New Year's has come and gone and the piles of alcohol went from the stores to the shores. The holiday week continues through today with huge crowds, mostly locals of Mayan descent, in town. We had a rare late midnight on the beach with throbbing disco music and wildly unsafe fireworks right beside the crowds. Oy and Ole! Amazingly, by early the next morning the party garbage had been cleared and suntanners returned like high tide at a full moon.
Ferries leave Playa del Carmen hourly for Cozumel island a few miles offshore. What we remember as another typical fishing village with fantastic shore snorkeling has become another typical tourist village with endless junky shops and five huge cruise ships every day! What do local kids think as each ship arrives with fat wallets and thin minds? Formerly pristine reef access now offers Shallow Scuba 101 for the cruise people but the fishies still shine for old-school snorkelers.
Back at the mainland town square ("zocalo") holidayers can watch different Mayan re-enactors perform. Are they Performing Arts students? Street buskers? Or truly honouring their heritage? From a 70-foot pole the Flyin' Mayans spin upside-down to accompaniment of a tin whistle and bongo drum. Nearby the Jivin' Mayans dance and sing to boombox and conga drums. Oddly, the chants sound a lot like what you hear at Canadian Indian pow-wows. Hmmm.
Amidst all this Yucatan culture, genuine and/or questionable, we spot favourite things from home. A yellow bird on a wire. A butterfly resembling a black swallowtail on the sand. A sparkling 1965 Kharmann Ghia ragtop with red interior! 2016 is looking good so far, may you dance on rainbows!
Ferries leave Playa del Carmen hourly for Cozumel island a few miles offshore. What we remember as another typical fishing village with fantastic shore snorkeling has become another typical tourist village with endless junky shops and five huge cruise ships every day! What do local kids think as each ship arrives with fat wallets and thin minds? Formerly pristine reef access now offers Shallow Scuba 101 for the cruise people but the fishies still shine for old-school snorkelers.
Back at the mainland town square ("zocalo") holidayers can watch different Mayan re-enactors perform. Are they Performing Arts students? Street buskers? Or truly honouring their heritage? From a 70-foot pole the Flyin' Mayans spin upside-down to accompaniment of a tin whistle and bongo drum. Nearby the Jivin' Mayans dance and sing to boombox and conga drums. Oddly, the chants sound a lot like what you hear at Canadian Indian pow-wows. Hmmm.
Amidst all this Yucatan culture, genuine and/or questionable, we spot favourite things from home. A yellow bird on a wire. A butterfly resembling a black swallowtail on the sand. A sparkling 1965 Kharmann Ghia ragtop with red interior! 2016 is looking good so far, may you dance on rainbows!
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