Whale Shark Adventure

Dramamine? Check. Biodegradable sunblock? Check. Underwater camera? Check. Ready to rock, ready to get in the water with the biggest, most gigantic, most incredible creatures of the sea. Some of you may remember my attempt to swim with whale sharks from last year, a day full of seasickness and near disappointment. This year I was much better prepared for the adventure, took anti-seasick pills the night before and the morning of, got to bed super early, ate bananas, took vitamins, drank ginger tea, following every recommendation I could find to avoid being seasick. (Last year was the one and only time in my life I had EVER been seasick and I was not going to have a repeat). I was up and out the door early, glad to see clear blue skies and no wind.


I'd been following the whale shark reports closely this year, anxiously awaiting the day I would be paying them a visit. The sharks had come a little late, but when they arrived, they arrived in great numbers and much closer to shore than in past years. I was almost panting with excitement when the day came for me to hit the sea, I'd read reports of hundreds of sharks congregating together! When we arrived at the Punta Sam docks, I was happy to see a calm, almost glass-like ocean, hurrah! We sat through our orientation (no touching the sharks, only two swimmers at a time, don't get whacked by a tail) and made our way to the small boat.


There were only eight people in our group, plus our expert guide and crew. The guide was as excited as we were, he told us it had been a spectacular year for the adventure and he was looking forward to a great day. We sailed along, going out past Isla Mujeres, the captain chattering on the radio. He got a big smile on his face, other captains had found the pod and it was very close by! About 45 minutes after leaving the dock we saw a group of boats gathered, we had arrived. (After last year's 2 1/2 hours to find a couple of sharks, this was indeed a treat).


We saw our first shark and squealed and oohed and aahed, this gentle spotted creature was huge! Then another, and another, and another! Even the guide was impressed, he guesstimated in a quick count that we were in the midst of 150 to 200 whale sharks! It was time to get in the water and we were more than ready. I made my jump, adjusted my mask and snorkel and came face to face with my first shark. I think I got a mouthful of seawater as I gasped with joy. We swam alongside her, admiring her beauty (don't know why but I assign the female gender to all the sharks). The guide tapped my shoulder and there was another one coming up to our right. Tap tap, another one to the left. Tap tap, another one behind, all on the first jump! Back in the boat to give the next couple their turn. We were trying to find words to describe the moment, but all anyone could come up with was slack jawed "gah gah gah, ugh, oh, AMAZING". I lost count of how many jumps we had, there were so many sharks that we had unlimited opportunities to share time with them. Compared to last year's "one and done", this was a truly surreal experience. If I didn't know better, I would have suspected that Disney had set the whole thing up and these were actually animatronic creatures, it was just that perfect.


After countless jumps, everyone had had their fill and it was time to go. The captain had a hard time manoeuvring the boat out of the area, everywhere we turned there was a whale shark. We eventually got out, made our way to Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres, dropped anchor and enjoyed a swim and some fresh ceviche made by the crew. It was refreshing and I was able to get most of the fish eggs out of my hair (the reason the sharks were so close to Isla is that the "bonito" fish were spawning so the water was full of their eggs, as was my bikini and scalp). I chatted with the tourists that were on our boat, they all agreed that this was one of the best days of their life. I turned to the guide and said "This was better than sex!". Being male, he had to disagree at first, then he looked pensive for a moment before saying "Hmm, on a day like today, you just might be right".

(See my whole set of whale shark photos and you can also book your own swim with whale shark adventure!)

He's Lucky He's Cute

I've been looking at old baby pics of Max recently, fondly remembering the days when he hadn't yet begun to talk. Pining for those days actually. Yearning. Clicking my heels together and closing my eyes and chanting, wishing for a time machine to go back to the days of relative silence. Oh sure, babies cry, but that's easy compared to what we're dealing with now. I'll take a full-on baby screaming, crying, trying everything-but don't-know-what-to-do day over the CONSTANT questions, chatter, demands, complaints, tantrums and Michael Jackson songs that we're experiencing now. In two languages no less, sometimes three.

"Remember mommy? In English we say "blue", in Spanish we say "azul' and in French it's "bleu". How do you say "blue" in Maya? In Chinese? In Italian? I have a friend, remember? His name is Raoul, he's teaching me Italian. I don't know Chinese but I think you say "buh". Remember? I like Chinese food. Can we get a whale shark in the house? I'd feed it! Grandpa got bit by a crab, remember? I love you mommy. I'm not your friend EVER mommy. Leave me alone! Come here NOW! Mooooommmmmmmy, can I have some milk please? I SAID I WANT MILK! Where's my shoe? How come? Why? How come? Why? I don't want to eat more, I am full, but can I have some ice cream? My tummy hurts, I don't want to go to school, can we go to a cenote? My tummy doesn't hurt in cenotes. Remember when I was four and my tummy hurt and I died? And there was blood everywhere! Can I have more salsa, I want it hotter. That's too hot, you burned my tongue with the salsa on purpose! FINE, just forget it, just forget about it mommy, just forget it."

