Islands and swimming with turtles
Door: Ana Laura
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23 November 2015 | Mexico, Isla Cozumel
In the past 2 weeks I visited two beautiful islands. First we went to Isla Mujeres which is an island close to Cancun. We took a ferry and after 20 minutes we arrived. We rented a golf cart and squeezed all 5 of us on it. We drove around the whole island as it isn’t that big. We put some music on and enjoyed the beautiful views. It felt like I was in a complete different place, it even reminded me a little of Albania! There were different sightseeing spots where you could stop and check it out from above. We stopped at one place and my friends climbed down a little to see what was there. A few moments later I saw them climbing up a wooden tower which was meant to be for zip lining but no one was there. After that a few people followed. When they came back I decided to go as well by myself. Once I got on the wooden tower I could see the crystal clear blue water being surrounded by rocks in the water and green plants and trees on the shore. Of course when I came climbing down the stairs some security dude started yelling at me because he only saw me, haha oh well. A few km further we stopped again and climbed down a few rocks and hills to go closer to the water. The waves were quite strong se we kept being splashed by the waves hitting the rocks. There was a small natural pool formed which created a pretty view. The sun started getting down so we decided to go back to the village and look for something to eat. We ended up at this reggae chilled out bar with a nice relaxed atmosphere. I had a huge mango smoothie and had eaten my marquesita before that. I broke a record of having 1 marquesita every day for almost a week! Not sure if that is something I should be proud of but I am. Anyway we still had a few hours until we had to bring the golf cart back so we decided to cruise the island by night. We drove again to the road close to the ocean and we then got surprised by the amount of crabs on the road! And they were huge! So we had a fun time avoiding them all and not crashing into anything. We stopped at a calm street and then one decided to just chill in front of a wheel so we had to scare it off but it just stayed there. I then had a go on the golf cart. I was terrified but once I had it under control it was so much fun! At 10PM we brought the cart back and waited for the ferry. On the boat the other side of the ocean was fully lit by all the lights of Cancun. All the hotels and the night life give the sky a purple/pink colour. Back home we changed and proceeded to the house of some friends of ours in the hotel zone where we had some drinks and later on went to a club; Carola.
A week later we went to Cozumel. An island close to Playa del Carmen. We took the bus to Playa and walked around a little. Then the weirdest thing happened. This foreign man came closer to us and asked if we spoke English. After we said yes he asked Fenja if he could buy her socks for 50 dollars. We were like; what? We didn’t understand at all what he meant. He said that he would buy her sock, the ones he was wearing, give her money and then buy new socks for her. We didn’t understand why he would want used socks if he could just buy new clean ones until we got it. He had a sock fetish hahaha. Totally confused she took her socks of and said embarrassed: They are really smelly though… and he answered really shy but happy: good.. hahaha. He wanted to give her as much money as she wanted but she felt so uncomfortable she stopped him at like 20 euros. He thanked her and walked off and we were just there like; what the hell did just happen. Haha! We then took the ferry to Cozumel. I took like 35 minutes and it was so beautiful! We were sitting on the top deck outside. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sun shining on my face and the few drops of water splashing from the sea. When I opened my eyes I saw the clearest dark blue water and blue sky. When we arrived we got attacked again by people selling us things but as they didn’t have golf carts we decided a car would be a good idea. We walked with this guy to the office and we asked what the cheapest one was and it was the coolest car! A bright yellow super old fashioned car with an open roof at the back. It was only 33 euros for 24 hours so basically nothing. Although later we understood why. We sat down in the car and had no seatbelts, no mirrors, and no closed windows. Basically only a steering wheel. We had booked a studio somewhere so we decided to look for it. Which was no success. We took forever! Until we got to the right address and the woman living there had never even heard of that studio or place. Well then. We then spent a long time looking for other cheap hotels but we were kind of in the ghetto. We were hungry so we decided to park the car on a really small hill on the street. Only to find out it had no hand break. We went back to tell the guy we rented it from and he said like: oh yeah… yeah true it doesn’t have hand breaks. Very helpful haha. Then we walked around for aaaages looking for a place to eat but all the waiters were so annoying and screaming ‘COME HERE EAT HERE’. At one restaurant we were looking at the menu and the waiter was even turning the pages even though we weren’t done reading. So