We are heading back down to Mexico soon. The date of our departure and return are still up in the air....as is everything else with the economy today. We have paper work to file at the consolate and some other things to get ready....but we plan to be there by mid Feb. This trip we are driving to Tulum....so that will be a whole sperate adventure.
The blog will be resurrected!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Back in Phoenix
Well, we are back in Phoenix safe and sound. A bit depressed but also glad to be at our other home :) I am going to keep the blog to post our scuba adventures.
Thanks to everyone for their comments and emails, it made it feel like we were not so far away.
A few parting pics from the month:
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John and Karen
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Only 1 day left and a travel day
Well, our time in Mexico is coming to an end. It has been a great trip. The last few days I have been diving with ou r friend Kim while John has been venturing into the jungle in search of new cenotes. Kim and I did a dive in Chac-mool again and we dove 2 stages and surfaced in a new cenote of our own! Well, new for us that is. It was called cenote Mojarra, as we later found out. Neat cenote.
The day before Kim and I swam from Gran Cenote to centoe Bosh Chen, that was a nice dive as well....over 2 hours. Beautiful formations and some nice tight restrictions up the Bosh Chen line....fun fun fun.
Today John and I headed off to Zero Gravity to meeet with Danny again. We changed gears and decided we would like a scooter motor rebuilding and trouble shooting class.....and no that wasn't my idea. I went along anyway, and got to part way re-assemble one of our scooter motors that was not working. Before, we started I hadn't a clue about troubleshooting or knowing about the inner workings of a scooter. As usual, we learned a ton from Danny and in the end we went to lunch. We also discussed our "big dive " and got some suggestions and things to think about to go back to the end of our line.
Next time, we will revisit were we left off for the in-water scooter stuff, but as John said...if I can't fix 'em, we can't ride 'em. And as usual, he is right. It was a good day and now we have more stuff to look forward to when we come back.
Our friends Lynn and Butch arrived yesterday.....they just got here. Lucky them!
Tomorow's final dive is still a mystery...
Back in Phx on Tuesday!
Karen and John
The day before Kim and I swam from Gran Cenote to centoe Bosh Chen, that was a nice dive as well....over 2 hours. Beautiful formations and some nice tight restrictions up the Bosh Chen line....fun fun fun.
Today John and I headed off to Zero Gravity to meeet with Danny again. We changed gears and decided we would like a scooter motor rebuilding and trouble shooting class.....and no that wasn't my idea. I went along anyway, and got to part way re-assemble one of our scooter motors that was not working. Before, we started I hadn't a clue about troubleshooting or knowing about the inner workings of a scooter. As usual, we learned a ton from Danny and in the end we went to lunch. We also discussed our "big dive " and got some suggestions and things to think about to go back to the end of our line.
Next time, we will revisit were we left off for the in-water scooter stuff, but as John said...if I can't fix 'em, we can't ride 'em. And as usual, he is right. It was a good day and now we have more stuff to look forward to when we come back.
Our friends Lynn and Butch arrived yesterday.....they just got here. Lucky them!
Tomorow's final dive is still a mystery...
Back in Phx on Tuesday!
Karen and John
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
No Diving Today....checked out area S. of Tulum
Today we didn't dive. John had originally planned to check out some areas with Fernando and talk to some of the land owners, but Fernando had some business he had to attend to. And Kim and I decided to take the day off from diving...ear issues again. Anyway, John and I went for a drive South of Tulum as he wanted to check out an area that he had a satellite photo of and map it on the GPS. So below is John trekking off the side of the road into the really thick jungle.
I stayed in the car for 15 minutes, then went to find him. He was on his way back to the car and I had forgotten about the mosquito net hat. Here is John with the mosquito net hat...he hates mosquitos:)
Me standing next to a really big elephant ear plant...Mom if I could find a way to transport this back to you I would...it was huge!! Me in my jungle trekking outfit...long sleeves and pants are a must. Plus good hiking boots, because last time I almost broke my foot again.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Nohoch Cenote (Giant birdcage)
Hi,
Here are some photos' from our dive in Nohoch yesterday. Nohoch is a truly beautiful cave, and it is really shallow allowing for a long dive. We decided we wanted to bring the scooters along, plus 3 stages to see how far we could get. We had to lower the gear down using ropes, because we didn't want to carry all the gear. The scooters alone weigh 90lbs so hauling them up and down the stairs is a huge job.
Description of the photos: Fernando and one of the men at the cenote lowering gear. And Kim working at the bottom of the rope to unload the gear. And John, Kim and Fernando gearing up. View of cave entrance and another view of the cenote.
Here are some photos' from our dive in Nohoch yesterday. Nohoch is a truly beautiful cave, and it is really shallow allowing for a long dive. We decided we wanted to bring the scooters along, plus 3 stages to see how far we could get. We had to lower the gear down using ropes, because we didn't want to carry all the gear. The scooters alone weigh 90lbs so hauling them up and down the stairs is a huge job.
Description of the photos: Fernando and one of the men at the cenote lowering gear. And Kim working at the bottom of the rope to unload the gear. And John, Kim and Fernando gearing up. View of cave entrance and another view of the cenote.
The dive was awesome and it lasted over 3 hours so by the time we got out it was almost sunset. At the beginning of the dive, one of the scooters wouldn't work so John and Fernando drove back to the house to get the spare motor while Kim and I watched over the gear. In the meantime, it poured like crazy and cleared up just as fast.
Today we dove Chan -Hol again, took another look at the pots and went down some lines that we had never been down.
