Today, Peter and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary. He woke up before I did and walked to the supermarket (small grocery) and bought a postcard depicting a turtle and the turquoise Caribbean sea, on which he inscribed his undying love for me. I had thought about our anniversary before we left home, so I had purchased a card in advance and brought it with me. And that reveals to you one aspect of our blissful marriage.
Peter made fried eggs and toast for breakfast, accompanied by scruptious local tropical fruit: mango, papaya and watermelon. And then the day stretched before us. I was ready to snorkel with the turtles before anyone else, so I went on my own. The best place to find lots of turtles is about a quarter mile south along the beach from our lovely casita (We wished we owned it!), so I walked there to swim. Whenever I found a turtle munching on the sea grass, I just hovered nearby for a while to watch its behavior. All the green turtles I have watched here occasionally swim up to the surface for air. They bob their heads up once and then resubmerge for a few seconds and then stretch their necks to get their heads above water a second time before returning to the bottom. (A quick Internet search has not revealed why they come up twice.) I saw about two dozen turtles in the time I was snorkeling along this part of the beach. Sometimes the turtles were alone. The largest group I saw was four. A couple of the turtles I observed had one or two long, snaky, yellow remoras (sucker fish that feed on parasites on their hosts) on their backs or sides. When one of these turtles rose off the bottom to surface, the remoras moved from its back to its belly and then stayed there when the turtle returned to munch grasses. I also observed another group of squid, a large spotted trunkfish (easy to spot with its flat bottom and sloping sides forming a triangular prism), two stingrays and hundreds of tropical fish.
I returned to the casita to connect up with Matthew and Peter but they had already left to swim at the turtle beach, and we had missed each other. So, I went out to dive on the reef in front of our place on my own. I found the large group of blue tangs again; they must be a tight community. Among the colorful corals--including staghorn, purple fan, brain, giant anemone, starlet, finger, pillar--swam numerous other types of fishes, but outstanding were the queen angelfish and another spotted trunkfish. I spotted two more rays, one almost completed concealed by covering itself with white sand and dangerously close to shore where families were casually playing in the water.
I stopped snorkeling for a while, grabbed my book and returned to the beach lounge chairs and umbrellas, where I enjoyed immensely the view and the butterflies darting around, constantly in motion, while I finished my novel. The water beckoned however, so I went out one last time today to swim with the tropical fish. I really can't get enough of it!
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| The view from my beach lounger, with two butterflies |
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| The view from my beach lounger of the trees in front Las Casitas (and another butterfly) |
After a shower and a snack for me, Peter, Katya and I walked the very short distance into town and looked around the shops. The jewelry is all overpriced, even when bargained down to the lowest possible level, so we bought none. Katya got a large woven tablecloth with Maya images in various shades of vibrant blue. Playing the game of bargaining for the lowest price is just trying and tedious for me, so we ended our shopping jaunt.
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| Katya with a display in front of a shop in Akumal |
When we returned to the casita, the four of us got in the car and drove north on the only road for a few minutes to have dinner at the restaurant, La Buena Vida, where we had eaten with out toes in the sand a couple nights before. This time, however, we chose a table in a treehouse under the palm fronds from which we could still glimpse the water through the foliage, watch the birds and see the sunset.
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| Katya, Peter, Sherri and Matthew at our table in the treehouse |
After driving back here in the car, Peter and I took a long (romantic?) walk on the beach. We both agree (as do the kids) that everything here is perfect--the accommodations, the views, the reefs, the sealife, the food, the beach, even the people (if we discount the bully in the water and the few who are just too pushy in trying to get our business and money), and certainly the cats who roam around the place.
Matthew continues to work on Calculus as I write, Peter is available to help him (He is busy reviewing the textbook), and I don't know what Katya is doing--something on her phone. In my opinion, too much of her time is spent online, but there is not much I can do about that.
We are looking forward to visiting a lagoon where salt water and fresh water mix and the array of fish, some of which have adapted to this unique environment, is reported to be amazing. That will get us up early, but it will just be another relaxing day in paradise.
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