." Cyndie went to the
bar
to do something about this battery acid cocktail. The
proprietor added a
syrup sweetener to cut the acid, and that made all the difference.
Evenings in the room at CEA were fairly typical: someone would
read the day's
survey data to Peter who typed it into Walls; I collated and sized
images for
Facebook that I posted each night; Joe and Paul photographed
insects, spiders,
or what have you. Having Wi-Fi on a caving trip shows a sign
of the
times. Some nights we had
guacamole. Some nights we went for a
snorkel. We quickly settled into an
enjoyable routine.
The official length of Sistema del Tercer Ojos, as of this night, was 1490m. It was still growing!
Cyndie, Shane, Gil, and I continued survey in Sistema Del Tercer Ojo. Both groups entered the cave through an alternate dry entrance, which had us pass a pen, probably used for wild pigs. Peter jokingly suggested that the Alux’ob used it. An Alux (pronounced Aloosh; plural Alux'ob) are a type of Mayan sprite or spirit in the mythological tradition of certain Maya peoples from the Yucatán Peninsula and Guatemala. An Alux is a suggested to stand only 30 – 50 inches, having a furry body, and apparently like to steal your caving gear. I personally did not see an Alux this trip.
Paul entering the “alternate” entrance
Gil, who founded an NSS chapter in this region (Gruta de Paamul),
and who
doesn't wear a helmet while caving, seemed to enjoy scouting
points for
us. I switched from smart end to reading instruments.
(Shane: that
really was the worst “50” I have ever seen—you even dotted the
zero!)
Peter's team finished surveying their part of the cave, but we
didn't finish
ours. It was probably around this time that Joe and Paul
contracted
purple spots. I later received several of these purple
spots, but not to
the degree that they did. While the purple spots weren’t
initially
bothersome, Joe requested information from Will Harris who wrote:
"I did get a bunch of spots (over 50) while down there last year. After 3 or 4 days, they started itching. After a few more days, they started scabbing over and hurting a little while still itching. They finally started to heal after about a month, but the spots didn't go away for several months."
After survey for the day was done, Gil directed
us to a
cenote near a house with a multitude of dogs. Although it
was late in the
day, we were still charged $30 pesos to see a small, rather
uninteresting,
cenote. Joe composed some photographs at the back of the
cenote—Shane,
who was in the water, said that it was fairly gross back there.
Back at Akumal, we went for another night snorkel.
The Brothers “Pock”
The Easy Way Rent a Car guy didn't show up at 7
a.m. as was
previously stated. Unsurprised and undaunted, Peter called
them
again. Apparently, they hemmed and hawed that the switch was
supposed to
happen on Thursday at 9, then they said Thursday at 8, then
finally they said
that we could keep the Suzuki Grand Vitara for the rest of the
week at the original
rate.
After breakfast, we went to the CEA office to pay for our
lodging. Carlos
the accountant was there, and he took care of this for us.
Peter, Paul, and I set out for a morning snorkel but were
distracted by a very
karsty coastline with tidal pools. There were interesting
creatures,
flotsam, coral, and even a few holes that acted as geysers as the
waves rolled
in. Photographic opportunities abounded, and I wished I had
something
better than a point-and-shoot.
Gil was waiting for us at Río Secreto when we
arrived. Canadians had
already mapped the first cave to which Gil brought us, so we
didn't bother to
go in. The next cave that Gil wished to show us was tricky
to find.
We all did a bit of ridge walking—“jungle” style. Ridge
walking, of
course, yields new cave leads, and eventually someone happened
upon a cenote
with rather insistent bees. Having had several bad
interactions with
bees, I kept clear of that lead. This cenote might have been
dubbed
"Cenote Snake Pliskin," except that Peter later determined that it
was already name “Cenote Recovery,” named because a snorkeler died
under the
overhang. So, the name “Snake
Pliskin”
is still available if you have a cave to name.