Less than 1 week left on our Mexico vacation.
PS: I got a email from our friend Bill, who had an adventure of his own last weekend. He encountered a 12-16 ft Great White on a dive at Catalina Island. All was well, and no one got hurt. What an amazing experience. I can say that because I didn't see it....totally different response if I would have been there :)
Here is a picture of a great white from another friend, Sean. He dove with them this summer.
Below is his photo.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter
Happy Easter everyone!! Taking the day off from diving today. Partly because it is Easter but mostly because we need a day of rest and maybe a beach day.
Yesterday we did the clean-up dive in Camillo to get the remaining stages we left after the big dive. There were to many to haul out in one trip; we had planned the clean up into the logistics. As I was bringing our gear to the cenote, I mentioned that it seemed alot farther today. John's comment was, "Cleaning up the house afterwards is never as much fun as the party." Perfect.
The dive was uneventful except for our short surface interval in cenote Camillo. We surfaced and I was on the look out for monkeys again. We talked a bit and I looked where the water meets the jungle and thought...."my that is a very big iguana tail"......Holy S**T was the phrase that came out after that. John, who was facing the other direction, saw my eyes pop out of my head and turned around......to see the crocodile I had already seen.
John said, "be quiet you are going to scare it", to which I replied, "if he is so scared why is he entering the water towards us" Holy Crap, survace interval over, I went underwater and back into the cave. We both decended and I watched from far below as the croc lie on the surface of the water with his mouth opening and closing . The croc was a juvenile, maybe 5ft long (mostly tail) but it freaked me out. Not sure I want to surface at Camillo if the opportunity presents itself again.
The excitemet made for interesting discussions on the drive home.
Later that night we went out to dinner with Fernando and his wife, Glenda. We watched a Flamenco dancing show at a great restaurant. Those ladies are super fit, it was unbelievable how fast they move their feet. Apparently, that is the place to be on Saturday night as all the locals were there greeting each other and talking. Fernando has been in Tulum for over 20 years and many of the other people have too. It was a great night out.
Kim arrives today so we will meet up for a welcome dinner and diving discussions.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Karen and John
Yesterday we did the clean-up dive in Camillo to get the remaining stages we left after the big dive. There were to many to haul out in one trip; we had planned the clean up into the logistics. As I was bringing our gear to the cenote, I mentioned that it seemed alot farther today. John's comment was, "Cleaning up the house afterwards is never as much fun as the party." Perfect.
The dive was uneventful except for our short surface interval in cenote Camillo. We surfaced and I was on the look out for monkeys again. We talked a bit and I looked where the water meets the jungle and thought...."my that is a very big iguana tail"......Holy S**T was the phrase that came out after that. John, who was facing the other direction, saw my eyes pop out of my head and turned around......to see the crocodile I had already seen.
John said, "be quiet you are going to scare it", to which I replied, "if he is so scared why is he entering the water towards us" Holy Crap, survace interval over, I went underwater and back into the cave. We both decended and I watched from far below as the croc lie on the surface of the water with his mouth opening and closing . The croc was a juvenile, maybe 5ft long (mostly tail) but it freaked me out. Not sure I want to surface at Camillo if the opportunity presents itself again.
The excitemet made for interesting discussions on the drive home.
Later that night we went out to dinner with Fernando and his wife, Glenda. We watched a Flamenco dancing show at a great restaurant. Those ladies are super fit, it was unbelievable how fast they move their feet. Apparently, that is the place to be on Saturday night as all the locals were there greeting each other and talking. Fernando has been in Tulum for over 20 years and many of the other people have too. It was a great night out.
Kim arrives today so we will meet up for a welcome dinner and diving discussions.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Karen and John
Friday, March 21, 2008
The "BIG DIVE"...heeeheee
So after months of planning, and 3 long days of set up dives....we have 2 versions of how the story ends. John's version...just tell 'em we died and see if we get any responses. And the real version, which is after almost 5.5 hours of diving and a partially empty Explorer reel, about 9500ft of penetration and a brand new AzTek Divers 2008 arrow now the end of the line for the Sistema Camillo. And did I mention, it is some of the most beautiful cave we have ever seen and it is still running strong. You have to go through some nasty cave to get there, but it is worth it. And in the second version, we lived :)
And if you want you can go to the Cambrian Foundation, Akumal Project 2006 and see the pictures of the section called "House of Wax" . And the picture doesn't do it justice.
http://www.cambrianfoundation.org/projects/show_entry_details.php?ID=260&projectName=Akumal%202006
The dive had some obstacles. We had one regulator fail which prompted us to cut the dive short by 1 stage each. My scooter had a faulty trigger over portions of the dive (it wouldn't go) , so I had to run the magnet switch manually. And the normal task loading stuff. But we were happy with the dive.
Tomorrow is short the clean-up dive ....to Cenote Camillo where we left 3 stages each.
Karen and John
And if you want you can go to the Cambrian Foundation, Akumal Project 2006 and see the pictures of the section called "House of Wax" . And the picture doesn't do it justice.
http://www.cambrianfoundation.org/projects/show_entry_details.php?ID=260&projectName=Akumal%202006
The dive had some obstacles. We had one regulator fail which prompted us to cut the dive short by 1 stage each. My scooter had a faulty trigger over portions of the dive (it wouldn't go) , so I had to run the magnet switch manually. And the normal task loading stuff. But we were happy with the dive.
Tomorrow is short the clean-up dive ....to Cenote Camillo where we left 3 stages each.
Karen and John
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