Akumal, Day 3

---

A lazy day! We got up around 8 or so and headed once again over to the Turtle Bay Bakery for breakfast. This has quickly become our favorite food spot here. After, we came back to the hotel, rented fins from the dive shop for snorkeling and did a bit of shopping (the last of it while here, probably). Ever since yesterday, after the tour of the ruins at Tulum, I’ve started to have a different kind of appreciation/respect for the skeletons that are so popular in Mexican iconography. At first, I found them somewhat disturbing and disquieting. But during the tour yesterday, our guide told us that the Mayans traded with other places to get volcanic rocks to use in the desiccation process for corpses. They would bury their family members in the middle of the homes, using the volcanic rocks to get the bodies to decompose quickly and then exhume and keep the bones in special containers as part of their traditions about reincarnation. I am finding the skeletons to be a more potent reminder of both mortality, but also the intersections of the spirit world with ours and I find them strangely reassuring. There is one skeleton - made out of wood or paper mache - near the restaurant where we’ve been going for breakfast. This one is colorfully decorated and sits with a sign for a shop that’s behind the screen between the restaurant and shops that’s covered with plants. So it’s barely visible from the table we’ve been sitting at, but still visible enough. The woman opening the shop yesterday put the sign on the skeleton and then moved its head so that it was pointed toward the shop. The way she did it was utterly irreverent - it was charming in some strange way. The shop where I’ve done most of my shopping has a lot of little skeletons. I’m thinking about one for my desk at work!

We headed out for the morning to snorkel in Akumal Bay. This is the first time I’ve snorkeled with fins (outside yesterday, at the cenote). I found it much easier, but also much more intense of an exercise for my calves, which are still a little tired tonight. I headed out about as far as Clay has been going, and in the process saw one three foot turtle (I hung out over him for a bit). Then, heading out just a bit further, I saw another turtle - this one about four feet or so. This turtle had an entourage - an entire school of fish hanging around him. In the span of just seconds, the entourage were moving about and a large fish - easily three feet long came zooming by just below the water’s surface. We are fairly certain it was a small barracuda - apparently they are pretty prevalent around here. Clay saw a very large one the other day. The turtle eventually moved on, which was great, because in addition to the fish swimming around him, there was also a large cleaner fish underneath him that was clearly visible as he took off.

Coming back in, I also saw an eagle ray. It was lazing along toward the bottom and I kept behind it for a bit. Eventually, it took off, and for a short period of time, we swam in a parallel direction. Then it was gone.

I saw another turtle and finally called it quits. Heading back in, I encountered a large school of fish near the shore and a few more small fish.

I hung out on the shore for a little while, watching people and reading. I started to get a little worried about Clay who was still out snorkeling, so went back in for awhile, though didn’t see much of interest. Clay eventually came back - he was busy trying to finish off our last roll of film.

We went to lunch and then had every intention of going back out again in the afternoon, but both ended up being too tired. We spent the rest of the afternoon napping and spending some time on the Internet. And then it was dinner, more time spent with Pancho, the cat, and walking along the beach. Tomorrow, we’ll be back in Cancun and then the night after that, back home.

---