Mexico Day 15 - Blistering heat and (whale) SHARK!!!

So the last time I wrote, I was sitting in a sweltering internet cafe in Tulum on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Five days on nothing much has changed. Wé`re still in the Caribbean, this time on Isla Mujeres, and the heat of this particular cafe must be verging on Death Valley levels.

Tulum was hugely relaxing. We stayed for 3 days in a romantic cabaña for two, opening right onto a pristine iceing sugar beach lapped by inch high blue rasberry Slush Puppy waves.

Night one disabused us of any notions of romanticism. The cabaña was a perfectly efficient suntrap, the electricity switched off with the generator at 10pm, and the fan ceased to revolve. I lasted about 5 minutes before decamping to the beach armed with a sleeping bag liner and a determination to sleep in the cool, under the stars. Four hours later I crept back in, somewhat rattled by the clouds of mosquitos, the large animal in the bushes and the drunk Mexicans stumbling by observing that they suspected I was a corpse. To see a living camper I suspect would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event! Following investigation in the morning, the bites were extensively tatooed across my body, and the large animal was in fact a plastic bag caught on a branch.

The next day we climbed into the boat of Captain Tabasco on the promise of turtles and two hours of snorkelling joy. We couldn´t understand a word that issued from his toothless mouth, but his enthusiasm and uncanny grasp of timings spoke volumes. Some twenty minutes later we headed back to shore having seen about ten fish, not so much as a glimpse of a turtle`s flipper and having drunk at least a litre of sea water due to a leaky mask. We thanked him equally enthusiastically!

As Roger rightly said: "I'm not going to complain about the quality of the fish in the most beautiful azure Caribbean sea, though."

I must have spent 3 hours in as many days lying floating on my back on the surface of that clam blue sea. I have now kicked the habit, aided by the unforeseen gift of sunburnt eyelids and a face that we overheard today being compared to a tomato. Roger hasn`t got off lightly either, repeatedly frying deep magenta through his "Apply Once Waterproof Factor 50". Points to Boots for an overclaim worthy of the Gringo Trail!

Tired of paradise, we jumped on a 5 hour bus to Cancun, home of the all-American Spring Break. One MacDonald`s later we felt ready to take on the boat to Isla Mujeres, which was all well and good but the ferry schedule didn´t appear to allow for our fast food fix. We paid a local fisherman in Rolexes and British cheddar to take us across and 30 minutes later, after a near-miss with possibly the worst hotel room I have ever seen, and a run-in with possibly the rudest bell-hop (do they still exist?), we checked into Hostel Poc-na, home of the 24-hour party people.

Night one was hot, sweaty and bookended by our dorm mates drunken entry at 4am and their clamorous egress some 4 hours later. We checked into another hotel within the hour! We did however manage to squeeze in possibly the greatest game of jenga ever played, several dozen weak Mexican beers, and one or two tequilla cocktails much to Roger`s disgust. I may or may not have learnt how to Salsa too (I woke up somewhat vague on the steps).

Yesterday we did nothing. It was bliss. We did however achieve an incredible 50% discount on the whale shark tour, which we jumped out of bed for at 7 this morning.

I wasn´t really that excited about whale sharks. In truth I had never heard of the things. Five hours on they are possibly one of my five favorite animals in the world (a list I may treat you to at a later date).

The things were HUGE! We spent 2 hours losing all sensation in our backsides as the Captain wildly piloted us through huge ocean swells, the boat being more often out than in the water! When we asked how exactly we were going to find the whale sharks (imagining electronic tagging, sonar, advanced tracking techniques) the Captain pointed to his rheumy weather-beaten eyes. We exchanged a glance and started to frantically scan the waves with our fellow crew mates. Just as we began to lose all hope, the cry went up on the radio, and we bounced our way over to the melee of snorkellers and cirling motor boats, queuing up for our own 5 minutes of contact time.

Time slowed down as the (thankfully vegetarian) maw of one of the beasts bore down on Roger and I, before plunging past us with a nonchalent flick of its tail. Even widespread sea sickness couldn`t dampen the contagious excitement of the encounter.

A snorkle on the way back threw up(!) fresh delights and we stumbled onto shore elated and high on nature.

Next stop Belize. We´re leaving here tomorrow. Buses may take a couple of days. See you on the other side!

Adios for now.