Living with Lizards

When I arrived in PE, I didn't think I would have roommates. My house is regularly visited by an number of reptile guests. Here is one that tried to camouflage on my stove top.

 Another, is hanging out near the ceiling. 

At first, I was surprised by their frequent visits, but have learned that they are good housemates to have. In a tropical climate, there are lots of bugs, scorpions, and spiders. The lizards eat the bugs, so they help prevent me from getting nasty bites and stings. 

Around town there are some very big iguanas that patrol for larger unwanted pests, like mice or other rodents. This is one that lives in a hole near the school property, and was very difficult to catch on camera. 

Having lots of lizards around also provides for some entertainment. I like to try to sneak up on them with my camera, but they are quite elusive and very camera shy. I am getting better at spotting them and will continue to try catching them doing their liz-biz.

Destination Puerto Escondido

Well, I made to Puerto Escondido. It took two planes and an overnight stay at the Mexico City airport to get here. The minute I stepped out of the plane I was hit with sunshine and salty sea air. I was able to catch a taxi/van directly to the place I will reside for the next six weeks. 

Puerto Escondido Spanish Language School is located right on Playa Zicatela (Zicatela Beach). Zicatela is known for its ferocious waves and summertime is the season when the waves get BIG.

Here is a video from Youtube that portrays the intensity and size of the waves here.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "I know Steffy, is a rock star surfer, but there is no way she can surf those waves and survive". Well, you are right, I'm not that good, and there is a much more modest surf break up the road, which is much more aligned with my ability level. But my porch view is the best seat in the town to watch the pros and locals do work at Zicatela.

My accommodations are best described as rustic. I have an ocean view bungalow with a kitchen and bathroom. I also have a balcony/porch with my very own hammock. There is an insect situation here, so I am also provided a mosquito net that covers my whole bed. I'm sure glad i brought lots of bug spray!

Scooter Adventure

Scooter Adventure

Cozumel has more to offer than just scuba diving, and doing five dives in two days is exhausting. On our third day, we decided to take a break from scuba and explore dry land. The island has a road that circles around the perimeter, so we rented scooters and spent the day scooting around Cozumel. The scooters were so much fun to ride; they had 125 motors and could go about 60km/h. There are tons of beaches, restaurants, bars and shops to explore, and anytime we saw something interesting we pulled over to investigate. Check out the video of our scooter trip around Cozumel.

Night Dive

Night Diving is AWESOME, there are tons of different animals that are active only at night and are worth taking the plunge in the dark to see. Equiped with an LED flashlight and instructions on how to properly perform the diving signals, dad and I took off for Paradise Reef at sundown. When we decended into about 30' it was still light enough to see the bottom, and as the dive progressed it slowly got darker. It wa not scary at all, it was exciting to see what comes out at night! The lobsters were much more active and tended to come out of thier hiding spots more. There were lots of volleyball sized crabs crawling around the coral and rocks.

The sting rays were also very active and are easy to find because their eyes glow when I shine the light on them.

Also, the seahorses like to come out at night and they were so cute!

By far the best animal sightings were the squid and octopus. I like the squids because sometimes they will release thier ink, and the way they swim together looks like they are underwater dancing.

The octopus are so cool, because they change colors as you watch them move around. The best is when they fully expand out and get huge.

Night diving is a fantastic experience. The reef truly comes to life at night, and I would totally go night diving agian in the future.

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Dad and I checked into the Hotel Barracuda on Isla Cozumel, a funky orange building with its own scuba diving operation. 

                                      View from Room, the arch is the dock                                       Street view of hotel

                                              where the dive boats pick up/drop off                       

They have boats, they have gear, all we had to do was show up at the dock right outside our room at 8am, and off we went to our first dive spot. Dive master Julio took us to the Palancar Gardens, a shallow dive in 40’-70’ range, which is known for its stunning coral formations and abundance of life to see. This was a drifting dive, meaning the current propels the divers, and when done correctly very little swimming is required. The less swimming performed the less air is used, so the group can stay under for longer periods of time. We stayed under for 50 minutes and I went as deep as 90’, which is the deepest dive I have done to date. I enjoy drift dives because they are easy and quite relaxing; I just float along and view the marine life that goes by.

