Inland, Dreaming of Waves

Friday, February 23, 2007

We skipped the morning dives and walked in Akumal. It was hot. We took our laundry to the lavanderia, where we’ll pick it up at 6 on Saturday. Then we went to Ixchel Boutique to spend the gift certificate we won at the CEA gala. It was a woman’s boutique, so I bought a pair of black silk shorts.

Then we sat on the sand in the shade of some palm trees, near the Akumal Dive Shop. Some men asked us if we want to go fishing or snorkeling. I didn’t remember people accosting us like that in 2004. I didn’t like it, but I simply said, “No, gracias.”

We had forgotten to bring a towel. We could have sat in a beach chair near Lol-ha, but we would have had to pay for it. There was a “Propriedad Privada” sign on the fence surrounding the snack bar. It made me angry that all this development for tourists like myself could cut off the locals’ access to the beach. They should be like Hawaii, which makes all beaches public beaches, whether there’s a resort on them or not.

We walked out on the pier, which was public, and took a picture of the cannons that once guarded Akumal from pirates. We couldn’t get to them because that would have required crossing private property.

Just when I was starting to get grumpy in a “Yeah, I’ll come here but I’m going to be disapproving anyway,” stupid sort of way, a group of disabled adults children and their caretakers came to the beach and sat under trees to our left. It was a small area, so they were really crowded in there. Some of them went down to the boats to go snorkeling, I think, or swim in the small swimming area. Beyond that perhaps 20 boats are anchored, more than were here in 2004. People snorkel among those boats, but that seems dangerous to me. I saw a man with 1½ legs in a wheelchair, a woman, her feet turned out severely, using a walker, some Down syndrome kids. They were like a breath of realism into the white tourist enclave that is Akumal.

As we walked to La Loncheria, a diner type of lunch place, we passed the white van those people must have arrived in, marked “DIF,” no doubt for the government agency that was taking them on this beach outing. La Loncheria is a little dive at the end of a Mexican-style strip mall (or, at least, the Maya Riviera type of strip mall) that serves great food. I had chicken tacos and Todd had chicken enchiladas with salsa verde and what passes for sour cream here, and we both had limonata (limeade).

Afterward, we went to the two grocery stores in Akumal, Chomak and Mercado de Akumal, which was much smaller. (Chomak is right next to La Loncheria.) Later in the week, the Mercado would mysteriously close for two days, and there was an official-looking “Clausurado” sign on the door, which must mean something like “closed by the authorities,” instead of the more usual “cerrado” (closed). There was also a sticker that I thought might have something to do with a union, since it had a name on it beginning with “Trabajadores” (workers). Then we took a taxi back to Vista Del Mar. I rested for a while and then went and found Todd near the dive shop.

The dive on Friday afternoon was to Las Redes (the nets), where we went on our first and third dives in Akumal. I was amazed by all the fish—I had remembered Akumal dive sites as being rather barren. We saw a huge black grouper, a turtle resting on coral, a lobster, 2 rays. The others saw a squid, but my mask was hard to see through—damn defog! It’s supposed to keep my mask from fogging up like a car windshield on a cold night, but it just makes my mask dirty. I had to keep letting water in my mask and clearing it so I could see things.

When we reached the surface, I had trouble getting into the boat. I got my weights up all right, but I couldn’t get out of my BCD. Plus I swallowed some seawater while switching from my regulator to my snorkel. We had to wait a while at the surface until the boat came around, and finally I starting floating face-down in the water instead of trying to keep my head above water because my inability to do so made me feel panicky.

When we got into shore, I asked José what to do. He said I should unhook one of my shoulder clips and then undo the waist clip and Velcro belt. Then it would be easier to slide out of it.

After the dive, I spoke with Shaleh, the instructor (that’s a higher level than dive master), if things had changed much in Akumal in the 9 years she’d been there. She said, yes, lots of development. She said the guy who ran the hotel had a hard time getting the dive shop permits. Akumal Dive Shop (in the main part of Akumal) didn’t want another dive shop nearby. They said Half Moon Bay was a protected area and that there shouldn’t be boats coming in and leaving oil and gas residue in the bay (tourists are asked to snorkel in shirts instead of using sunscreen because it damages the coral). But finally the owner got the permits.

We cleaned up after the dive and headed to La Buena Vida for a snack. We had avocados stuffed with ceviche, which is fish (or possibly meat, I’m not sure) “cooked” in lime juice. It was really good. I had a shot of 1800 tequila anejo, which I thought was a little harsh.

La Buena Vida is situated only a few feet from the water. There are long tables outside where groups can sit, or you can sit on stools in the cement or on a swing. There is also an upstairs dining room with high ceilings under a thatched roof and metal outline sculptures of a swordfish and a shark. There are metal sculptures at the door of horse skeletons with gas flames rising around them. It is almost always filled with white people and playing Bob Marley.

After spending some time in the room (I wrote in this journal and he surfed the web—the hotel has decent WiFi), we went to La Lunita for dinner. It’s farther down the North Akumal road toward Yal-ku Lagoon, which is a popular snorkeling place where fresh and saltwater mix. All the outside tables at La Lunita were taken, so we sat just inside the door, but it was still really windy. To my left was a small outdoor pool done in tile.

We had a spinach mushroom soup (50 pesos) and a Jicama, Beet, Carrot, and Cucumber Salad with Balsamic and Honey Reduction (50 pesos). They serve little crusty rolls of wheat bread that are hot and delicious. I had a shot of Centenario anejo, which I liked better than the 1800. I ordered Plantain and Walnut Stuffed Chicken Breast with Mole Poblano for my main course (135 pesos), and Todd had langostinos (langoustines; a type of shellfish between shrimp and lobster in size). I like the salad better than I liked the soup—there was something a little strange about all the spinach. Todd had a little trouble getting the meat out of the shells with his knife and fork. They didn’t give him anything to crack the shell. I liked the taste of the mole; it was smokier than I’ve ever had before because of the roasted chiles. We had a dessert that I wanted to have again—frozen bananas coated in chocolate ganache with chocolate ice cream.

La Lunita was the first truly upscale restaurant I’d been to in Mexico. But the waiters aren’t as solicitous there. They never come back and ask you how you like the food. I guess they figure if you don’t like it, you’ll complain.

posted by Price of Silence @ 9:01 PM