Akumal Journal
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
We get up early to heat to Akumal for some diving. Our plane is full and delayed. I sit next to Elmer and his wife, who is sensitive to perfume and the smell of some foods. I hope my beef sandwich doesn’t bother her. we got into Cancun and went through Customs, which didn’t take nearly as long as in November 2004, when we traveled to Akumal with Todd’s parents, Matt and Rachel and Elliot and Kristina, and Kent and his friend to spend Thanksgiving in Mexico.
We stepped out of the airport and there was a huge crowd of men holding signs with company names or names of people. It was a very male-dominated place—I’ve felt that other places in Mexico. As we walked through the airport, almost all the employees in the booths were male—there was the occasional woman. We got picked up by a guy from Akumal Vans, with whom Todd had previously made a reservation, and he drove us to the headquarters. Then a woman drove us to Akumal in a car. It took 1.5 hours from arrival to Akumal. I tipped her $20. I asked her about work, and she said she’d been working since 7 am—and she wouldn’t get back to Cancun from this trip until 6—a long day.
A work crew was widening the road at Akumal, and she had trouble finding the exit. Finally, we did.
We are in room 301 of the Vista Del Mar hotel in North Akumal, which is owned by a man who lives in New Mexico. It is near Akumal Dive Adventures, Mango Café, and La Buena Vida restaurant, which he also owns (those who stay at the hotel get a discount on dive rentals at ADA). It has a narrow road that is pitted with potholes in places and paved with pavers and cement in others (in front of really nice houses with “No Trespassing” signs). There are always short men working on the road (the Mayan/Mexican men I meet are almost all my height or shorter). The maids were white dresses with square, scalloped necklines and bright embroidery. They look Mayan. Todd and I were discussing the racial hierarchy here and where mestizos fit in. I told him that Mexico had much more of a mestizo culture than the United States. There is a even a monument in Akumal to a man who formed the first Euro-American family in 1511: Gonzalo Guerrero, from Palas de Noguer, Spain. He was shipwrecked near Akumal Beach and ending up marrying Xzazil, a Mayan princess.
The first night we walked into Akumal, about a mile, and stopped by the Centro Ecologico de Akumal. They had a silent auction in progress. It reminded me of the events Eco-Cycle used to throw, except CEA had Mexican vacations and stuff. Then we went to eat at La Cueva del Pescador, where we ate and had yummy shrimp tacos in November 2004. Both of us had shrimp: I had Camarones Tequilas and Todd had Camarones Diablos (a?). Then we walked home.
I slept pretty well the first night, but Todd had to get up and close the doors to the balcony because the sound of the surf kept him awake. I woke up Thursday morning at 6, which is 5 pm Denver time.
Our room is only about 10 by 10 feet. It has a white ceiling with a fan and a blue wash on the walls. Everything is tiled, which makes it easy to clean the floors. Bathroom: tile on floor, smaller, beige tile on wall, patterned tile as border. Warnings about the septic tank and the amount of time it takes hot water to reach the room. In reality: less than a minute. The showers were usually too hot.
posted by Price of Silence @ 9:05 PM
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