My Cozumel Birthday(s) Part 2

The morning of October 4th was bright and sunny. I woke up to find Cena out of bed again, but unlike the previous morning where breakfast was all laid out and she was peacefully working on her computer, this morning she was busy running around, collecting items for a pile on the table. Clearly the birthday plan was in full swing today.

As I sat down, she was in the process of making a bowl of oatmeal for me. She had no sooner put the bowl down on the table than announced that she had a last minute birthday related errand to run, and that we could leave as soon as she got back. With that she grabbed the purse and dashed out the door.

When she came back, she said everything is good. According to plan. For her sake, I hoped so. She had been sneaking around planning at this for weeks now. But planning and Latin America don't exactly go hand in hand.

So she had a quick banana, finished packing up the 2 backpacks of things, and said we were ready to go. So I followed.

Eagerly wondering where we were going, I was scouring for hints. Were we walking left or right? Both hinted at different plans. But we were each carrying a backpack and her a 4L bottle of water, so we couldn't be going terribly far in the heat. We left the parking lot and turned right. Hmm.. However no more than 10 feet around the corner from our parking lot, I see this. And I see Cena smile and start walking towards it. Oh my, what had she done...

She had rented an old, nay ancient bright orange convertible bug for us to drive around and explore the island with! And had researched more than a days worth of possible stops all along the way, depending on our/my mood. Hence the two backpacks worth of stuff. Everything from swimsuits to snorkel gear to snacks to raincoats was thought of and brought with.

So with that we threw our stuff in the back and took off out of town, dodging crazy latino motorists to get to the highway to start our day, with everything we could possibly need. Except of course for the map of the island and cash, which in her excitement Cena had forgot to print off and withdraw. But really all that meant was a little bit more exploring, and a little bit more adventure to the day. Even more so when we got to the 'wild' east side of the island where there is no electricity to speak of, therefore no atms and no credit card accepted.

But for now we were still driving the highway, as our surroundings were getting progressively more and more green. Until we hit a point where there was no more civilization, just jungle and highway. And of course the occasional hotel and beach bar. Our first stop was the infamous Mr. Sanchos which we had heard so much about.

In two words, tourist paradise. Mr. Sanchos has everything from its own little souvenir marketplace, to a tequila factory, to a swim up pool bar, to an ocean waterpark complete with trampoline and climbing structure, to massage huts, to beach loungers to hammocks, to all-inclusive drink and food day packages. It was beautiful. But also crowded. Just not what we were in the mood for just yet, so we walked back to the parking lot to our bug to hit the road again. However, not before taking another 5 minutes to fiddle with the bike lock keeping the hood/trunk locked with our stuff in it.

We kept driving the single lane and only highway down the island and decided that we would rather spend the day exploring the island in general and different beach bars and huts rather than individual ruins and national parks for now.

The drive was so beautiful. So wonderful. In this ancient steel car that was so simple it didn't even have a radio or buttons, or a dash or vents to speak of, just a simple speedometer, gas gage and hazard lights. But who needs vents when you're in a convertible, driving on a coastal highway on a caribbean island?

Before we knew it we had left the west side, crossed the south filled with natural reserves and parks, and had stumbled on to the 'wild' east side. The first place we see is one we had been wanting to check out since we first arrived on the island, this reggae beach bar called rastas.

Incredible views, incredible food, and obviously incredibly friendly laid back atmosphere and servers who walked around the place barefooted and lazed in a hammock when they weren't serving. 

After this we continued driving up the coast, marvelling at the turquoise waters, occasionally stopping at random beach huts just to take in the views. 

Our next real stop was at this bar Cena had researched ahead of time called Coconuts. We nearly missed it had it not been for this inconspicuous sign and a few cars parked along side the highway. The cars were parked next to this hand painted sign that read 'Entrance' and led to this stone stairway trail up a hill through the jungle.

We followed the trail and passed some signs that indicated that we were definitely on the right path. We finally arrived at this circular beach hut bar perched on a hill almost hidden by trees. Blasting rock music with remarkable views of the sea, I thought it was definitely time to cheat the cleanse and have a birthday drink here. Only, as Cena had forgotten to take cash out, and we were on the east side with no electricity, we scrounged our purse and found we had just over 50 pesos on us leftover from lunch, or about 2$. Just enough for one large margarita. The only problem, was the server was so friendly that we end up chatting with him, Martin was his name, and telling him that this day was my birthday celebration. And since we only had money for one margarita, he felt he should make it worth our while.

At the table arrived this enormous margarita. It looked like it could fit most of a bottle of booze, and tasted like it had a least half a bottle of tequila in it. Fantastic as this was, Cena was driving, and at this point we had both been on a liver cleanse for 2 weeks and hadn't had a drop to drink in that time frame. So after managing to bring the contents of this margarita bowl down about an inch, we already felt a little happier. We asked Martin for more ice and lime in hopes of toning it down a bit. Successful, yes. But it was still no match for the mickey of tequila.

After a while, we wanted to move on go to another place to swim. So I nonchalantly took the cup under the table and poured the remaining half in to Cena's nalgene bottle to take with us. We thanked Martin, and despite his pleas for us to stay, even going so far as to offer drinks on him, we promised him we would be back another time, when we didn't have more island to explore. 

After Coconuts we kept driving around the island, taking everything in, and decided to continue and loop back through town to stop back at our apartment to have some snacks and take money out. Then we continued back on our original highway and headed to Mr. Sanchos to get in an hour of so of swimming before it closed. Because you see, most beach bars close at 5 or 5:30pm. This has a double function of sending boozy customers off to nice restaurants for supper, and preserving energy. As once night falls, there is no more energy to be had and only the bars or hotels who could afford to run their own electricity cables could stay open. Cena however had done research ahead of time and had found this Ecuador-like beach cabana reputed for its fresh delicious seafood, that stayed open after dark, Alberto's. 

Alberto's was perfect. Just like Ecuador it was comprised of various beach huts nestled in the trees, a bar/kitchen, beach volleyball court, dance floor, sound system, tiki torches, and tables. That's it. Oh, the one thing it had that Ecuador didn't was a massage lady. We arrived there just an hour before sunset with plenty of time to take everything in, listen to their wonderful mix of latino, classic rock, and current tracks, an order delicious seafood.

After a grilled Maji Maji in a lime garlic sauce (the island favourite) for me, and fish tacos for Cena (surprise surprise), we stayed a while longer to enjoy the atmosphere, chat with our new server friend Jorge and promise him that we would indeed go salsa dancing with him at Tikitok in town another night, and to watch the sunset.

This was the flawless image engraved in my mind just before we left Alberto's and put a magical birthday day to rest, fearing that our trusty car didn't have great headlights for night driving (a fear that proved justified). Taken with a 120$ digital camera with absolutely no editing.