Dad descending

Moray Eel

Lobster Club

Coral Formations

¡Adiós! Cancún

On our last day in Cancun, Dad and I did some shopping, and picked up a few trinkets in the inner downtown part of they city. The downtown area is a 20 minute bus ride away from the hotel zone, which is where all the people live who work at the hotels. It was a lower key area, and we bought some fresh baked goods like breads, cake, and pastries. 

Cancun was a blast, I’m very sunburned, even with spf 50 applied multiple times per day. Swimming in the pure turquoise refreshing 80˚ocean, and walking up and down white powdery sand beaches, and then retreating to the pool for swim-up bar served margaritas are my best experiences. The hardest part of my stay in Cun-town is surviving a brutal hangover. Friday morning, it’s time to pack up and move out of the Royal Sands and venture over to Isla Cozumel for the scuba portion of the trip (expect some under water pics/video). 

Cancun Days

Hanging out at the Royal Sands Hotel and Downtown Cancun

The view from my room in Cancun

Beach Time

(Steffy+Chair)^Pool =Max{Relax}

Local marketing strategies for night clubs like Coco Bongo & Señor Frog's bar, as seen from our beach station.

Decorating items for dinner at the Taco Factory

Guess those banners worked, because we ended up at Coco Bongo with unlimited drinks all night!

The best meal was the Empanadas, a local favorite, it's a deep fried hot pocket with meat and cheese on the inside. Topped with grilled onions, sour cream, and salsa verde. YUM! Also, I really liked the arrachera steak burritos, they were tender and flavorful. The one thing about Cancun that I don't like is that the store sales people are relentless and shout a lot as you walk by the stores, which can be overwhelming at times when they all swarm up all at once. Overall, Cancun has the best beaches and pools with swim up bars, can't complain! 

Hola, I have just landed in Cancun and unpacked my bags in the Royal Sands resort. It is so nice here and I already have my pink bikini on and ready to hit the beach and swim up bar. More to come later!

Last minute to-do items

Before I leave town, I am going to the bank to exchange US Dollars to Pesos. The exchange rate is pretty good right now in favor of the US Dollar.

I am all packed and my bag weighed in at 44.6lbs under the Airline's limit of 50lbs. I used my dad's handy dandy luggage scale to get an idea of how heavy my bright blue duffel bag is. Shoes and shampoo seemed to be the biggest contributors to the heaviness of my bag.

I baked some delicious chocolate chip cookies from scratch for the airplane ride, since I do not care for most airplane food. 

Day Before Departure

As a newly minted college graduate, it's time for me to venture into the dreaded "Real World". Before, I begin hunting for jobs and signing a lease on a condo I am going to take a 7 week trip to Mexico. I will visit a few different areas along my journey, some alone, some with my Dad, and some with my boyfriend, Bob. The areas in which I will be alone are far away from drug cartel operations and violence (according to the US Department of State website), so please try not to worry too much about my safety, Mom. Below, is an overview of my Itinerary:

Tue 12-Jun-12
San Francisco (SFO)	to	Phoenix (PHX)	652 mi (1,049 km)  Duration: 1hr 51mn
Phoenix (PHX)	to	Cancun (CUN)	1,811 mi (2,915 km)  Duration: 4hr 0mn

Thu 21-Jun-12
Cancun (CUN)	to	Mexico City (MEX)	820 mi (1,320 km)  Duration: 2hr 25mn

Fri 22-Jun-12
Mexico City (MEX)	to	Puerto Escondido(PXM)	286 mi (460 km)  Duration: 1hr 30mn

Tue 31-Jul-12
Puerto Escondido(PXM)	to	Mexico City (MEX) Arrive 4:35 pm	286 mi (460 km)  Duration: 1hr 30mn
Mexico City (MEX)	to	San Francisco (SFO)	1,875 mi (3,018 km)  Duration: 4hr 50mn