Cozumel, Mexico: Martes - The other side.

Every morning I've woken around nine, donned my suit and cover-up, grabbed a book and sandals and stepped outside of my room to a stretch of gorgeous sand and ocean. You can hear the chimes and announcers from the cruise ships docked nearby and the hint of music from the beach outside our door. Waiters zip from chair to chair greeting people with cold drinks as divers ready their equipment on the pier. It's a glorious way to start a day and I order a bloody mary and settle myself into what is slowly becoming "my" beach chair.

It's easy to lose oneself to the lure of this lazy spell. Have a drink, a snack, have a few more drinks and before you know it it is four o'clock and you have amassed a large sunburn. It's a nice way to deplete your mind of anything work or stress related, but it is also a bit depressing when you realize that a whole day has gone by and you forgot to shower or exist in any manner. So today we are going to do something different and venture to the other side.

I didn't know much about Cozumel before we explored a bit on the first day and perused over some local maps. It turns out that the majority of the island is not developed. Most of the shops and residences are located in or around San Miguel, the island's only real town and the location of it's piers between the mainland. Out hotel is on the outskirts of San Miguel, but no more than five minutes driving to what is considered the main square.

However, if you drive ten minutes past our hotel you enter a never-ending  road that goes along the perimeter of the island. Beach resorts pop up through the foliage every few minutes displaying large signs for beer and boasting such names as "Playa de Corona". Besides the occasional sign and random hut it's a never ending tunnel of short trees and low brush. After what seems like too long you finally spot water, and then you are catapulted onto a cliff side highway with beautiful views of rocky shores and steep descents with no shoulders on the road. The ocean here is so different from our calm beach and the waves crash heavily against large boulders and cliffs.  A few brave surfers have triumphed the surf but mostly the people take to watching rather than swimming.

The water is so amazingly blue I can hardly stand it. I must have exclaimed over the color at least a dozen times while we were there. Each wave that surfaced seemed to glow from inside and illuminate this bright indescribable turquoise. I want to steal that color and stick it on my walls but I don't think there is any way to replicate it, not the way that patches seemed to literally glow. The artist in me wants to try and capture it somehow; it is too perfect.

We pulled off on a remote side road to get out and take pictures and found ourselves in a parking lot of what seemed to be some run down reggae bar. The place looks odd and sort of creepy. It's set back behind a hill so it's not visible from the road and it seems like a perfect set for a Caribbean themed horror film. At least in my opinion. It's possible that I've been watching too many cheesy thrillers and crime investigation shows lately... Either way, we survived and managed to get a few awesome pictures of the ocean and walk out on the rocks.

It didn't take us long to get back to the Nissan and head towards anything that would appease our growling stomachs. To my joy we stumbled upon a sign for a place called Coconuts, a restaurant that I had heard of from one of my coworkers and was looking forward to trying. It sits high up on a cliff and takes a bit of a hike to get to, but once you get there it is well worth it. Most of the restaurant is open  so that you are sitting beneath a gigantic hut complete with thatched roof. The decor is bizarre, every centimeter of open space is decorated with t-shirts, license plates and business cards from all over the world. We even spotted two license plates from no place else but New Hampshire. You can imagine my small town happiness when I snapped a picture of those!

NH representin'

The food was good, but the drinks were better. I could only handle 1 margarita since I was the driver and the tequila yumminess went right to my head. Dave was hurting from the night before, when I thought it would be a great idea to do shots and drink whiskey on the rocks... so he stuck with soda water. We munched on chips and salsa (which was becoming obvious we would eat with every meal), tacos and some french fries to remind us of home. I believe that I could live off of that spread and with that view and maybe even that decor.

Best business card in Coconuts!

If you ever find yourself in Cozumel, I would suggest you pay a visit to Coconuts. Rent yourself a dune buggy, VW beetle or horse and carriage and make the commute. It's definitely worth it.

Cozumel, Mexico: Domingo.

Buenos dias! Above is a little view of my view as I am writing this post (excuse the fact that I do not have a panoramic lens so I pieced these 2 together). Not a bad way to greet the day, right? It's 9:30 in the morning and already 75 degrees, sunny, slightly breezy and gorgeous. We have had a nice transition into relaxation so far, which is our main goal for the first few days of this vacation. It's harder than you think to completely unwind on the spot and forget about all the stresses of life and work, but tequila and fresh pico de gallo and hammocks make it slightly possible!

Our first day in Cozumel was nothing short of complete lazy indulgence. The flights went smoothly, they actually allowed us into their country (their mistake ;)) and Dave managed to rent a car. But not just any car; the worse car they could find on the island. A 1992 Nissan Sentra, with manual windows and locks, something we both forgot how to operate! I will say one thing for it: it has AC, which is something that is a benefit after loading heavy luggage and spending hours in a plane.

Our hotel is located a little outside of the main city of San Miguel. It's not very large, roughly 100 rooms or so, but it has a restaurant on the water, a scuba place, a spa and water front views. The room they gave us is on the ground floor and has a nice patio right out onto their beach and views of the ocean and gigantic cruise ships that dock nearby. It also has a Murphy bed, which I thought was called a Jerry bed, and didn't believe Dave until I just googled it. Overall it is very cozy and a good size for the two of us; not to mention that the maid service creates crazy sculptures out of the towels (think 2 swans making a heart - pretty impressive!).

We spent the day lounging outside drinking bloody marys and pina coladas and soaking in some much needed vitamin D. In the late afternoon we decided to go snorkeling. I admit, I was  a little nervous. I never cared much for the idea of the fishes that I was swimming with back in the lakes of NH. The thought of them brushing against gave me shivers and frequently sent me into panic swims back to the safety of the raft. But this was different; when you put the goggles on this whole undersea world not visible from above is suddenly all around you. Fish of all shades of blue and yellow, some as large as our calves, just minding their own business. They seemed to accept the fact that we were there and seemed just curious about us as we were of them.

And then we noticed something larger and darker than the fish about 20 feet below us. It was a sting ray about an arm spans wide and twice as long. I had no idea how to react and froze mid-stroke, afraid to attract his attention but mostly mesmerized. It was huge and majestic, as corny as that sounds. It was like everything seemed to stand still and it just flowed past below, easily ignoring us. It was nothing short of amazing, just 100 yards from our hotel room and we are swimming with sting rays! I couldn't stop talking about it for the rest of the night, I swear I even dreamt of it last night. I admit, I'm a little hooked on this idea of snorkeling...

We decided to go out to dinner at this small place up the road from our hotel called Paprika Mexican grille. When we got there the waitstaff and cooks were holding up four foot Mahi Mahi fish that were caught a few hours prior. The fishermen actually delivered the fish via scooter with them strewn across their laps. We had a lovely dinner of the fresh Mahi Mahi in tacos and stuffed jalapeno peppers with pulled beef and local cheese. Our waiter, Ricardo, was a bit odd. We couldn't tell if he was friendly or just bored, but he talked to us non stop and we stumbled about trying to understand him through his thick accent. He took a picture of us to add to his gallery of random guests, which he showed to us as if showing off celebrities. The culture here is very friendly and laid back, no one is rushing around, like Ricardo, they take their time in everything they do. They actually remind me of some people I work with, as far as deadlines are concerned...

We concluded the night with some local cervesas purchased at the convenience store next door and dozed in the hammocks until we were fearful of waking up in them the next morning. It may be too soon to say this, but I could definitely live like this everyday and be very content. :)

-A