Inland, Dreaming of Waves

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

We rode our bikes to Yal-ku lagoon and snuck in the back way, by someone’s house. There were lots of fish—several silvery species, including one with black tails; fish with yellow fins all around, rainbow-colored fish that looked like there were wearing lipstick, a dark fish with orange side fins and purple one on top, a trumpet fish, a barracuda, and a big brown-black grouper just hangin’ on the bottom. there was a school of inch-long fish, perhaps the ones we swam through so long ago in Akumal on our first visit. There was another school of much larger fish, which were slender and long and had black tails. They kept swimming one way and then doubling back on each other.

The water sounded like it was crackling. Todd thought it might be the sound of water seeping into the lagoon from the groundwater. All I know is that it was different from the sound I hear while diving, which sounds like a boat engine going over but must be the sound of the waves on the surface, 60 or more feet above us.

We had a veggie burger and a smoothie for breakfast at Mango Café. Then we set out on the 11 o’clock dive.

It was my best dive ever in Akumal. We went to Sponge Reef and dove to 80 feet because the surf was so high. When the boat was going out, sometimes a lot of water slopped over the side. We dove with three other men—two Scotts and a Bob. One of the guys said he had been certified years ago but hardly ever dove. That turned out to be a bad thing for him because apparently he didn’t remember much of his training.

I was amazed by all the sponge coral (which look like vases) and all their sizes and colors. Other sites in Akumal had only the black sponge corals, and I wasn’t even sure if they were sponge coral because they were almost closed at the top. There were lavender ones and orange ones and more greenish ones. I even saw a patch of bright green coral. There wasn’t really any elkhorn coral at this site, though I did see staghorn. This coral was more the mounding type, at times 15 feet tall. We saw a small barracuda, which followed Todd for a bit, a porcupinefish, a small puffer, a green moray, and a turtle in coral. There were tons of other fish. As we went on, the coral became less varied and there were more patches of bleaching and more coral debris, probably caused by Hurricane Wilma in the 1990s. I liked this landscape—lots of coral canyons.

Two of the Scotts/Bobs blew through their air in about 20 or 30 minutes and had to go up. Then they sat in the waves for 10 minutes and got sick.

When I got back to the dive shop, I discovered I’d been diving with 14 pounds. I’ll have to add checking that the dive shop has given me the right amount of weight to my list of things to do before a dive.

After the dive, we rode our bikes into Akumal and ate at La Loncheria. Some man on a four-wheeler said something to me as I rode along, but I couldn’t understand him. Todd had choc-puc (Mayan pork) and I had res asado con mole (grilled beef with mole sauce). It was good, less smoky and more spicy than at La Lunita. Then we rode back to the hotel to have our massages. My masseuse was named Mirea and grew up in Mexico City. I didn’t realize it had a population of 22 million. She said the holidays were the best time to visit because there are fewer people then (maybe they leave the city to go home to their towns?). She lives in Playa del Carmen but works in Akumal and prefers Akumal to Mexico City. She learned massage at a spa in Playa del Carmen and then went to school in Tulum and took a five-month course.

I told Mirea I was a copyeditor and she said I had the “same energy” as a friend of hers who writers for newspapers in Mexico City.

Now I’m writing as I sit on the balcony, which faces east, so evening is a good time to sit here. The terns fly by, whistling royally. The pelicans dive, doing somersaults as they bills touch the water. I think they are all playing in the last rays of the setting sun.

We went to La Lunita again for dinner (lalunita@prodigy.net.mx). There is a sign on the street indicating the restaurant, but it’s across the street in a hotel. You follow the signs to the back and there it is, a small white room with a patio in back and a bar separating the main room from another room. There is an outdoor pool off to the right. It is always crowded—Todd and I decided that if we eat there again we’ll make reservations. It had beige imprinted tiles on the floors and 1 wall. The other walls are finished in a rough plaster, probably on some type of cement-block construction. There is Mayan-themed art on the walls.

I got Filete de Boquinete con Mantequilla and Almendras (140 pesos). The waiter said that was snapper. Todd had crusted salmon with tomato sauce. I asked the waiter where the salmon came from, and he said the Pacific. We had the chocolate-covered frozen banana with ice cream and pecans (45 pesos) again, but because they stuck us in a hot, dark corner (we had to use a flashlight to read the menu) and neglected us for a while, we weren’t as happy with dinner this time. I kept thinking how my legs in the too-tight pants were either like sausages or very similar to the bananas coated with chocolate, and also how it looked like there were two turds in raspberry sauce on the plate. Then I started thinking about how much weight I had gained on this trip and how all the tourists in Akumal and most of the workers are fat. Then I realized that everyone in this restaurant was white (except the staff) and that I’d seen only one black person on this trip.

So it's probably a good thing we're going home tomorrow.

posted by Price of Silence @ 8:48 PM