weird. Eventually we ate at a Mexican place in front of the ocean where we saw the sunset. It was dark but we hadn’t seen anything from the island actually so we decided to do a little road trip to wherever and see where we would end up. So we started driving and I just said ‘right’ or ‘left’ and well we got stuck in this ghetto with screaming cats and jungle so we got scared and went back to the main road and started following the very few road signs to the beach. It was already pitch black outside and there were absolutely no cars on the road to the beaches. It was the longest road between the jungle ever and it felt like there was no end. That was until we heard the ocean! We could not see anything but hey we were there! We all sat on the back of the car and looked up and it was amazing. I have rarely seen so many stars lighting up the sky, it looked like glitter. Very far away the sky got lit up with this purple colour from the city. We stayed there for a while until we saw a few very bright lights coming from the jungle next to us. We did not hear any movement but the lights kept moving and going on and off. We got so freaked out we got back in the car and immediately drove away. We drove all the way back from where we came from and parked our car on the street in the centre. We then walked to just a hotel somewhere there and checked in. Once in our room we collapsed on our beds and watched this White Chicks in Spanish. The next day we had breakfast at the hotel and decided to cruise the island along the ocean side. We went the same way as the night before but continued it to make a circle. The beaches were mostly just rocks until we passed a sand beach. It was a small peninsula with white sand and palm trees and a reggae bar. We dipped our feet in the water and went back to our car. We got a lot of compliments on it from other people so we were proud of our cute little shitty car. There were several look out points. Some where you could climb up a few rocks and just stand there with ocean on both sides and waves crashing into the rocks. On the road there was almost no one so it was so relaxing to be the only one on the road. As we were driving about 80 km/h I was sitting in the front seat and just as we drove in a curve my door decided to just fly open! And since the car didn’t have seatbelts I could only hold on to my seat and the door hahaha. I seriously almost fell out! We all got scared but laughed it away and they told me to lock my door. A few kilometres after that the same thing happened to Fenja only she was driving so it was even worse hahaha. We cruised around the island and it is really big! So I really recommend hiring a car otherwise it will be very expensive to take a taxi. I also noticed it was very expensive on the island and all prices were given in pesos and dollars. Sometimes they would only be in dollars. I guess it is because there were indeed a lot of tourists from the United States but in my opinion it takes away the charm of being in another country. You want to experience things the way it is here, in Mexico.
After that we returned the car and walked around a little bit more. We took the boat back to Playa and a bus to a place called Puerto Aventuras. It is a small village 15 minutes away but mostly known for the enormous residential area there. One of our Mexican friends lives there and invited us. She said to wait at the entrance because she would pick us up. I asked if we could walk to her house but I later understood why that would not have been possible. She picked us up in a golf cart and it took a good 10 minutes (high speed) to get to her house. The place was HUGE! We went past 4 hotels (!), cafes, restaurants, a golf court a skating area and much more! A lot of Canadians have holiday houses there and tourists come there to spend time in the residential area because it has everything you want in a holiday. It was dark so we did not see a lot which is why we decided to do it the day after. That night we went out to a club in Playa del Carmen which was very cool.
The day after we took a small road trip to a place called Akumal, famous for its turtles. When you go there a lot of people will try to sell you special tours to go snorkelling with turtles and sell you equipment but if you just take your own snorkel and go to the beach you can literally just go into the water swim a few meters and they will be there! It took me a loooong time to find one and because it had stormed the water was a bit blurry. I was panicking every time I looked underwater because I was scared a huge turtle would just appear but that didn’t happen. One time I looked down and there it was. A huge turtle just chillin’ on the bottom. So beautiful! After that we went back to Puerto Aventuras and in two golf carts she showed us around. We went inside a hotel that was located at the beach and she showed me the different kind of animals they head. Dolphins, seals and this other type of animal which name I forgot. There was a whole marine place with restaurants placed on the water that lit up the lagoon next to it. It really felt like you were on a holiday even though people just live there every day. We then proceeded to another place where all the boats where, so fancy. You could also dive there and kayak on the lagoon. Seriously everything you would want in a holiday in one huge residential area!
