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Published: July 27th 2009
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The night after dolphin-watching we had a big communal barbecue, at Jas and carol´s suggestion. In the afternoon, everyone seemed to go out and buy something, then that night we got to work on all the little jobs: making salad, starting the bbq going, getting beer and music sorted (my job). Javier, who had been a resident for about five hours, was immediately posted on BBQ duty because, as it was put, "he is a man". Osmond gravitated toward him and they made manly smalltalk, while lots of women busied about making food and mixing drinks.
It was a great success. there was tons of food; pollo, carne, salad, delicious potato mash with sour cream, chives and mexican cheese, which is a bit like mozzarella, stringy when melted, but with a slightly stronger taste. Later we drank apple vodka cocktails and ate Vienetta (Cookies and Cream flavour!), and listened to old music on my ipod, discussing our musical upbringings amongst the different ages and cultures we had amassed. Carol taught Sergio one of her Vegas/ballet dance steps, and he did it allthe way to his room as he said goodnight. We all drifted wearily off, glad it hadn´t rained
like the night before, and far too full of food.
The next morning, Carol and I were up early (again - it´s so difficult to get up before sunrise here and not feel completely wiped for the rest of the day, and that´s coming from someone who gets up at 5.45 in the UK!), but this time to go horseback riding! Now, I haven´t been horseriding since I was about 15, and that was for about half an hour. This was a two hour trek to some beautiful (but smelly - sulphur) hot springs and back, through rivers and up and down mini ravines, mostly in the shade of woodland and mountains, and I´m pleased to say I rose to the occasion particularly well, getting straight on the horse - ok, a Mexican Caballo is a bit smaller than a European horse,so there´s not as much height, but still - and getting over my fear of steering it wrong pretty quickly - I replaced it quite soon with an understanding that this was an intelligent being that had probably done this route a few times before and didn´t want to drown so probably wouldn´t put a foot wrong.
We headed off, pretty confidently , and I even found a rhythm to move to so I wouldn´t end up with straining muscles - one excuse for having watched all of those costume dramas where everyone rides horses romantically across hill and dale to reach loved ones.
My horse was called Golandrina, meaning Sparrow. I quickly renamed her ´Prima Golandrina´, as she constantly had to be in front, racing in front of Carol´s horse each time it threatened to take the lead. I very quickly got over the fear of being on a running horse (can´t tell if it was a fast trot or a light canter). We rode on with our sweet young guide to the hot springs, where Carol and I bathed our feet in the hot water for a while, looking at the shine to the Oaxaca Virgin where people bring tokens they have bought in a kind of pilgrimage, asking for something in their life and coming back a year later to take back their token, hopefully happier. Then we rode back in the sunnier near-afternoon, and saw all sorts of wildlife that had still been sleeping when we set off in the early
morning; cattle, massive wattles blowing in the breeze; burros (donkeys) looking lazy; lizards aplenty, although none as big as the iguana that terrified Jas and I on the way to the shops the previous day. There were butterflies of surprising sizes and colours; lots of Monarch-coloured ones, some in interesting new colour combinations; one that was huge and white, looking rather like someonr fluttering a white silk hankie; and a huge groups of gorgeous yellow ones that I was sad to discover were symbols of death in this country. There was also some massive fly that made the noiuse of a loud buzz-saw - when we entered the forest I thought that parts of it were in the process of being cut down.
Also around here, and on our journey in general, we´ve seen giant wasps with long, dangly legs, dragonflies that buzzed in low around the pool, and heard crickets. I´ve even *eaten* crickets - chapulinas - which serves them right for keeping us awake. They´re quite nice fried and on a piece of avocado. Bats always seem to be out as soon as the sun goes down, and geckos live in the alcoves of our room,
occasionally chirping. You can imagine that Jas is terrified of the "CREATURES!" most of the time, but I rather like having new things to see all the time, even if there´s a chance they could land, bite me, and leave me itching for days.
When we got back however, the sky was glowering. Most of the Casa went down to Carizalilli beach, where I finally swam in the sea with Sergio and his sister Julietta (he swapped husband for sister as Wolf had to go back to work), riding the waves that hit the shore and being dragged about by the undertow. But even here evidence of a storm brewing showed in the bigger and bigger waves that hit the beach, coming almost all the way up to the cafes near the cliff bottom, and I felt rather like a drowned rat after too many dragging me right under in their massive crowns of surf. We headed home, and watched as thunder and lightning started...right overhead. About an hour later, the storm burst and we were drenched in torrential rain. Wind buffeted the house, blowing open windows and letting rain in to soak beds and floors. Outside, where I
was stranded under the palapa with our new roomate Frankie from Holland, chairs flew over and cushions flew all over the place. Jas tells me that, when she was trrying to hold the wondows shut in our room, a gecko fell on her hand, which was rather a distraction ("CREATURE´S ON ME! CREATURE´S ON ME!") It was all a bit of a palaver, and Adelina called in Rosa to help, mopping out wet floors after the strom passed and telling us to go have dinner while it was dry.
On the way to dinner - our plans for going out were rather dashed so we stuck to the nearby Carizalilli strip and went for pizza with everyone else - we had to stop to watch the lightning. Now over the sea, I´ve never seen such an abundance of lightning - it flamed across the sky in lilac tendrils, forking back and forth with ferocious intensity. As we ate, more and more lit the sky, and when we got back to have a beer on Carol´s terrace - definitely not going out now! - we had an amazing show as the storm came right back to us. It seemed
to come from all sides, flash flash flash...and we simply couldn´t not watch.
What an amazing place. We have to leave tomorrow on the night bus to San Cristobal (currently a hotbed of swine flu, so hands over mouthsd and handwash at the ready), but if you ever come here I´d definitely recommend Quinta Lili to stay in. It´s been such an experience! The people - Adelina will organise anything you want, from mangrove tours to horseriding, Letitia and Rosa are excellent housekeepers, and the guests themselves are generally a fantastic set of characters - and the place itself - lovely architecture, great rooms and facilites, a pool and jacuzzi...and you should see the honeymoon suite! - are perfect, and I can´t really see how a week in a 5star hotel in Playa del Carmen, our last stop (we got it for a song!), will ever compare. For now, it´s back on the buses and back at the sites...
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