Cozumel photos

The Harbour in San Miguel hosts ferries to the Mainland (blue and yellow boats) and typically a couple of massive cruise ships. Sunday, so cruise ships stopped in, and plaza was much quieter.


The beaches on the east side of the island were about deserted on Sunday on the south end of the island, but closer to the trans-island highway, the locals were out in force.


The sea was turquoise and the sands were brilliant white. Beautiful.

And now, we return to our program...

No post from Cozumel yesterday since we were concerned that we had left Jacob to deal with our domestic fire emergency. But before we found out about the conflagration, we did some birding. Just as we were watching wildlife, wildlife was watching us... (Photo above). Not much worries me wildlife-wise, but crocidillians of any sort wig me out. Each pond I walked by had at least one resident caiman, and since I knew there could be at least 2 per pond, I really worried when I saw only one.

Talking to Jake assured us that not only was there nothing we could do, but he had everything under contol. So we returned to our play! Highlights of snorkeling yesterday included a walking conch, spotted sting ray, and a sea turtle. The sea was clear and beautiful, and the sand was brilliant white.

We finished the day with dinner at a seafood place frequented by locals. La comida esta muy bueno!

Today we visited the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio. Go figure how Mayan ruins ended up with a Spanish name! The site was much more extensive than the guide book implied (maybe because we failed to get to sites like Chichen Itza and Talum?), but the weather was stupid humid and hot.

We are ready to go home to see what the charred desert looks like. Quin will be home later in the week and it will be good to have the family under one, intact roof again.

Cozumel Saturday

This handsome fellow greeted us at the Cozumel Country Club this morning. Iguanas were pretty much all over the place as were basilisks (great footage from National Geographic on why basilisks are also called the Jesus Christ lizard is here).

Darwin-wise, we thought the lizard to the right needed to find a darker tree...

There was some excellent birding on the golf course at the country club. We id'ed northern jacanas, an American Bittern, a green-breasted mango, yellow-faced seedquit, bananaquit, and a Yucutan woodpecker, all lifers (I think). And the food was even great at the end of the walk.

At the end of the day, we got a rental car from a shop in Cozumel to make snorkeling easier. This is not to say we are testing the amphibious properties of the beetle. But it is easier to get to beaches with a car...

And snorkeling was excellent. The fishies were bright and as curious about us as we were about them. It is the quiet season in Cozumel, so beaches are not crowded, as I suspect they can be in high season.

Beetles were made in Mexico until 2003, and this one looks to be in about mint condition. It runs on nostalgia -- it has wing windows, no air conditioner, a 4-speed manual transmission, and about 2 buttons on the dashboard (lights, hazards). What more do you need? No DVD player, radio, GPS, fan...

Cozumel Friday

Headed north on the island today for birds. Although there was not a huge variety of species, this was the most amazing rookery I have ever visited.

The innkeeper at Casa Viento arranged a bird tour to a mangrove swamp. Although close to the populated areas of Cozumel, the swamp is accessible only by water, and we saw nobody all day. We went in a small boat, and Alberto, the captain, poled the boat most of the way. It was such a super way to go birding -- the quiet transportation did not scare the birds, so they allowed us to get really, really close. (See ibis below, really, really close.)

The rookery was incredible. The picture above is about right for density, but and the rookery was huge, with several large areas of intense nesting. Among the nesting birds we saw were: white ibis, glossy ibis, tri-colored heron, snowy egret, reddish heron, little blue heron. We also saw an ancient, huge osprey nest, green herons, Mangrove warblers, white crowned pigeons, royal and least terns....

Did I mention that we got really, really close? The little guys to the left are snowy egrets. They were adorable.

Finished the day with our second fabulous meal in Cozumel, then a nice, long stroll through town. Last picture is of the gazebo in the plaza.