Gil and Cyndie looking at the sketch
We finally found Gil's cave, which he had named Gruta Escondida de
Tara, and we
started mapping around 3 p.m. with the premise to stop at 6 p.m.
for
dinner. This cave was very, very nice containing
decorations, an
abundance of cave pearls, and much walking passage.
While surveying the cave, Gil suggested that we simply follow the
road East to
return to the highway rather than the longish drive we had done. He said there was a chain across the
road,
but normally it was down in the evenings.
Although the sun had already set, sitting in the dark were
a man and
woman at the chain. Peter talked with the man—or rather
listened to the
man—for a good ten minutes before he finally let us through.
The
conversation, in Spanish, apparently dealt with us getting
permission or going
back.
We went to Playa del Carmen for dinner. Peter suggested a
restaurant within a
cave, and this seemed unique and fitting, so we all agreed.
The place was
named “Alux,” named after the aforementioned Mayan mythical
creatures. As
I descended into the restaurant, I soon realized that it was
fairly posh, and I
was hopelessly under dressed in post-caving attire. It was
definitely the
most expensive restaurant to which we went on this trip.
Entrees were
$280 pesos and up. After some consideration, it was decided
that we would
instead go to the bar for a drink; then we would find dinner
elsewhere.
Seated in the lounge on couches and beanbag chairs, a waiter gave
us all bar
menus. When the waiter hadn't returned after 15 minutes, we
decided to
skip the drink after all and find a different venue. It was
an
interesting place, to be sure, and I was glad to have seen it and
snap some
photos.
Joe and Cyndie in rather posh surroundings
We tried a little restaurant across from a Zoomba gym, which added
some flavor
to our entertainment. Peter procured a few king-size bottles
of beer from
a nearby tienda. I had the chicken mole, the sauce of which
was amazingly
delicious! I do so much love good mole!
The total price for my dinner, including a soda, was only
$40 pesos! Plus, it was the best meal
I had on the
trip. This is one of the reasons I
love
Mexico.
Finally, we stopped at Soriana for a few more groceries including
avocados and
onion for guacamole. You simply must have guacamole while in
Mexico! Joe picked up a few blank CD-Rs so that we could
have alternate
tunes from the sole Meatloaf CD Peter brought.
There was a request for variety.
We met Gil at his place in Paamul. He and his wife have a pretty tricked out palapa/mobile home there. After he and Peter discussed computer related caving things, we left to continue mapping Gil's cave, Gruta Escondida de Tara.
Cave pearls
That evening, as I drove back to the highway along the
non-chain-route, I
nearly ran over a snake. I stopped the vehicle, drove in
reverse, and
uttered the single word: snake to appease the curiosity in the
vehicle.
Several peeps got out to take a look while I put on my
flip-flops. As I
approached the snake, Peter said, “someone should get a
camera.”
Fortunately, my cave pack was toward the top of the gear pile, so
I was able to
snap a few shots of the rather sizable snake before it slithered
into the
jungle. The snake was a Fer de Lance—the first (and only)
that I have
ever seen. I had heard that these snakes are dangerous, so I
looked them
up. The Internet (which is always reliable!) suggested that
the Fer de
Lance is the most dangerous snake of Central and South America,
causing more
human deaths than any other American reptile. Yesterday we
were clomping
through the jungle—it sure makes you think.
My first Fer de Lance!
That night we ate in Puerto Adventuras. I had quesadillas
with chicken.
Shane, Cyndie, and I went for a night snorkel. We saw: a lionfish, a parrotfish, a flounder, and a sting ray. How cool is that?
Friday morning I had some issues with one of my
contact
lenses. The left eye progressively got worse as I drove
on.
Finally, I tried a trick of which I had heard, but had never yet
tried: put the
lens in your mouth, then back in your eye. This actually
worked pretty
well, except that, shortly after, my eye started to burn. It
must have
been residual habanero from breakfast. I tossed the lens—the
day would be
a day with glasses.
