Read Next Playa Del Carmen
Dec 16 2013 - Jan 1 2014
How do all those Mexican children manage to get candies out of a piņata? They do it blindfolded too! Our Santa piņata was not going to release any goodies without a fight! This was the desert course for our delicious Christmas dinner of Mexican fish stew with our neighbours at la Petite France, a young family from Kansas and Carol and Lise from St Jerome, Quebec. Santa was strung up on a line in the front yard of our hotel, swaying like pendulum while the two children, Cain and Elli, swung at it with broom sticks. Their mother, Ashley, thought that the candies would fall out of one of Santa’s legs. No such luck. After fifteen minutes of concerted effort by the children and the adults, Santa’s legs and arms were gone and there was still nary a candy in sight. We couldn’t stop laughing at our puny efforts but I kept thinking we were mass murderers. One of the broomsticks was broken, the result of super efforts on the body. Several more severe blows to the still smiling head and hidden treats were freed. The children swooped down on the candy and chocolates and we all relaxed.
 Elli and Cain with Santa piņata |
 Sandman on the beach |
The next day the children and their parents built a sandman on the beach,
complete with carrot nose, banana mouth, plum buttons and sporting a palm frond
hat. That night, their father, Adam built a bonfire on the beach for us all to
sit around marvelling at the myriad stars in the sky. It was a fitting end
to our Christmas celebrations.
Our two weeks in Puerto Morelos passed quickly. Yes, we started out with heavy
rain, but it cleared enough for us to swim and walk the beach every day. We
stayed a few Km out of town this year, a 30 minute walk on the beach or what
should have been an easy 15 minute bike ride. Unfortunately the road to town was
full of huge pot holes and flooded with record December rains. The road is
unlit, so riding after dark is not recommended. Our evening meal is in our room
after dark. We have compromised by having our mid-day meal in town several days
and preparing snacks for supper. Snacks still go with wine.
We found a great place to snorkel, just 50 meters down the beach from our hotel,
beside a pier belonging to UNAM, a University of Mexico branch studying fishing,
the ocean and inland waters. Large schools of fish considered the pier their
haven and were not disturbed by Ray and I swimming amongst them. Besides
colourful butterfly and angel fish feeding on small corals, we saw a small
Caribbean lobster peeking out from an abandoned concrete block. One day Ray
followed a large turtle feeding on the bottom and I disturbed a Sting Ray that
gracefully glided away from me. The lion fish, looking like a striped porcupine
swam gracefully around the other fish, looking for lunch. Warning signs at all
the dive shops warn everyone not to come near the poisonous spines of this
fierce predator, an unwelcome guest from more tropical waters. The dive shops
have the proper equipment to capture and kill this menace.
 Beach closest to la Petite France |
 Brindis, a Christmas tradition at the Spanish School |
Monday, the 23rd of December, found me
pedalling into town to start my group Spanish lessons with our excellent
teacher, Marilú. Ray pedalled in each day to meet me at the end of my class so
that we could have lunch in town and buy a few groceries before returning to our
hotel for an afternoon swim. There were five in my class; Sheila, an English
woman, Marco and Gerard from Quebec, Pierre from St Malô, France. I ended up
spending three hours each morning working on refreshing my memory and improving
my grammar. We are all madly translating, searching for the forgotten noun and
correct tense. It has been several years since I last took lessons so it is no
surprise that I have forgotten so much. It was a struggle that is not yet
finished, but it was enjoyable and certainly worthwhile.
A visit to Puerto Morelos would not be complete for me with a trip to the reef,
which is less than 500 M offshore. With all the unsettled weather recently, the
currents were a bit too strong for Ray’s enjoyment, but we managed to float over
the colourful corals and identify many of the fish we like plus a few more that
were new to us.
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