'YOLO' in Mexico

I wrote my first post about a month ago when I was still planning on setting off. I am now in Mexico. In the last two weeks I have left my job, cat, car, friends and family. I had a full week in Newcastle and one in Dublin. During this time family and friends were asking was I nervous.....the answer: No. I think everyone else was more nervous for me. Maybe I should have felt nervous but I just didn't (I'm about as emotional as a stone sometimes). Or maybe I'm just impatient and wanted to get going.

I managed to pack my life for the next year in a modest backpack, and smaller rucksack...even surprising myself considering I was 7kg over my baggage allowance coming back from Newcastle a week earlier.

Maybe I wasn't nervous as my first 16 days are already planned out with a 'YOLO' group tour starting in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico and ending in Antigua in Guatemala where I will spend a further two weeks (attempting) to learn the lingo while living with a local family. I have already ensured I know the basics.......how to ask where the bar is and how to order a drink (imperative), I can also swear quite well in Spanish after a narcos binge over the past couple of weeks...(I actually watched the whole season in three days).

After a comfortable ten and a half hour flight, hour bus and half an hour wandering around with my life on my back in scorchio heat looking for my hotel, I checked in and headed straight to the best beach to dip my toes into the sea. I met my group that night and we had our brief on what the next 16 days would entail. There are ten of us in total coming from all over the world including England, North America, Canada, Australia, Denmark and of course, Irish. We are family for the next 16 days and it feels like I've known everyone for ages already. We went for dinner in a little Mexican place recommended by our tour guide, we all had traditional Mexican dishes and of course cerveza (beers) and some margaritas.

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn, 6 of us had opted to go on a day tour of whale shark snorkelling off the coast of Cancun. Apparently there are only a few places in the world you can snorkel with them and the 'season' ended In two days' time. After this it is thought the Sharks then head further out to sea and are more difficult to find. I was reassured the Sharks were herbivores which swayed my decision to agree to jump in the water with these creatures. Once in a lifetime opportunity! So my first day on my trip was spent on a little (but very speedy) boat miles out to sea snorkelling with these massive creatures where we were close enough to touch them and surrounded by them as well as manta rays. We spent a couple of hours out there and I was blown away at how docile they were letting us swim side by side with them. We did however get a shock when one whale shark swam under our boat and 'bumped' us three times from underneath (angry shark)! On our way back to Cancun we stopped at Isla Mujeras, white sand and turquoise clear water. I was informed that this is rumoured to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world (I could see why). While we were having a swim, our day guide and captain prepared us 'ceviche', a Peruvian dish but also eaten in Central and South America. It consists of raw fish marinated in lots of lime juice, herbs and onion...so fresh!

Fresh Ceviche

 

Manta ray

That evening (our last night in Mexico) a few of us went to a '100% natural' Mexican restaurant. I had chicken and Cactus fajitas...the cactus was nice and tasted like grilled green peppers. I had a 'vampirina' to drink (beer mixed with pineapple and lime juice). We also went and had some 'Mezcal' cocktails on the way home, Mezcal is the traditional drink in Mexico and is made from the Aloe plant, to be honest I wasn't overly keen, it had a vague taste of tequila with a turpentine aftertaste.... I'll stick to tequila from now on..or rum which is the local drink in our next country.

A beer vampirina

We called it s night as we were meeting the next morning at 6am to head to Belize...roughly a 12 hour journey.

Next Stop: Caye Caulker, Belize
It's a Yes: Ceviche, Cactus
It's a No: Mezcal
Lesson one: I ALWAYS need to wear sunscreen....I now have comical knee burn thanks to my wetsuit. Burnt to a crisp