At Playa del Carmen, Peter obtained permission to see caves near
an all terrain
vehicle (ATV) tourist place. We drove to the ATV campus and
met Gil
there. The business model of this
place
is to explore a rather largish jungle estate and see certain
destinations such
as a cenote (we didn't see) and a cave (we did see) with a
skylight,
archeological “throne”, and lake room.
With the proper permission, the man onsite, Diego was very
friendly and
hospitable, giving us a map and telling us where things
were. He said we
could go anywhere we wanted as long as we were out of sight when
the tour
occurred, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Diego informed us that the caves in this area weren’t named.
I believe
Peter called the overall area Sistema Kana Kiwi. We scouted
a few smaller
cave offerings, and then we decided to map the largish cave with
skylight,
throne, and lake room mentioned above. There was a large
electric light,
just inside the cave, undoubtedly to illuminate the lake room for
the
tour. I would have liked to see it in operation, but there
was no battery
when we went inside.
Skylight. The throne is on the left.
Peter's group surveyed the entrance area while our group started
past the lake
room. There was a lot of passage. Since our
group was a
little light on sketching paper, Cyndie erased some data already
entered to
free up paper. We had fun labeling our points with an “X”,
using the
Mayan “sh” sound. “What point am I at?”
“sh-twelve.” I guess
you had to be there.
Dinner was at “Tu Parador,” a restaurant that served bread instead
of corn
chips and salsa. A caver friend, Vickie Siegel, once told me
that any
restaurant that had paintings of the food they served painted on
the side of
the building would necessarily be good.
The largish margaritas were in plastic tumblers—only one
was
needed. This restaurant was a little more upscale than
some—a man took
the napkins apart for us!—but the prices were reasonable. I
had to admit
that, although the ambiance and presentation was excellent, the
food wasn't as
delicious as the $40 peso mole I had two nights before.
Peter had heard that there was a cave entrance somewhere nearby,
so he asked
the owner of the restaurant about it. The owner told us he
knew of the
cave, and it was just a quick walk down the sidewalk. After
dinner, we
went in that direction to take a look. Our caving gear was
still in the
vehicle, so no one had a light, thus our search was ineffective. Still, we poked around anyway. It
was
at this time that a woman, apparently waiting for a bus, gave us
the third
degree regarding getting appropriate permissions, etc. She
was a very
officious, meddlesome, sour woman whose attitude brought me down.
The decision was made that Gil would take
several of us
cavers back to Casa Valentina to meet a guide and ridge
walk. I opted to
go back to Sistema Del Tercer Ojo with Cyndie and Shane to mop up
the remaining
passage we hadn't finished. We thought this would take only
a few hours,
then we could do touristy things: Tulum to see ruins and/or
cenotes for
snorkeling. The cave, however, just wouldn't stop!—and it
was all tight,
twisty passage. We didn't finish our survey until 3:45 p.m.,
and then we
hurried to get out of the cave. Needless to say, we never
made it to the
ruins at Tulum, and although we made a dash to hit a cenote, there
were none to
our liking in the immediate vicinity. One of the cenotes we
checked, Labna-ha, cost $30
USD to do one of the
tours, or $70 USD for all three (snorkel, dry cave, and zip
line). We
balked at the tourist prices. Mexico isn't like it used to
be.
Driving back to CEA in Akumal, we continued farther to see the bay
beyond. We found the Yal-ku Lagoon, which was really quite
beautiful with
interesting sculptures. Having only 45 minutes before they
closed, we
asked if we could take a look at the cenote. The guy said we
could, “but
don't go in the water.”
Our peeps had already returned when we arrived back at the
room. They had
seen six or so caves.
After a quick shower, I made an enormous batch of guacamole in the
kitchen. Carlos, the accountant, was there frying fish in a
curry-flavored oil. I shared some tequila with Carlos while
we both
prepared our food. After I was done making the guacamole,
Carlos gave me
a fish fillet to share with my group. His generosity was
incredible! I invited him to join us for guacamole, and that
he should
bring the fish since my hands were full. When we reached the
room, he
invited the group to join him in his room where he added
tortillas, rice,
carrots, etc. to the fare. He put on some chill tunes, and
we had a nice
time munching and conversing.