Furthermore I went to see the new Hunger Games movie in 4D, which was a wild ride! I sat down in the chair and as the movie started I took a sip from my drink and immediately my seat started moving forward and backward but nothing gentle, no. Like full on moving. I almost choked on my drink, I don’t know how people with popcorn did it haha. Then a scene with a helicopter came and my hair was untied and it flew to all sides and I could not even see anything because the wind was so strong. Then a scene with an oil spill came and suddenly the whole room smelled like oil and in another scene it smelled like roses! Craaaazy. Also some water got splashed on us and everything an arrow was fired you heard a loud hiss of air behind your ears! It was really fun though. We took some blankets this time so I was totally prepared for the winter temperatures inside the cinema. Talking about that. The weather changed from constant hurricane rain to ‘you think it is going to be a sunny day and it is hot but within an hour it is raining and cold’. Yes. Actually cold! It was 25 degrees today and honestly I felt like wearing long pants or a jacket. I have no idea how I will return to Europe…
A week later we went to Cozumel. An island close to Playa del Carmen. We took the bus to Playa and walked around a little. Then the weirdest thing happened. This foreign man came closer to us and asked if we spoke English. After we said yes he asked Fenja if he could buy her socks for 50 dollars. We were like; what? We didn’t understand at all what he meant. He said that he would buy her sock, the ones he was wearing, give her money and then buy new socks for her. We didn’t understand why he would want used socks if he could just buy new clean ones until we got it. He had a sock fetish hahaha. Totally confused she took her socks of and said embarrassed: They are really smelly though… and he answered really shy but happy: good.. hahaha. He wanted to give her as much money as she wanted but she felt so uncomfortable she stopped him at like 20 euros. He thanked her and walked off and we were just there like; what the hell did just happen. Haha! We then took the ferry to Cozumel. I took like 35 minutes and it was so beautiful! We were sitting on the top deck outside. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sun shining on my face and the few drops of water splashing from the sea. When I opened my eyes I saw the clearest dark blue water and blue sky. When we arrived we got attacked again by people selling us things but as they didn’t have golf carts we decided a car would be a good idea. We walked with this guy to the office and we asked what the cheapest one was and it was the coolest car! A bright yellow super old fashioned car with an open roof at the back. It was only 33 euros for 24 hours so basically nothing. Although later we understood why. We sat down in the car and had no seatbelts, no mirrors, and no closed windows. Basically only a steering wheel. We had booked a studio somewhere so we decided to look for it. Which was no success. We took forever! Until we got to the right address and the woman living there had never even heard of that studio or place. Well then. We then spent a long time looking for other cheap hotels but we were kind of in the ghetto. We were hungry so we decided to park the car on a really small hill on the street. Only to find out it had no hand break. We went back to tell the guy we rented it from and he said like: oh yeah… yeah true it doesn’t have hand breaks. Very helpful haha. Then we walked around for aaaages looking for a place to eat but all the waiters were so annoying and screaming ‘COME HERE EAT HERE’. At one restaurant we were looking at the menu and the waiter was even turning the pages even though we weren’t done reading. So weird. Eventually we ate at a Mexican place in front of the ocean where we saw the sunset. It was dark but we hadn’t seen anything from the island actually so we decided to do a little road trip to wherever and see where we would end up. So we started driving and I just said ‘right’ or ‘left’ and well we got stuck in this ghetto with screaming cats and jungle so we got scared and went back to the main road and started following the very few road signs to the beach. It was already pitch black outside and there were absolutely no cars on the road to the beaches. It was the longest road between the jungle ever and it felt like there was no end. That was until we heard the ocean! We could not see anything but hey we were there! We all sat on the back of the car and looked up and it was amazing. I have rarely seen so many stars lighting up the sky, it looked like glitter. Very far away the sky got lit up with this purple colour from the city. We stayed there for a while until we saw a few very bright lights coming from the jungle next to us. We did not hear any movement but the lights kept moving and going on and off. We got so freaked out we got back in the car and immediately drove away. We drove all the way back from where we came from and parked our car on the street in the centre. We then walked to just a hotel somewhere there and checked in. Once in our room we collapsed on our beds and watched