We loaded up bright and early this morning. Headed for Camillo, got past the guard....and woohoo, there was no one there. So John and I beat feet to unload, gear up and get ourselves in the cave before the "shooters" arrived. They never did.
Here is a picture of the targets near the cenote...the police probaly have to gear up to fight all the drug cartels. We learned that the police make the equivalent of $300 every 15 days....so $600 dollars a month...to risk their lives, no wonder they hit tourists up for "mordidas".
.
We did a two hour and 25 minute dive on the rebreathers and set the first set of safety bottles up an hour into the cave. The rebreathers are a whole new learning curve. bouyancy is completely different, you can't use your lungs. It is all in wing or drysuit inflation. The first hour I was hating it, I mean totally hating it. Scooter got wrapped around switchblock, free flowing stage bottle and bouyancy was just not fabulous. I kept hearing the circus music going around in my head, but after we dropped the safety bottles, life got better!
When we exited the cave, I was expecting to find the police heavy int o training but htey were not there....sweet! We can only hope they have another day off tomorrow.
Tonight we headed to Zamas for dinner. On the way back, we were stopped at a military check point they set up on the Tulum beach road....are you kidding me? This is after my having only two of the strongest margaritas on the planet. So I roll down the window and the federale tells me to turn on the inside car light. That alerts the federales ahead that we are tagged for inspection. We pull over, give them John's driver's license and open the truck for them to search. John, playing the "no habla espanol" gringo ignores them when they bring up "mordida" (which means bribe). I open the back of the truck and all they see is wood, to repair the cenote platform, and they send us on our way. Amazing!!
So we go back to town and decide we need some gelato. In town there is another truck associated with the fair from earlier. It has a bear in a cage that is open. The other day they had 8 white tigers, 2 llamas, a tapir, and a truck with some baboons. They drive them up an down the streets with a big loud speaker drumming up business for their show at the fair.
On the walk back to the room, Fernado's neighbor, who has a dress shop is trying to get my attention. I first assume she wants me to look at her shop, until I listen to what she is saying. The Rossetta Stoen must be working because I am able to hold a portion of the conversation....the words policia and robar catch my attention. She told me that last night some guys tried to break into our truck but her husband stopped them, and she wanted to let me know. WOW...that was really cool. I tell her that the truck has an alarm, but the back window to the camper part doesn't. I thank her and go tell John, who secures the truck for the night.
All in all a good day!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment