Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Firstly, a shout out to our newest reader, Mason John Herd, born on the 8th of May. Congrats to Pip and Darin on the latest addition to the family tree and we look forward to Jacob and Mason forming a classy halfback / 1st five combo for the Tasman Makos in seasons to come. Secondly, a handy lesson learned in bringing this report to you as the power has failed twice – save entries often…

We're back in continental America and have just spent 7 days in the Yucatan province of Mexico, on the eastern coast with the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea never far from our journeys. We managed to hook up with a couple of Strayans (Australians – Brett & Carrie) on our first night in Playa del Carmen and promptly headed out for 'mucho tacos y cervesas por favor' (an adaption on Bree's instruction that the only Spanish we needed was 'mucho tapas y cervesas por favor'). The Mexican taco is nothing like the kiwi variety constructed from aisle 7 ingredients available from your local Countdown. Consisting of a round flour tortillia no bigger than the palm of your hand and mystery meat, at 4 pesos (40 cents US) a hit you can't go too wrong and 3 is never enough.

It was fantastic catching up with fellow travelers for a couple of days and we had two good nights out with Brett & Carrie. Playa del Carmen is a bit of a tourist destination, with diving and water sports the bread and butter of the economy. The plethora of restaurants and bars along the main pedestrian street are all offering deals, so 2 for 1 Coronas and Margaritas were the drink of choice. And at the end of a big night out and with no kebab shops in sight, the 4 peso tacos are the best stop on the way home.

From Playa del Carmen, we made an epic journey inland to Chichen Itza, a significant Mayan ruin widely considered a modern wonder of the world. Despite the attendance of 3,000 other travelers, the near 40 degree heat and the 2,999 locals hawking god awful merchandise, we had a fantastic few hours wandering around the remains of this ancient Mayan city.

Our primary reason for visiting Playa del Carmen however was to get underwater and put our newly acquired Scuba diving skills to work. After a tour of a few of the 60 diving shops in town, we teamed up with Klaus (aka Klausiano Pavarotti), a German Master Diver and heir to the Bayer Asprin fortune (a fact confirmed with a google search). First up Klaus took us into the Caribbean Sea for two dives on local reefs. The diving was amazing, with 30 metres visibility, and marine life for Africa.

Buzzing from our first dives with Klaus, we threw the budget out the window and signed up for two further dives in the local Cenotes. Cenotes are inland limestone caves and caverns flooded with freshwater for which the Yucatan Peninsula is renowned. Only 300 people have died in Cenote dives, but Klaus assured us they were nearly all Dive Instructors who were too big for their boots/fins.

Diving in this environment takes you 20 metres underground, through narrow passages which open up into massive caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Soon after entering the Cenote, all natural light is lost and navigation relies on your flashlight and staying to marked trails. This experience was out of this world – it felt more like we were in space than underwater at times.

When Klaus is not taking people diving, he is taking the people he dives with out for a good, cheap Mexican lunch. This led to a surreal moment on a Cenote dive, where 20 metres underground we surfaced in a small air pocket, no bigger than a bathroom. While taking in this amazing environment and feeling the serenity, Klaus breaks the silence - “Do you guys like chicken? I know a place in Tulum that does good chicken”. Klaus was right – this place BBQ’s whole chickens (flattened out), of which Klaus consumed one while we stuck to a half.

We stayed on in Tulum where we took to the beach, staying in a thatched roof Cabana ON the beach. From here we explored the only coastal ruins of the Mayan civilization known to exist and now inhabited by a healthy population of iguanas (which led Mat to have a few Steve Irwin moments as he investigated their habitat). We also had a magnificent meal here at a place named Mezzanine, a beach side bar with a beautiful Thai restaurant, owned by a young Kiwi couple. A great set up, though unfortunately a month earlier an Israeli backpacker went missing, presumed murdered, during a night out there.

Tulum was also the local for Mat’s first case of the ‘Mexican Two Step’, a tummy bug that is best experienced within two steps of a toilet. We decided however to flirt with danger and headed an hour out of town to more ruins, this time set in the jungle, and to walk 5 miles in the blistering heat. Thankfully there were no incidents (or ‘sharts’ (*see below) as we like to call them) and a couple of Loperamides later we’re running as normally as can be expected in Mexico.

Our next week sees us cross the border into Belize where the focus of our travels will again be underwater. We’re traveling well and meeting more people as we go which has been great. A month left in Central America, and then we head south. Happy Mothers Day to Pam and Meg in Aotearoa - we downed a lot of Sol's in your honour...

* A ‘shart’ is an attempted fart that is in fact a shit, a fact only discovered after one attempts the fart.