this White Chicks in Spanish. The next day we had breakfast at the hotel and decided to cruise the island along the ocean side. We went the same way as the night before but continued it to make a circle. The beaches were mostly just rocks until we passed a sand beach. It was a small peninsula with white sand and palm trees and a reggae bar. We dipped our feet in the water and went back to our car. We got a lot of compliments on it from other people so we were proud of our cute little shitty car. There were several look out points. Some where you could climb up a few rocks and just stand there with ocean on both sides and waves crashing into the rocks. On the road there was almost no one so it was so relaxing to be the only one on the road. As we were driving about 80 km/h I was sitting in the front seat and just as we drove in a curve my door decided to just fly open! And since the car didn’t have seatbelts I could only hold on to my seat and the door hahaha. I seriously almost fell out! We all got scared but laughed it away and they told me to lock my door. A few kilometres after that the same thing happened to Fenja only she was driving so it was even worse hahaha. We cruised around the island and it is really big! So I really recommend hiring a car otherwise it will be very expensive to take a taxi. I also noticed it was very expensive on the island and all prices were given in pesos and dollars. Sometimes they would only be in dollars. I guess it is because there were indeed a lot of tourists from the United States but in my opinion it takes away the charm of being in another country. You want to experience things the way it is here, in Mexico.
After that we returned the car and walked around a little bit more. We took the boat back to Playa and a bus to a place called Puerto Aventuras. It is a small village 15 minutes away but mostly known for the enormous residential area there. One of our Mexican friends lives there and invited us. She said to wait at the entrance because she would pick us up. I asked if we could walk to her house but I later understood why that would not have been possible. She picked us up in a golf cart and it took a good 10 minutes (high speed) to get to her house. The place was HUGE! We went past 4 hotels (!), cafes, restaurants, a golf court a skating area and much more! A lot of Canadians have holiday houses there and tourists come there to spend time in the residential area because it has everything you want in a holiday. It was dark so we did not see a lot which is why we decided to do it the day after. That night we went out to a club in Playa del Carmen which was very cool.
The day after we took a small road trip to a place called Akumal, famous for its turtles. When you go there a lot of people will try to sell you special tours to go snorkelling with turtles and sell you equipment but if you just take your own snorkel and go to the beach you can literally just go into the water swim a few meters and they will be there! It took me a loooong time to find one and because it had stormed the water was a bit blurry. I was panicking every time I looked underwater because I was scared a huge turtle would just appear but that didn’t happen. One time I looked down and there it was. A huge turtle just chillin’ on the bottom. So beautiful! After that we went back to Puerto Aventuras and in two golf carts she showed us around. We went inside a hotel that was located at the beach and she showed me the different kind of animals they head. Dolphins, seals and this other type of animal which name I forgot. There was a whole marine place with restaurants placed on the water that lit up the lagoon next to it. It really felt like you were on a holiday even though people just live there every day. We then proceeded to another place where all the boats where, so fancy. You could also dive there and kayak on the lagoon. Seriously everything you would want in a holiday in one huge residential area!
Furthermore I went to see the new Hunger Games movie in 4D, which was a wild ride! I sat down in the chair and as the movie started I took a sip from my drink and immediately my seat started moving forward and backward but nothing gentle, no. Like full on moving. I almost choked on my drink, I don’t know how people with popcorn did it haha. Then a scene with a helicopter came and my hair was untied and it flew to all sides and I could not even see anything because the wind was so strong. Then a scene with an oil spill came and suddenly the whole room smelled like oil and in another scene it smelled like roses! Craaaazy. Also some water got splashed on us and everything an arrow was fired you heard a loud hiss of air behind your ears! It was really fun though. We took some blankets this time so I was totally prepared for the winter temperatures inside the cinema. Talking about that. The weather changed from constant hurricane rain to ‘you think it is going to be a sunny day and it is hot but within an hour it is raining and cold’. Yes. Actually cold! It was 25 degrees today and honestly I felt like wearing long pants or a jacket. I have no idea how I will return to Europe…
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
