Mapping Adventures

Once again I wake to pouring rain. The Spanish weather channel says "Chubascos" which evidently means heavy rain. This is a word that I won't forget for awhile.
 The rain breaks a little bit so I hop on the bike and race to Chris' house, hitting a downpour along the way. When

I get there he has a satellite image on screen that shows Cancun covered by a finger of clouds. It may be dry farther south. We get in the car, stop for Mexican pastries, and head south.

 About 20 miles south of Cancun the clouds stop and there is nothing but sunshine--amazing! Chris steps on the gas and we race to the Playa del Carmen airport.
  The plane is coming back from Cozumel so we have a few minutes to kill, we head into town buy some cheap, tight-fitting sun glasses for the plane ride. When we return the plane is ready. They've removed a door so I'll have a clear view of everything. We load our gear, organize cameras and film, tighten the seat belt, lean out for practice, tighten the seat belt, lean out again, loosen the seatbelt, then ditch the seatbelt entirely and just hook my foot around the the seat brackets in front of me.

  The plane circles until we reach 1,500 feet. We are traveling at about 95 mph. I lean out the door to start taking pictures and WHOOSH! There go the sunglasses. The other thing I notice is an incredible pain in my right ear. The wind is unbelievable. The force of the propwash is trying to rip my face off each time I lean out. Chris rolls up some tissue and I shove it in my ear. Now at least the discomfort is tolerable.

  We head down the coast toward Tulum. The beauty from above is unbelievable. Over Xcaret, then Puerto Aventuras, followed by Akumal, Xel-Ha, Tulum and finally Sian-Ka'an. The pilot points out a home that Pablo Escobar (the Columbian Drug Lord) was building. It was almost finished when the police shortened his life. Later I ask why the government would allow him to build here. The answer is obvious...if you like your family, you give Pablo a permit. The house is as large as many Cancun hotels.

  We swing around and head back north toward Playa del Carmen, drop to 800 feet, and fly out over the water. I start shooting those beautiful beach aerials, like you see in the travel catalogs...Wow!  a plane ride is expensive, but this is one of the first tours I'd recommend. There is nothing like it.

  After two hours in the air, we touch down in Playa del Carmen. I'd like to fly longer, but we have two problems. First, I only brought 18 rolls of 36 exposure film with me...and they're gone! Second, you can see the rains in Cancun. Areas to the north of Playa will have to wait for another day.

  They are laughing at the SAAB office. My hair is standing straight up and my face is windburned on one side. I could really use a cold beer right now, but Chris and I have work to do. We stop to buy more film and head for Xcaret.

  There are no crowds, so we can really enjoy the beauty of Xcaret. We map everything with GPS and enjoyed the activities at the same time. There's an acoustical guitarist playing in the amphitheater, so we sit and listen while I finally enjoy that cold beer. The Mayan ballgame is quite a spectacle, and the night shows are beautiful. Chris and I finally leave as they are closing the park.

  Back in Playa del Carmen we walk up and down Fifth Ave (a pedestrian street lined with restaurants and bars) and land at a restaurant called Don Emilione. WOW! This place is excellent. We have fried squid, grilled shrimp, seafood alfredo, and a few ice cold beers.
  About 1:30am I finally make it back to Xavier's and climb into bed!

After about four hours of sleep I awake to sunshine beaming in the window. I quickly get dressed and call Chris. He's bummed because work needs to be done and he won't be able to fly with me today. I grab the backpack full of camera gear, and pack another with clothes for an overnight stay in Playa. Then it's off to the bus station on the bike. The bike gets stowed underneath as I pack the rest of my gear in the overhead compartment. An hour later I'm in Playa, back on the bike, and heading for the SAAB airline office--it's flight time!

  Well, not quite. The pilot and I discuss the best angle of the sun for photography and decide to wait a couple of hours before departing. I stow my gear at the airport and head out on the bike to map the beach area north of Playa. There is a new section to Shangri-La (Shangri-La Caribe), that is just gorgeous. I scout-out the new resort, then ride further north to two of my favorite beach clubs, Coco beach and Zubul reef. This is also the area of the fabled nude beach. Actually, there was a lot of nudity in this area years back, but as the gawkers came, the nudists moved on. It's still a topless area as is most of Playa (What is our most frequently asked question? By far, it's "where are the topless and/or nude beaches located?")

  I head back to the airport where the plane awaits. Seeing it, brings back recent memories of my windburned face and the pain in my ear. I stuff a ball of tissue in my ear, then coat it with vaseline to seal it in there. After organizing the film and camera gear along the floor and seats, I lock my right foot into the legs of the seat in front of me, and we taxi down the runway. We make a sharp turn and come along the coastline heading north. First, we pass over the beach clubs that I just visited. It took me so long to get there by bike, and in only seconds we've gone by and they vanish into the distance. I zip through roles of film as we pass over Punta Bete, Capitan Lafitte, Tres Rios, Maroma, and then see Puerto Morelos on the horizon. Next is the giant Moon Palace resort, then Cancun. Beaches to the south have a natural beauty; Cancun has a beauty all it's own. The shapes of the pools, the thatched hut beach bars, the endless strand of beach. It's a breathtaking sight from 1,000 feet.

  As I'm looking down taking pictures, I realize that we are not alone. I glance up to the sight of a military helicopter and a manned machine gun pointing in our direction. Another helicopter moves in at water level, searching the ocean for whatever we may have dropped. My pilot explains his mission over the radio, I hold up the cameras, and the helicopter dives to meet up with the other. I'm told that tourism in Cancun provides over 30% of Mexico's gross national product. The federal police keep a close eye on anything suspicious.

  I finish the aerials of Cancun and we fly back to Playa del Carmen. It's just after noon, so I catch a taxi and head for destinations south. We make it to the ruins of Tulum, when I mention to the driver that I haven't been to the ruins of Coba in about 10 years, "Are there any changes?" Next thing I know, we're on the road to Coba, bouncing over potholes at about 80 mph. My driver claims "you go fast, you fly over! " His technique seems to work for most potholes, but when it doesn't!

  I notice a few changes at Coba. Buses now visit the sight, there seem to be more trails cleared, and you can no longer climb the first group of pyramids. However, if you walk farther into the jungle you can climb the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan. It's amazing!

  On the way back, we map the rows of tiny cabanas south of Tulum, then go through Tankah, Akumal, and return to Playa. I get a room at the tiny Los Ondinas cabanas and hop on the bike to map Playa. I work until about 1am, but stop after almost hitting a horse parked in the middle of the road. but that's another story.
Go to Day #7