The rest of yesterday and today (SCUBA!!!)

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On our way home yesterday, I forgot to mention, we stopped at the Buddha Lounge, for a bebida and also for dinner, though... it turned out to be upscale USA pricing, so we didn{t stay for dinner. Instead, we went to this place around the corner called Redneck something and it was like... Mexican run but USA themed, but Mexican colored, Mexican priced, with USA food. It was kinda odd and not populated enough for me to be totally comfortable there. Anyway, the price was right... so Wendy ordered the Sausage Happy Special Dinner (or something along those lines), Matheu ordered BBQ rib dinner, and I got Filet Mignon dinner, medium. About the same time our ($7 a plate!) meals arrived, a local cover band came on and started off the night with Come As You Are with the worst guitar solo ever. They continued to play covers of 90{s rock songs and eventually some mexican tunes. The food was very good, but Wendy got sick really early in the morning, so perhaps something was up with it. I´ve had good luck with food here so far, my trick (stolen from Lonely Planet) is to only eat in places that are busy, or highly recommended by locals. Anyway, not a super'eventful night, as we were trying to get some rest before the activities of tomorrow.

Early in the morning, Matheu and I awoke to find Wendy too sick to go out horseback riding (aww 😞 ... but we got ready for SCUBA and got on the blue bus headed towards the Marina. The first major landmark is the TUNEL which we found was blocked at the end by a VERY recent accident involving a garbage truck and a small hatchback. The drivers were just exiting their vehicles when we came upon them, and it wasn{t likely that theyd move soon, so the driver threw it in reverse and backed down the whole tunnel (it was at least a quarter mile long) and headed up over the mountain on some backroad that a person from the back was shouting about. About when we got to the top of the mountain, we started seeing traffic from the opposite side, and the road was getting narrow and windy, like wined-E... so the bus had to wait a couple times at corners for someone to stop and let it pass. eventually we reached a dead stop, with Matheu and I looking at his watch and thinking to ourselves.... we have 15 minutes to get there, we{ll never make it. Matheu looked at me and said, we have to get out and run, there{s no way we{re moving soon. So we exited the bus and began to run down the cobblestone street, down the mountain, in flip flops, past stopped taxis, buses, and cars with anxiety-ridden mexicans. Eventually we cleared traffic and found a cab that wasn{t spoken for. We got in and told him to take us to the Marina near the San Javier Hospital and really really fast. So he ran some red lights, passed some buses in oncoming lanes, and got us there in like 8 minutes. According to Matheu{s 6 year old book, the ride from the hostel to the marina should cost 40 pesos, and (even though we didn{t negotiate prior to getting in the cab, always a good idea) he asked for 50 pesos. I paid and gave him and extra 10 with many thanks and a wink. That kind of honesty and driving skill probably deserved more, but 20% is about as much tip as you can give and look grateful without just looking like a rich a-hole. So we got in the Marina and had (of course! the boat leaves at 9am MEXICAN time) time to get breakfast, check in, and wait for 20 minutes... oh and recount our tale in broken spanish to several different people. The boat was full of tourists, as it was serving the multiple purpose of taking scuba divers, snorkelers, beachgoers, whale watchers, and booze cruisers. On the way out we saw three whales, all in a group. Humpbacks. A mother and baby, and an escort. Apparently humpbacks travel with a female escort to watch the baby if the mother needs to go on a deep dive. It was beautiful to see this HUGE mammalian sea creature slide out of the water, back in, tail, no disturbance or anything. No breaching, just a gentle swim. They came up and down in a group about 7 times, eventually very close to the boat, maybe 40 feet. it was very cool. We continued to the Marietas Islands, and got suited up. Our divemaster, named Todd, was from Rockford! haha... anyway, there{s little point in taking time now to describe in detail the incredibleness of SCUBA, but I will talk briefly about the sea life I saw. I saw coral of red, orange, green, purple, yellow, grey, white... Fish of all different sizes and colors, in schools, by themselves, hiding in the coral, little coral plants that looked like little trees of grey, feathers of white, trails of orange, clumps of brain, puffer fish everywhere, we caught one on the second dive and marveled at its (uncharacteristic) lack of a tail, and passed it around, all puffed up... they{re very spikey. we swam under and through rock tunnels, I saw an eel, I saw this little thing that looked like a walking city of little plants, on a white balloon, walking on the ground on puffer-esque little spines.... I can{t even describe it. amazing. simply amazing. the ride back, we had the boat to ourselves for a while and gorged on a late lunch, then cruised in the sun and I tried to pry a U of I student from her parents because she looked a little trapped sitting next to them. I learned from one of our dive masters and film makers that the birds flying overhead were blue'footed boobies and that they lived only around Vallarta, in Galapagos, and on Hawaii. Wow! Returned home via bus and now we are preparing for an all-out mexican new years celebration with all kinds of food and everything. i{m missing out on some picture taking so that{s it for now!

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