And that was just one morning before school. The kid can TALK. And talk and talk and talk. Everything he says to me in English he repeats for his daddy in Spanish so we get double the chatter, double the fun. Or, he'll say something rude to his father in Spanish and I will reprimand him and he'll turn like a fury with "I wasn't talking to YOU, I was talking in Spanish, don't listen!" I picked him up from his summer course the other day and the teacher said "Max es muy lindo, muy, muy, muy lindo. Pero...........uy, TREMENDO, un pingo, puede hablar y hablar y hablar" (Max is very cute, very, very, very cute. But, oy, TREMENDOUS, a mischief maker, he can talk and talk and talk.) The teachers complain about his behaviour, he has a strong will to do his own thing, but then they pat him on the head, give him a kiss and say "Ay, pero es mi Maxito, mi Maxie precioso" (Ah, but he's my Maxito, my precious Maxie). This is going to cause us no end of trouble I am sure! Dennis the Menace got away with a lot and he wasn't even close to being as (deceptively) charming as Max.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the kid more than anything on the planet, but it's exhausting to be his mom! He'll be getting ready for bed, blathering on and on and on, lay down, still talking, pull the sheet up, still talking and he'll continue talking for the first few minutes of sleep. Heck, he talks IN his sleep! At this point a moment of silence means that something is seriously wrong. He's got the scissors and is cutting his hair in the bathroom. He's putting clothes on the cat. He's putting on eyeliner so he can be like Michael. He's "fixing" the toilet. As much as the chatter can grate, it's the silence that brings the fear.

I find myself apologizing to people at times for his behaviour, but they always say, "Ahhh, no te preocupes, es un niño! Y tiene mucha energia y salud, gracias a dios." ("Ah, don't you worry, he's a boy! And he has a lot of energy and health, thank god".) And this is so very true. So every time I am at the point of pulling out my hair I think of all the children who are not healthy, those who do not have boundless energy because they lack food and water, those who do not chatter incessantly about the world as they have had little to no education. And I think of parents who have lost their children (I don't think I can even imagine their pain). And I am grateful. And my exasperation fades away. And I give Max a big ole hug and a kiss and tell him that I am the luckiest woman in the world. And he responds "Yeah, I know, now leave me alone, you're squishing me and you're sweaty!".....He's lucky he's cute.....

Where the Boys Aren't: Girls' Beach Getaway

Mission: ESCAPE to the beach in Tulum

Work, kid, house, work, kid, house, work, kid, house. Everybody knows that story and everybody needs a getaway sometimes. I had the chance to get outta Dodge last weekend with my dear friend Lisa to visit Heather down in Tulum at the Casa de las Olas and I jumped at the opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I love my kid and my life, but sometimes a girl just needs some girl time and the chances don't come along very often.

My first boogie board attempt. Wave got me goooood.

Lisa and I hit the road on Friday night in her multi-coloured convertible bocho (Volkswagen bug) and toodled down the highway screaming over the wind and the ole car's engine. I started to lose my voice as we approached Tulum, cold chelas were definitely in order! We stopped at the supermarket, stocked up on some noms and beverages and got in line to check out. The people in front of us seemed to take forever, no biggie, we're on vacation. Until it became a BIGGIE. As we got our goods in front of the cashier, something beeped on her terminal and she said "It's 9:00, you can't buy alcohol anymore". But but but....we were in line! It's only 9! Lisa argued for a while and got nowhere until a young bagger told us there was still one place open where we could get some beer. We scooted off, found the one and only store that sells booze after 9, stocked up on beer and tequila and made our way down to the house of the waves.

We settled in for a few drinks, a few laughs and caught up with Heather. She told us that there were 6 turtle nests on the property so we set out in the dark to see what we could see. We brought Vinnie the super beach dog with us but as soon as we were on the beach she took off barking. Heather ran to grab her and behold!!!! A gigantic mama turtle was RIGHT THERE laying her eggs!! Super awe, jaw on the sandy floor, ga ga girls, we oohed and aaahed and watched her do her thing (Vinnie safely back in the house by now). Turtle patrol came along and took her measurements and clamped a tracking device on her flipper. Her shell was 106 cms by 96 cms, big girl! We got hit by some flying sand when she started to try to get out of her hole, her powerful flippers making loud THWACK sounds as she dug her way out. We left her in peace to make her way back to sea.

Turtle tracks

"Our" turtle's nest in the morning

The next morning we made our way back to the beach and saw not only her nest, but another new one too! The tracks in the sand look like ATV tracks, quite incredible to see the journey up the beach and the journey back down. We went for a walk and saw tonnes of nests, a joy to say the least, particularly if you've been watching the depressing news from the oil spill. Eight beautiful nests on the property alone and we lost count of the rest we saw on the beach going south through Sian Kaan.

Cancun Canuck catching a wave

Kiteboarder catching some air

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, reading, walking on the beach, marveling at the kiteboarders, drinking, eating and boogie boarding. I kicked some Scrabble butt, I don't think I'll be invited to the next tournament (sorry girls!). We slept like babies with the sounds of the crashing waves, napped when we felt like it and we didn't take a shower all weekend! Saving water, you know, environmentally friendly (and no boys to make that "you stink" face). The tension of life ebbed away and Lisa and I returned to the city refreshed and ready to take on the daily grind again, leaving Heather alone in paradise. Can't wait to do it again, thanks so much ladies!!