BAFFIN ISLAND

BAFFIN ISLAND

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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

MEXICO part 3

Yes that was quite the trip, we had a load to go to a little Island off Cancun during this time, Isla de Cozumel and we were there for 10 days waiting to off load, doing nothing, so Cap. let us use the jet boat to go ashore and we went ..every day !
It was a vacation for me as the boys all wanted to eat ashore along with their beers !! The one thing that stands out in my mind was the migration if these little blue crabs they had, man you couldn't walk without stepping on one, cute little buggers but a pain in the foot so to speak !!
we would visit this one bar that had a beautiful huge parrot about 15 years old that hated men and loved women so I got to hold him, this one time though this guy approached not knowing this and the parrot just about drove his toe nails into my arm, I had to quickly shake him off ...poor thing ..but he came back once settled.
We left Mexico with heavy hearts when our stint was up and flew back to Canada. The second engineer was totally upset as he thought the ship would be going back also, but it was sold to Pemex. He had planned to fill the pipes in the engine room with grass, bring it back to Canada and sell it !! The boy smoked too much !!
I have an infinity for this place and I don't know why, I was there long enough to fall in love with the "real" thing... not the tourist areas,  which I can't stand, they are so different from the real Mexico, it is a little dangerous there now but only near the borders. Mexico has 29 world heritage sites, 62 ethnic groups, 30,000 archaeological sites, plus they are number one in tourist sites and number two in luxury tourism worldwide. I will be going back.
I was accepted to teach English at the Heslington Institute in Tehuacan , which is a beautiful city of 250 thousand people nestled between two mountain ranges about an hour south east of Puebla ( a world heritage site) Last June I went into Halifax to take the course for teaching English to foreign students so when I do go at least I'll have some background.
Tehuacan has a year round moderate temperature of approximately 78 degrees ( 25 C ) and a dry climate. A sought after area by geologists and horticulturists ( huge cactus grow there ). Also has one of the best mineral waters in the world and numerous hot springs...hotels are about 22.00 US for a 2-3 star which are quite beautiful in Mexico with the old courtyards and huge fans.
I would like to take a month and travel from the Silver Cities down through Tehuacan and over to Belize and maybe up to Progresso on the Yucatan...where we spent a lot of time. It would be fun to see it again. It would also be fun to take the air conditioned TV equipped buses between the cities and the "chicken buses" for off road excursions, I love chicken buses !!
Next year I will take a month off hopefully and head down to cruise through that beautiful country !