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| Matthew, in his glory, holding an iguana. I passed on this opportunity |
They say the crime rate in Manzanillo is very low, but I've been awake in the wee hours of the morning two nights in a row to the sound of police sirens. Just saying. My walk through the city, by myself, didn't make me any more uncomfortable than walking through any other unfamiliar city. It seems very safe, indeed.
This was the earliest we've been out of bed. 7am. We hit the breakfast buffet and then packed up for a half day excursion to Cuyutlan, a small village with a turtle harvesting farm. All five of us loved this. The best part was launching mini black sea turtles into the ocean. They were born four days ago. We also got to see iguanas and a professional coconut cutter. These guys are real life monkeys. They climb the trees barefoot and start hacking away at the coconuts. Our tour guide says it's a dangerous job. Sometimes, the worker will fall out of the tree and never work again. No kidding. We also took a small boat ride through the mangroves and that was a treat too. In addition to seeing some nice new vegetation, we also got a glimpse of a baby crocodile, sitting on a lilly. Even though he was the size of a domestic cat, he looked like he could chew my arm off in a nano second. We also saw a snake curled up around a tree. I hate snakes.
There are plots of land for sale in Cuyutland. $30 000 for the land, $70 000 for the home of your dreams built by hand. It takes two years. Where do I sign? This is the 'real' ocean too. Waves can be six metres high.
The kids are lucky. They got to do and see things today some kids will never ever do. None of the three realize this, but it's okay. It's easy to take it for granted. When they get back and talk to their friends, I'm sure there will be some envy. Kind of like the envy I felt growing up every time a classmate told me about his family's trip to Florida. I still have never been to Florida. Mind you, I have no interest now. I'm not a 'ride' guy. The kids would love it though. So, I'm sure it'll happen at some point.
Macey has mastered the siesta. She took one right on the beach yesterday and, today, she napped twice. Once on the bus out to Cuyutland and once on the bus on the way back to the resort. Both times on my lap. It was a back breaking experience.
I hit the gym this afternoon for about 35 minutes. It's amazing how quick one gets out of shape. I figured an interval workout would be best. Mentally, it worked. I feel better.
We have two televisions in our room, which is more like a one bedroom apartment. Neither tv has been turned on even a single time yet. Although I have to confess to watching NYPD Blue re-runs, HomeLand, Big Bang Theory, and season 3 of 24 on my iPhone and iPad in the evenings when everyone is settling in. If everyone in our house would do this....what would be the point of cable?
Sleeping pill update: they work so well, Ed is thinking of buying a couple of boxes to take home and use them instead of his prescribed medication. Love it.
Matthew is right at home. He's got the science of having a waiter wait on him hand and foot down perfectly when eating. He's very good about speaking Spanish where possible and you'd think he was on his 4th or 5th vacation to Mexico. It's old hat for him already.
Tough supper for Mallory. Two meals in a row without hot dogs. Up until today, every single meal (other than breakfast) has been a plain hot dog in a bun with a helping of ice cream for dessert.
Oh, I wonder if that fish that bit me yesterday was actually a crab. I spotted a bunch on the rocks today and thought they were giant spiders. Oops. Do crabs bite?
January 14
It's actually January 15 and I have found something with Apple that pisses me off. The keyboard for this iPad. Works 60% of the keys 75% of the time. So I'm stopping for now before I launch this off the balcony.
Trying again on January 16 and the keyboard still sucks. But, most keys are working.
This was shopping day for some of us. Generally, I like this part of the trip, but I found the market to be no fun as most vendors were not willing to play 'Let's Make A Deal'. Things have changed in the last few years, I guess. Upon further reflection, the prices weren't all bad to begin with, but it's fun to make deals.
In fact, I was in position to buy for higher than list price a few times. Jenn and the kids are not good at all about hiding their enthusiasm for merchandise.
The tour wrapped up by 2:30 and we had been to three different markets. The last one was a big Mexican garage sale, essentially. For my own personal collection, the only thing I ended up with was a new bandana. Jenn thinks I'm a sexy beast when I wear bandanas! Jenn and the girls got dresses and some other odds and ends. Matthew's big thing was that he wanted a necklace with a shark tooth on it. Mission accomplished.
We spent the rest of the afternoon poolside and then hit the Italian Restaurant to use up one of our a la carte coupons. I ordered a calzone. It tasted fine. We got back to the room by 8:30pm. We, quickly, made the decision to check out the entertainment stage that was putting on a show at 9pm. None of us lasted very long. It was 100% in Mexican and all of our interest levels were low.
I had my first and only run-in with security today. I had been indulging myself on the craziest waterslide ever since we got here. Turns out, it’s for ages 5-15 only. I got in one turn today before a security officer came flying out of the bushes and informed me I was too old to be on the slide. I told him okay, and that was it for my water slide escapades. Picture happy Jenn wasn’t thrilled. She failed in her attempt to get a photo of me going down. Shucks. It was a tremendous piece of work though. Made, entirely, of cement you could really fly on it. And, suffer incredible burns on your elbows if you weren’t careful. The thing spit me out with such velocity that I actually missed the bottom lip altogether and usually would crash into the buoys that divided the water slide part of the pool from the main swimming area. Such fun.
I struggled to fall asleep. I had this annoying heartburn type of sensation that I couldn't shake. Around midnight, I took three Pepto Bismol pills and one Gravol. By 2am, I was as sick as a dog. In fact, I've been sick from a hard night of drinking and felt better than this. Both ends paid hard. Jenn can't stand the sound of someone throwing up, so she quickly jumped out of bed and stayed on the balcony in an effort to avoid it all. I don't think she was successful. Let's just say there was quite a bit of force to my sickness. Whether it was heat stroke or a bit of food poisoning I'll never know, probably.
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