Cancun 2001
Quick Links: Casa Maya Beach Pericos Market 28 Chichen Itza Xelha More beach with Juan!
This is the trip we took Ms. M. I'm not sure if this is our first day but every day we were on the beach was like her first day.
Playing with seaweed in the warm water.
The Ocean Princess herself before she's transformed into a mermaid!
In the background you can see the best beach in Cancun at the Casa Maya! You will not find that many palapas anywhere else. Many have none. We never had trouble getting chairs in the shade of a palapa on any day, at any time of the day. You can't beat that. And look at the water. On this side of the Hotel Zone, it is green flags every day. On the other side it's red flags every day. You could never have your 10 year old this far out in the ocean for a leisurely picture like this over there.
Okay, this picture makes Swanky look pretty fat. He is not! Just goes to show how much holding in your stomach matters. Here, it all hangs out.
That's Xie looking very upset - I was actually very hot. The AC wasn't pumping out well that day. Look at how beautiful the beach looks behind me.
Another visit to Perico's! Johnny Boy was there again. The puppet was a little scary but a fun toy for him to play with.
Ms. M was bigger than he was!!
I love this artist. Reminds me of Lee, Maio, Keane & other big eyed artists
A great matador & bull painting. Would love to have this one.
Ms. M and Swanky outside a mall. Lookin' all spiffy in their hats!
YUMMY! Chicken heads! Fry 'em up! I missed the bowl of hearts and various other parts.
A sewing vendor at Market 28. A very small shop.
The largest papaya we have ever seen. The produce in the market was very fresh.
A coconut vendor outside the market. He cut off the top, made a hole and we drank all the coconut milk with a straw. He then split it open and cut all of the coconut out for us to take home. We used a little in the cocktails we made.
One of the many musicians that travel around from restaurant to restaurant hoping for a big fat tip! Check out Swanky and Ms. M in the background negotiating the price for her braids.
Before
After
An altar that was protected by a gate, chains and locks. It was in the middle of the markets surrounding Tulum, one of the main streets in Downtown Cancun.
This picture shows the gate and you can make out the tiny lights, candles.
A statue that I photographed somewhere on the outskirts of downtown. There were several lizards in this area.
A Tiki Restaurant! I wish. Loved the structure though, just like the A Frame that is popular with Polynesian culture.
At the Shrimp Bucket for dinner. The waterfront was beautiful there.
I love this restaurant! Open air and great food.
Xie catching some shade and waiting for her next cocktail.
A close up of Juan, the bucket of beer and Ms. M's virgin Pina Colada.
Close up!
I want to do this at home!
Here's Swanky preppin' the fruit that we purchased from the market. Pineapple, mangos, papaya. This made for excellent frozen drinks that we had plenty of for the next couple of days. We should have done this from the first day we arrived. The drink prices on the beach were very high!
Swanky and Ms. M enjoy the water together. Swanky spotted a barracuda under the boat behind them to the right when snorkeling.
Here is that Cuda. It was about 5 feet long. I would get up close to take a picture and it would shoot away at 175 miles an hour. Made me feel sickly slow. No way any human escapes these fish. Then I came up real slow and it stayed. I finally get to take a good picture. Then it starts looking at me. And maybe it's not running off this time! Crap! I'm outta here!
Can you see the Leopard Ray? This is just one of many great things we saw snorkeling off the beach at Casa Maya. Once you spot the eyes poking out, you start seeing these guys everywhere. We flushed this one out for a pic.
Xie and Swanky enjoyin' some shade and a beer.
Buried in the sand!
I was so scared in this picture. This was taken on the top of a pyramid that we climbed. 91 steps to the top. I was wearing flip flops that were drenched by the time I reached the top. I wish I could've enjoyed the scenery more but I had to think of a plan to get down! I'm so glad there's no photos of that!
The observatory. Our guide told us that a pool of water sits in the center so that the Mayan people could view the stars and planets.
A place of sacrifice
We didn't get many pictures of this place and the underwater pictures are a disappointment.
This mutha was the size of a VW! Well, it was huge. Unless you have really long arms, you could not reach all the way around this fish to hug it. If you are into that sort of thing...
These fish are maybe a foot long.
This is Madeline underwater at Xel-Ha.
I was sick this didn't turn out. Under the bridge at Xel-Ha, inches away from you, are hundreds of huge fish! Each blob in this picture is a fish that's 3-5 feet long. It's is freaky!
Xie snorkeling!
Until next time................................
