Month: September 2006

DINNER 247: Monday, September 4, 2006

DINNER 247: Monday, September 4, 2006

Dinner tonight was the Seafood-themed buffet at the Barcelo Maya Caribe Resort. We had delicious cilantro shrimp, garlic scallops, cowfish, and more with our friends Dawn & Jon.

MEXICO 2006: Day 2, Monday September 4, 2006

MEXICO 2006: Day 2, Monday September 4, 2006

Today, we rose early — about 7:30 — since the sun comes up and is ferociously bright by 7:00am. We made our way down to the buffet for breakfast, which, to Wendy’s delight, included fresh fried doughnuts. Breakfast was yogurt, scrambled eggs, cereal with milk, fresh…

MEXICO 2006: Day 3, Tuesday September 5, 2006

MEXICO 2006: Day 3, Tuesday September 5, 2006

We got up early today, and with a purpose… We were diving this morning, with two dives — one to Canyones and one to another very close dive site. Grabbed breakfast at the buffet (fruit, bread, yogurt, cereal, and some meats & cheeses) and then headed to the dive shop where we met Jochen, our divemaster, and Majo our videographer.

Drew, scuba diving in Mexico, 2006Our gear was quickly loaded on the boat and we got all hooked up to check our pressures. My tank was a little bit low, so Jochen called for a replacement and we waited a few minutes for the new tank to be brought. I checked the pressure and it was fine, but in my haste, I forgot to connect my inflator hose the second time. This would come back to be embarassing in a few moments at the dive site. Because we were a very small group of customers, we were taken to a first dive site very close to the shore — probably less than 10 minutes out. We Jacques Cousteau’d off the side of the boat and were into the water in no time. Expecting a less-than-satisfactory dive based on the placement, we were pleasantly surprised at how clear and vibrant the site was as we started our descent. By the time we got to depth, I tried to inflate my hose and found that it wasn’t hooked up. Staring at it dumbly for a moment, Jochen came over and with a look of “dumbass” in his eye, calmly hooked me up and I was good to go.

P1010009.JPG  Majo, our videographer  Bubbles glinting in the water are very beautiful

Our dive was fairly uneventful after my inflator hose issue, though Wendy had a brief moment of her own. We saw a Hawksbill Turtle, 2 spotted Eagle Rays, one Green Turtle, black durgan, parrotfish, queen angels, squid, barracuda, and pufferfish on this dive, which lasted 49 minutes.

Sea turtle being filmed by Majo  P1010040.JPG  P1010028.JPG

After a decent surface interval (we actually came back to the shore, got dried off, had lunch, and reported back to the boat), we went back out to Cuevitas/Angelitas for the second dive. Mikey, the manager of the dive shop, decided to be our divemaster this time. The shop was very slow, so they were ‘sharing the wealth’ of two self-sufficient divers. We dove with a guy called Bill who was pretty random underwater, sort of fun to watch him flail around as Wendy & I were calm, collected divers. He got cut pretty early, which was no surprise since he was all over the place, and Mikey, Wendy, and I enjoyed a full 50-minute dive. In Bill’s defense, he was a quarry diver enjoying his first-ever ocean dive.

Majo filming!  Bill did a dive with us  P1010132.JPG

After the dives, we came back to get cleaned up and hung out at the pool and the bar with Jon & Dawn. Dinner was Asian-themed at the buffet, and the sushi was actually pretty good — especially one that was wrapped around the outside with cream cheese.

DINNER 248: Tuesday, September 5, 2006

DINNER 248: Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Dinner tonight was the Asian-themed buffet at the Barcelo Maya Caribe Resort. We had sushi, noodles, and other dishes with an Asian twist with our friends Dawn & Jon.

MEXICO 2006: Day 4, Wednesday September 6, 2006

MEXICO 2006: Day 4, Wednesday September 6, 2006

Another beautiful day, two more awesome dives… We got to the dive shop early and received scowls from Steffi, one of the dive shop employees who we really connected with. We’d promised to bring her a cappucino and completely forgot. Our dives took us to…

DINNER 249: Wednesday, September 6, 2006

DINNER 249: Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Tonight was a special dinner included as part of our vacation package. Wendy & I dined at the Mexican restaurant on the Barcelo Maya Caribe Resort. We enjoyed the following:

* Amuse bouche: Great salsa, guacamole, shredded white cheese, and a few chips.

* Shrimp crepes for Drew — very tasty and fresh.

* Green salad for Wendy, with crab, lettuce, avocado, 1000 Islands dressing, grapefruit sections.

* Grilled shrimp — 8 giant shrimp with a tequila sauce, rice alongside. Some vegetables, too, including tourneed (well, sort of) carrot.

* Dessert was Flan de Coco for Wendy, and a Begniet for Drew.

* We had “Cafe de Fuego”, which was the result of the following method: Two glasses rimmed in sugar, heated over flame. Xtabentun (a local herbacious liquor) is poured into the glasses and flamed. Coffee (decaf for us, please) is added, then whipped cream, more Xtabentun, Tequila, Kahlua, and then two flaming gravy boats are used to pass flaming Xtabentun from hand to hand in a dramatic, beautiful display. This is then added to the coffee. Stir. Drink. Savor! It’s delicioso.

DINNER 250: Thursday, September 7, 2006

DINNER 250: Thursday, September 7, 2006

After a very full day (which started at 3:30am!) of snorkeling with Whale Sharks, we hit the Italian-themed buffet at the Barcelo Maya Caribe Resort for Italian food through the Mexican lens. After dinner, we headed back to the room for showers and bed!