Day 6- Cozumel

Day 6 in Cozumel SUCKED. We got off the boat to a slightly overcast sky and sprinkling.

As we walked around sightseeing we found that the shops in the port area were full of overpriced trinkets and really pushy salespeople. Apparently In mexico my spanish name is "Hey Lady"

We took a cab down to the Aqua Safari pier about 10 minutes away. There we found souvenir stores MUCH more to our financial liking. It was SO much cheaper away from the port.

EXAMPLE:

port: 1 litre mexican vanilla was $14

away from port: Same litre (exact same) was $6

port: T-shirts $8 each

away from port: exact same shirts 3 for $10

port: biodegradable sunblock $14

away from port: exact same sunblock $8

In cozumel you have to wear special biodegradable sunblock. It helps protect the reefs.

We bought Finn a Pan Flute (now he has his own instead of always trying to play with the ones Charles got in Peru). Peter got a wallet. They each got a big shell with a picture of chichen itza carved into it. I got my parents a bottle of pure mexican vanilla and I also got myself a GIANT bottle of Mexican vanilla. All in all we only spent like $25.

We then went to Tanzanite International. I picked out a BEAUTIFUL Tanzanite ring. It was a thick white gold band with channel set diamonds down each side. On the top was a rounded rectangle 1 carat tanzanite stone. It was a beautiful bluish purple. It was just gorgeous. I talked them down to $275, including free sizing AND it would be ready in 2 hours. We went to pull out the Visa card and realized it was still in the safe in our room on the boat. We didnt have enough cash on us to buy it. And with our tour starting in 30 minutes there was no way I could have gotten back to the boat for the visa and then gotten all the way back to get the ring. I was bummed. It was just so perfect for me. So I was a little sad.

We then went on a Glass Bottom Boat Tour. And by Glass Bottom I mean a little boat that had a strip of foggy plexiglass on the floor, surrounded by a wall type structure. It actually made me seasick to look down over this wall into the plexiglass.

We stopped in several locations to snorkel. The snorkeling itself was really cool. Lots of great coral. Deep water, big coral with lots of tunnels and drops and twists and turns.I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were sunny. But the rain picked up, and it started to thunder and lightening. It was really overcast so a lot of the pictures didnt turn out. the colors were murky and blah.

This was just a cool picture. It is me underwater in Cozumel, but the rest of me is above water.So as the rain started to really pick up and the lightening started to strike all around us we were herded back into the boat and headed back. We had a serious Gilligans Island moment. It was raining so hard and the boat was getting tossed around. It was COLD. I almost wanted to grab Charles cell phone out of our bag and text my mom and dad and say "take care of the boys when we die". But the person driving the boat did a great job of getting us through it.

When we got back to the pier, of course, it stopped raining and the sun started to come out again. We were SOAKING wet. So we went to McDonalds to change and to eat. Let me just say I think they are deep frying their fries in some sort of beef lard. The fries were a nice dark yellowy brown color, just like they used to be here in the states before all the health people went apesh** about our heart and cholesterol and nonsense like that. THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!! I dont know what they are frying them in, but it is a heck of a lot better than what we've now got going on with our french fries here in America.

Yes...we ate at McDonalds. You knew it was bound to happen. Plus the bathrooms were for paying customers only.

After McDonalds we took a cab back to the pier and did a little more shopping, I got an outdoor plaster aztec calander to mount on a tree or wall, or use as a garden stone.

we then got back on the boat,and took nice hot showers to get the chill out of our bones.

I was really disappointed in Cozumel. I think I would have enjoyed it more had our tour been better, had the weather been better etc. Oh well. Cant win em all.

Day 3- Grand cayman snorkeling and Stingray City- Part 2

We used Moby Dick Tours for our excellent excursion.

We did the snorkel stop and stingray city.

We took a 25 minute boat ride out to the lagoon. Grand cayman has the worlds largest salt water lagoon. It was amazing. You could see exactly where the lagoon was. It was this beautiful turquoise water and you could see the coral. Then surrounding it you could see the deep cobalt blue of the sea where it dropped off to 6000 feet. The water was so warm, yet refreshing. Our guides were FANTASTIC. They taught us all about stingrays, how to feed them etc.

We went snorkeling first. Unfortunately not many of those pictures turned out very well. Darn underwater cameras.

But the snorkeling was great. Lots of beautiful coral and interesting fish. one of the best snorkeling stops I have ever done.

Then we motored over the the sandbar where the stingrays were. They were HUGE!

A long time ago fishermen used to come out to that area to clean their fish and drop the chum overboard. The stingrays started equating boat motors with free food. Eventually the fishermen realized the stingrays were very sweet and docile. so now you can get in the water with them. They are like big puppy dogs. They are SO SWEET! And so very smart. Most other tours do not allow you to feed them yourself. Only the guide does and then they take your picture and sell it to you. With Moby Dick we all got to feed the stingrays and they took our pictures with our own cameras etc. The guides each had their own "babies". These stingrays would go to the specific guides. Our one guides baby was "sandy". Sandy was all the way on the other side of the sandbar when we got there. She recognized his voice or something and came flying over and JUMPED into him. Another guide had esther. Another guides baby was Notchy.

Here is charles with a live Conch he found. (yes he put it back where he found it)

We got to feed the stingrays. It is certainly an interesting experience.You hold the food in your fist, with your thumb tucked firmly in. They come over your hand and suck the food right out of your hand. They have a 10 horsepower suction and if you are not careful will leave you with a hickey that can last MONTHS. Notchey gave charles a little hickey on his hand when he tried to feed her with too small a piece of chum.

we had a great experience on Grand Cayman. And here we are back on the ship, tired and sunbleached and REALLY sunburnt. Did you know that in The caribbean SPF 30 is like wearing no sunscreen at all?? Yeah. Charles got REALLY sunburnt and I got pretty red around the straps on my bathing suit.