Los gringos hit Playa del Carmen!
"Casa Salsa:" our home for the next 7 days.
Night #1: To the beach!
Alex & Lindsey prep a Mexican-ish meal for the 4 couples.
Day #2: More beach!
Jon secures a secluded spot for lounging.
Some of the critters we spotted during our visit included...
In addition to the occasional
Frigatebird and
Turkey Vulture, the most common feathered critter we saw (and heard) was the
Great-Tailed Grackle. Each morning, I'd wake up to the sound of a car alarm and thought I was back in Stinky Town. But it was just this beautiful blue-ish black bird.
Pelicans dive-bombed headfirst into the shallow ocean water for grub.
Two local
Black Iguana - one adult male, one sub adult - perched themselves on the sunny walls of the ruins near Casa Salsa every day.
A kitty-cat takes a siesta near Tulum.
Too many
Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail butterflies stranded on the beach.
Some sort of big red ants, marching along the ruins, carrying supplies from here to there to
somewhere.
What seemed to be an immature coconut, washed back out of the ocean, bore little passengers.
A tiny, 6-inch long,
Moray Eel on the beach.
ODA's little tray of found objects.
A large, green crab hides under a rock.
A wee, mimetic crabling scurries for cover on the big beach.
Hands down, the strangest critter we encountered was this... mobile turd-like thing! At first, we thought it was just that: a turd on the beach. About the right size, shape. No smell though. Then, it inched forward like a worm, slowly. Gross. We assisted the poor, green, globular form back to the ocean (where we hoped it was headed). It sort of floated away. I Googled it. Probably a
Sea Cucumber, but we'll never really know...
Then, a bottle.
And, finally, a miniature globe (hey, we
live in there)!
Next day (lost track of real work-week time now, bluring into vacation time), a trip to the ruins of
Tulum... but first, a pause for the greatest beer ad in the wor-d!
Leaving Playa del Carmen...
Having a bottle or two at the gate of the ruins in Tulum.
Pods hanging above!
Along the short walk to the ruins,
Voladores perform their
ceremonial flight for a small voyeur's fee.
Tourists with an uncanny resemblance to
Jeff, Kim and Katherine pose by the ruins.
Little Katherine is in awe of Tulum!
The beach cliffs below the principle Mayan structure at Tulum...
The perfect place for a
sacrifice.
On the way back to the bus, Shirley makes a coconut cocktail pit-stop.
We follow the
Bimbo Bread truck back to Playa.
Tina takes Katherine for her very first dip in the pool!
Footsie with Auntie T.
A late night stroll through the Fase 1 'hood in Playa.
Another daytrip - this time to the island of
Cozumel, where Alex feasts on a spicy shrimp pizza!
Jon sips a cold beer in the shade (Shirley -
not pictured here - nurses a small ocean-inflicted fleshwound of unknown origin back at Casa Salsa. Thus, the empty beach chair).
Tina swims...
and snorkels!
Back to the mainland - Katherine enjoys her
second ferry ride!
'Twas the night before Christmas...
And Playa celebrates the holiday by decorating its own trees.
Christmas carolers from Michigan State serenade the tired beach bums at Casa Salsa!
Feliz Navidad! Christmas morning brings bean-oriented holiday arts & crafts...
Intellectual
finger puppet magnets...
and Spy glasses...
A last stroll through the walkway in Playa del Carmen.
Taking refuge from a sporadically rainy Christmas day.
The north end of the tourist district, known as Playa
Starbucks.
Day #7: The trail of tears back to the bus, back to the airport, back to Stinky Town and all parts north.
Los gringos hit Playa del Carmen!
"Casa Salsa:" our home for the next 7 days.
Night #1: To the beach!
Alex & Lindsey prep a Mexican-ish meal for the 4 couples.
Day #2: More beach!
Jon secures a secluded spot for lounging.
Some of the critters we spotted during our visit included...
In addition to the occasional Frigatebird and Turkey Vulture, the most common feathered critter we saw (and heard) was the Great-Tailed Grackle. Each morning, I'd wake up to the sound of a car alarm and thought I was back in Stinky Town. But it was just this beautiful blue-ish black bird.
Pelicans dive-bombed headfirst into the shallow ocean water for grub.
Two local Black Iguana - one adult male, one sub adult - perched themselves on the sunny walls of the ruins near Casa Salsa every day.
A kitty-cat takes a siesta near Tulum.
Too many Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail butterflies stranded on the beach.
Some sort of big red ants, marching along the ruins, carrying supplies from here to there to somewhere.
What seemed to be an immature coconut, washed back out of the ocean, bore little passengers.
A tiny, 6-inch long, Moray Eel on the beach.
ODA's little tray of found objects.
A large, green crab hides under a rock.
A wee, mimetic crabling scurries for cover on the big beach.
Hands down, the strangest critter we encountered was this... mobile turd-like thing! At first, we thought it was just that: a turd on the beach. About the right size, shape. No smell though. Then, it inched forward like a worm, slowly. Gross. We assisted the poor, green, globular form back to the ocean (where we hoped it was headed). It sort of floated away. I Googled it. Probably a Sea Cucumber, but we'll never really know...
Then, a bottle.
And, finally, a miniature globe (hey, we live in there)!
Next day (lost track of real work-week time now, bluring into vacation time), a trip to the ruins of Tulum... but first, a pause for the greatest beer ad in the wor-d!
Leaving Playa del Carmen...
Having a bottle or two at the gate of the ruins in Tulum.
Pods hanging above!
Along the short walk to the ruins, Voladores perform their ceremonial flight for a small voyeur's fee.
Tourists with an uncanny resemblance to Jeff, Kim and Katherine pose by the ruins.
Little Katherine is in awe of Tulum!
The beach cliffs below the principle Mayan structure at Tulum...
The perfect place for a sacrifice.
On the way back to the bus, Shirley makes a coconut cocktail pit-stop.
We follow the Bimbo Bread truck back to Playa.
Tina takes Katherine for her very first dip in the pool!
Footsie with Auntie T.
A late night stroll through the Fase 1 'hood in Playa.
Another daytrip - this time to the island of Cozumel, where Alex feasts on a spicy shrimp pizza!
Jon sips a cold beer in the shade (Shirley - not pictured here - nurses a small ocean-inflicted fleshwound of unknown origin back at Casa Salsa. Thus, the empty beach chair).
Tina swims...
and snorkels!
Back to the mainland - Katherine enjoys her second ferry ride!
'Twas the night before Christmas...
And Playa celebrates the holiday by decorating its own trees.
Christmas carolers from Michigan State serenade the tired beach bums at Casa Salsa!
Feliz Navidad! Christmas morning brings bean-oriented holiday arts & crafts...
Intellectual finger puppet magnets...
and Spy glasses...
A last stroll through the walkway in Playa del Carmen.
Taking refuge from a sporadically rainy Christmas day.
The north end of the tourist district, known as Playa Starbucks.
Day #7: The trail of tears back to the bus, back to the airport, back to Stinky Town and all parts north.