Carlos the accountant
My hunger was sated, but the rest of the group
went to get
tacos.
Toward the evening, I noticed that I was starting to get poison
ivy.
Foo. Little did I know what was coming.
Peter, Paul, Joe, and I awoke much too early at 3:50 a.m., finished packing our gear, and then hit the road. Around Playa del Carmen, we were tapped ~$40 USD for not having the rear window visible. Of course, the officer only saw this after he had pulled us over—he was looking for an excuse. Originally, the officer wanted $3000 pesos, stating that the judge mandates this amount, but thankfully Peter was able to talk him down. This is just price of going to Mexico, I suppose; but I can't help but think that this is bad on many levels.
After dropping Peter and Paul at Terminal 2 of Cancun
International, Joe and I
drove down to Puerto Morelos for breakfast and to kill some time
on the beach
while waiting for our respective flights. I had huevos a la
Mexicana once
again, and it was good. I was a little unsure of the
location of Easy Way
Rent a Car, so Joe tried to get a Wi-Fi signal at different points
within
Puerto Morelos. Joe later showed me an E-mail that stated
the data rate
for his AT&T phone: $19.95 USD / MB while in Mexico.
That is why we
searched for Wi-Fi. He finally got a signal from a beach
house. I
was able to captured a few interesting pictures at the beach
before the rain
started—then we headed back toward the airport.
Joe — At Journey’s End
It turned out that Easy Way Rent a Car was very easy to
find. One exit
past the airport I recognized the nearby Pemex and turned
in. I put only
$50 pesos into the tank, which didn't really raise the needle
much, but the
rental car guy didn't charge us. He was a nice guy who
didn't speak
English. There was no charge for a dirty vehicle
either. He dropped
us off at the airport where I made sure to get back the blank
credit card slip
I had signed when I rented the car. At the airport, Joe and
I parted
ways, at least for a few hours.
It turned out that Spirit Airlines doesn't allow check-in until
three hours
before a flight, so I made my way to Starbucks for a grande
coffee—$36
pesos. There was Wi-Fi, but I had no pressing need, so I
sipped my coffee
and fleshed out this trip report.
A few hours later, I checked my bags and passed through
security. It is
my general practice to bring an empty bottle through security so
that I can
fill it at a drinking fountain before getting on the flight.
Oh yeah, I
was in Mexico. I tossed my water bottle and decided to
simply buy a liter
on the other side. This was the MOST EXPENSIVE WATER I have
ever bought
in my life. $59 pesos. That's a $5 USD liter of
water. Dios
mío!
The flight was rather uneventful (in my opinion, the best kind),
and I slept
for about 45 minutes. An hour later I was back in Florida,
and a few
hours after that I was back home.
On the downside, I contracted the worst case of poison ivy I have ever had. Some might remember my perpetual oozing/crusty pant-leg from my last Laguna de Sanchez trip. I would trade that episode for this one in a heartbeat. Still, I can't complain too much. There is a saying, “you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” Similarly, you can’t make huevos a la Mexicana without breaking a few eggs.
I asked Joe about the purple dots, and he stated:
“The doctor had some fancy name for them, and said they could be many things. Though, since I had no other symptoms, and everyone else got them, he says they are most likely bug bites. I have been calling them Mayan chiggers or the stay the f*** out of our caves curse. They are doing exactly as Will said they would and are quite annoying.”
It is unfortunate that border issues between the US and Mexico exist and have impacted caving, and tourism in general. Over the past several years I have gained not only an appreciation for Mexico, but also a certain fondness. Like many adventures to Mexico, this was rather unique and novel. I am happy to have gone, and I am thankful that cavers persevere despite obstacles.