Day 28: Cozumel

January 31, 2018

A Magic Circle

We hit our first "breakfast included" today that was actually worth waiting for. It had fruit, eggs and potatoes, and yogurt and granola, sweet breads and cake too. The fruit was particularly good, all just properly ripe. I am mentally preparing for going back to where these things will be hard to find.

Our plan for today had been to circle the island, or really the south end, since there is no road in the north. Looking at the map below it looks like just a jaunt in a park, but actually it's 70 km, starting from San Miguel on the west, going to the south point, coming up the exposed east side, and cutting back across to San Miguel. What concerned us was the strong wind from the north that we had yesterday. So we began from town and went north, toward the airport, just to see how tough the wind would be. We felt the wind alright, but pooh pooh'd it and turned south to do the circuit notwithstanding.

The first part of the trip was through the San Miguel waterfront, and down by the cruise ship port. We were amazed to find almost 10 km of heavy development down that west side. And what we thought was one or two city sized cruise ships turned out to be several. People were flooding off them, and we knew they were destined to swarm the restaurants and shops, driving up prices.

There were activities laid on in that cruise ship area to keep the people amused. One was a chance to stand with sting rays, an admittedly iinteresting thing, that I had once done on the open reef in Cayman Islands. Another activity was cycle riding! But the identically equipped people would only cruise a few kms into town. Finally there was the miniature submarine. This too is inherently cool, offering a chance to go below the waves without scuba. The tour lasts two hours, most of which is used in boating out to the sub. The cost is 1890 pesos per person. That would be $250 for the two of us. Yikes!

But the activity that puzzled us, and that was taken up by hoardes of people, was to rent a dune buggy or fancy jeep and drive it around the island. Now yes, I had characterized the circle tour in yesterday's blog as tough, with a lack of food, water, and shade, but that was with cycling in mind. Why would you need a jeep or dune buggy? We only got a possible answer after a day of looking at and listening to these annoying vehicles.

The dozen or so photos that follow are from what we saw in the first section of the ride - the developed bit around San Miguel:

This monument near the airport depicts a Mayan priest and a Catholic one. I am not sure what the point of it is, but interestingly both types of priest are now forgotten in history.

The San Miguel waterfront, with gaily coloured sculptures.

We wrongly thought the one or two cruise ships in this shot were the end of the story.

This partly sunk boat off San Miguel puzzled us. What was it doing there? An internet search for sunken and boat and San Miguel turned up a very disturbing series of news reports about ferries and other boats sinking in these waters!

Tourists in a "kiddy pool" looking at stingrays.

The submarine could be good if you have the cash.

The west side of the island within 5 kms of San Miguel has many large hotels.

Even in the first part of the ride, the totally gorgeous appearance of the Caribbean dominated all other sights. The sea of course is Caribbean blue, a colour guaranteed to lift the spirits. Not too much wildlife was in evidence, but there were some birds, and really a lot of iguanas.

But a big thing to us, something only partly expected, was the fact that there is a bike way almost the whole way round the island. This is not just a shoulder or anything like that, but a road (maybe the old road) barricaded and marked for bicycles. This runs parallel to the motor road, and (ha ha) takes the outside track - that is, it runs right by the water while the cars are pushed to the inland side.

The bike road (right) and the motor road (left)

The bikeway continued, offering beautiful water views, down to the south point. Meanwhile the buggies and jeeps buzzed by on the motorway. At the south point is Punta Sur Park. This is billed as an "Eco Beach Park". Maybe in there the dune buggies can find dunes to tear up, though that does not sound very "eco". The cost to enter was $17 US per person. It did not seem like the right place for two little old Canadian cyclists.

Speaking of "not the right place", I had been wrong about the lack of food and water on the circuit. There was actually a fair smattering of restaurants and juice stands. We stopped in at each one, because juice or coco frio or food would have been good in what had become very sunny and windy conditions. But prices were 400 to 500% above customary, all being quoted also in US dollars. So a coco frio (cut open coconut) would cost $5 or 200 pesos. The customary price is 20 pesos. We were having none of it! But the swarming tourists in their rented jeeps did not seem to mind.

There were dozens and dozens of these beasts - why?

After Punta Sur the action really increased, at least in terms of the beauty of the ocean and the beach. Our road ran right along the shore, which often had long expanses of perfect sandy beach. But in other places the surf crashed into rocks, sending up spray. In several spots, the erosion of the limestone had created holes that erupted like geysers. It was all terribly exciting.

Our path continues - in the wind, and no shade.

In spots you have to be slightly more alert!

Aside from the stupendous scenery, and the fact that the anticipated wind, sun, lack of shade, and (one way or another) lack of supplies had all come into play, there was some interest provided by people along the way.

The first was a man riding a recumbent trike. Based on what we have seen, this could be the only one in Yucatan. The man explained that his left foot is paralyzed and would not be able to stay on a regular pedal. But with the trike he could strap it on. He still had two legs worth of power, since his left leg was ok. But the thing with this man (and his wife - on a regular bike) is that they will not tolerate being on road, at all. That makes this circuit perfect for them!

Next up was a turtle nesting beach. But though the signs were there, this is clearly not nesting season.

The exposed east coast is shown on the maps as having strong currents, and is not recommended for swimming. Still, it is possible to at least go into the water, as evidenced by areas with lifeguards. However there is a system of assessing the conditions, with green/yellow/red flags possible. While we were there, the whole coast was lined with red flags. But this did not deter some people. We watched with interest as a lifeguard - a volunteer from the fire department, it seemed - blew his whistle and rushed into the surf to pull someone out. Clearly my intelligence rating - which has been established as below "tourist" is still higher than some of the morons on this beach!

...but no turtles today (probably would have to be night anyway)

Lifeguard blows his whistle and heads into the surf

This is not to say one could not swim at all on this side. There was at least one sheltered cove where people were able to safely go in.

A protected cove good for swimming, and overpriced refreshments we refused to buy.

After we had been cycling for quite a few hours, many into the wind, Dodie's back was seizing up from the effort of mashing on the pedals. I gave her a boost for the last little bit, and soon we were mixing it up with traffic in the part of San Miguel which houses the non tourist population. This was a potent mix of returning dune buggies and jeeps - driven by inexperienced renters, and locals on scooters and motorbikes - driven with the intention of getting somewhere fast.

We stopped at OXXO, where Dodie sacrificed her insulated water bottle so I could put coffee into it, and at "our" bakery she found some good pan dulce, including one that was a bit like apple strudel, except that it also had guabana - guava.

So with coffee and pastry back in our room, I was totally happy. I turned to Dodie to ask if she felt a sense of accomplishment for having tackled the wind and sun, and thirst and hunger. I looked up at her, and there was my graphic answer. For her final act of bravery, she has authorized the publication of this photo:

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,300 km (807 miles)

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