On the 20th of March Marie and I boarded a United flight bound for the Island of Swallows - Cozumel (Montreal-Houston-Cozumel) to spend a week with sister Carolyn and hubby Michael, our first time back since January 2011. From Cancun, a short ferry ride across the water, we would fly to the city of Puebla where we were enrolled in a three week Spanish language course at the Spanish Institute of Puebla. It was great to be back at Carolyn and Mike's casa and, as the pace of life is fairly slow in San Miguel, nothing much had changed in eight years. They both still like to dive and swim as Cozumel has some of the world's best reefs to explore and are rabid bikers and runners. They borrowed a friend's jeep (Igor and Robyn - two very nice people who made us extremely welcome into their home!) and met us at the airport, 10 minutes to their place. Michael cooked up some delicious arrachera on the BBQ, thinly sliced and seasoned skirt steak, while we reminisced about our last visit and planned how we would spend the next week there. After supper we walked down to the water front to watch the sunset, thoroughly enjoying the warm, balmy night, the snow and freezing temperatures we left behind soon forgotten. The next morning Marie and I strolled downtown, avoiding the touristy spots and the ridiculously low prices on everything, stopping to watch a dozen men with pitchforks and bags clearing the shoreline of the stinky sargassum seaweed that has become a problem this year throughout the Mayan peninsula and the Caribbean. Most days Carolyn and Michael headed out on their racing bicycles early before the hot sun rose too high and we had the mornings to ourselves, using their other two bikes to get around and reacquaint ourselves with the town. One morning the four of us decided to bike down to a local watering hole, usually a safe and fairly quick ride on Av Rafael E. Melgar which parallels the shore. Cozumel, and Mexico in general, unfortunately is known for its speed bumps (topes) every hundred yards or so, a bane to tourists who rent scooters and bicyclists who aren't used to them. Marie hit one and fell on her face after only a few minutes of riding, cutting herself in a half dozen places. The amount of blood that is typical of facial injuries was naturally alarming to us all. Thankfully Mike had his motorbike and immediately drove Marie home where one of his friends, a nice lady named Mané showed up and took her to the hospital. Walking back with the two bicycles the police pulled up in their ubiquitous pick up truck, armed to the teeth, and questioned me. I reassured them everything was okay and they eventually drove off, probably to see what kind of havoc on their streets other gringos were causing. Marie was seen fairly quickly by a nice doctor and stitched up, a bit sore but otherwise okay. It was a scary moment for us and certainly put a damper on the day. But a delicious dinner at Los Sera's, the best place according to Carolyn for cheap tacos and pizza most certainly helped! gws
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| Aeropuerto, Cozumel |
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| Chef Michael |
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| first evening sunset, Marie and Carolyn |
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| Casa Vista Azul |
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| Marie, the waterfront in San Miguel |
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| Michael on his Honda, outside the Cozumel Naval Air Station |
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| Carolyn and a common green iguana ( left by her knee) |
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| leaving the Amerimed Hospital in San Miguel with Carolyn and Mané |
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| Los Sera's Taco restaurant |
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| always eating! |
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| Carolyn and Marie, Cozumel Lighthouse |
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