Accompanied by:

Lynn Johnson, my Wife and Friend.
Nancy Felts, my Friend.
Rick Kruse, my Friend.
Bill in Tulsa, is Bill Johnson

These stories are true to the best of my Memories. You know how that goes!
But I will be as accurate as possible.

I truly hope you enjoy my tales of the
Magical Akumal.
(Magical Place of the Turtles). Yours truly Bill in Tulsa
 

 THIS REPORT STARTS AROUND OCTOBER 2, ‘98

Vacation to Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Time frame November 2, ‘98 to November 10, ‘98
DIA SIETE November 8

Good Morning My World in the MUNDO MAYA! There is a wonderful quiet this morning, it is Sunday or Domingo if you will, it is a day to Celebrate your personal Faith.

Once again the sunrise is great! Watching it Con Mucho Gusto because we are running low on sunrise mornings here. Take a good look Amigos.

We slowly begin to advance on the morning as Rick about ready to go to the Akumal Dive Center for another day of diving as he can’t dive tomorrow as he needs time before we fly home. Yep, we have decided to go home on time. But, that’s not today, so skip that kind of talk. Rick is going to dive this morning and after lunch and then makes a night dive with lights.

We all go to breakfast at La Buena Vida and enjoy the meal. The view from our table of Half Moon Bay is lovely this morning.  We are looking out at the Palapas and the bay. Down there is a most excellent place to view the Caribe and partake of Many Cervezas y Margaritas o Pina Coladas. We are heading out to the car and have to wait on traffic and Kay goes by waving to us. We drive out of the Half Moon Bay area over all the Topes and arrive at the parking lot at Lol-Ha. We lie around the beach a short while. We take a swim and then decide to go to the market at Tulum Ruins for awhile. We don’t go to the ruins themselves as we decided to save that for when Rick and Nancy can see it together. Rick’s diving the whole day.

We want to visit a friend we made in May at one of the little shops in the Market. We would also like to purchase some gift items for our children and grandson. We walk around the market awhile and need to make a pit stop. The Senorita taking the money for use of the restroom and cleaning there of, informs us it will be $2 pesos each. I see the need for this fee because someone has to clean the incredible mess that people make.

Next we look up our friends. Can’t believe it, they have managed to maintain a good amount of business. I attribute this to their very personable attitudes towards Gringos. Last May their Son was a baby swaying in a hammock. We played with him and left him some pesos for Ice Cream as his dad had told us how much he (the baby son) liked it. We had bought some stone carvings in May. We looked and found another that belonged on my wall. I love those carvings. Bought it as we realized that our time in QRoo was running out.  I went back to the car to drop off all the stuff we had purchased so far. I picked up some pens and tablets to take to Leon, our young friend, he no longer a baby. He thought that was great when I gave them to him and he was able to scribble on the tablet. He (Leon) was showing Lynn this Big Bamboo Drum that his dad Alberto had made from a design his father had taught him. Lynn beat on it awhile; it has an incredible sound. Lynn returned the drum to its place. Leon went over, got it and returned it to Lynn to play some more. Lynn played with him for awhile and put it back. We said that we would get some lunch and maybe return before we leave to make one last look, before leaving. Hurry back William! We’ll see you before we leave, I call back to him (Alberto). Bye, bye Leon, Mi Amigo.

We stop at a Loncheria in the market place. Lynn and I had had lunch here in May and their food was quite good to us. We ordered two Dos Equis for Lynn and I, one Coke for Nancy. Not long after, I asked what Lynn and Nancy wanted for lunch. They said they were not very hungry. I said, I would order Nachos for us. They come with beans, guacamole, chilies and cheese. The order comes out, it is huge. Lynn and Nancy, can’t you please help me with this Huge order of Nachos? Well they didn’t think so. Okay, I’ll just eat all I can. Not long after they decided to sample the Nachos and then I wasn’t sure there was enough. Hehe!

While sitting eating my nachos, I see some children sitting in the back of a shop with their Mother. I take from my bag some pens and tablets; I take them over and give them to the children. They give me that great big Mayan smile and say Gracias Senor. The mother smiles, then also says Gracias. A point that I have forgotten all this time is that of the cleanliness of the people of QRoo, there is no one with dirty clothes. They always look like they have just gotten dressed. However do they do it? The children are very clean and polite. We finish the nachos and beer and coke and head back to Alberto’s shop to Buy that Bamboo Drum that Lynn liked so much. Hehe, did she get a sales job done on her or what, sort of like a Time Share Pitch (hoho hehe LOL). Leon gets a commission today I guess. When we go to pay, Alberto says, as he is scraping off the $200 peso price tag that it will be $100 peso. We say you can’t do that and he promptly tells us we are his friends and that is the price. So to over come this we decide to purchase some other items. We now have spent some more and we come away with the gifts we need. We say Hasta Luego our friends; we will see you on our next vacation. Bye, bye young Leon! I give him $20 peso TIP and tell him to get some ice cream, he takes the pesos and starts off down the sidewalk to get ice cream and Alberto has to run after him.

We decide to go on down the road past Tulum City to go see Ruinas Muyil also known as Chunlyaxche. We pass the Dona Rita Restaurant at the end of town, that’s another story from ’95 but we won’t hit on that today. Lynn and I reflect on our ’95 trip after seeing Dona Rita’s with a brand new paint job. She’s coming up in the world. We have passed the last Tope and are on our way to Muyil. It’s not far down the road as I remember. We drive and drive, must be farther than I remember, I think to myself, not wanting to alarm Lynn and Nancy. Just as I am getting concerned, it pops up ahead. We are coming here because Kay of Akumal-on-Line has told me that they have the Pyramid (Castillo) under reconstruction with scaffolding in place to be able to do the work.

Upon arriving, we remember that today is Sunday and there are no entrance fees on Sunday, lucky us. We are the only ones here. We park the car and start down the small trail to the ruins; there are several mounds of fallen down building all around. We come upon the caretaker hut. I call out Hola as I always do when approaching a persons hut. A hearty Hola is rebound to me. Pase Por Favor. Si Senor. So we continue on to see the reconstruction effort. It is not what I imagined. Scaffolding is supposed to be metal and bolted together. It is skinny trees tied together with rope. Should have known. I guess I just kept thinking like a Gringo instead of thinking Mexico or QRoo, as I really know better. We have been here before and it is quite different now. The pyramid is so much more elegant with the reconstruction. When it is finished it will be kewl. They are also reconstructing one of the Sacbeob (limestone roads). The Sacbe runs down to the Lagoon. Next time it will be complete I think. It take many years to do reconstruction as it cost a lot of money. The work is very hard it seems to me. It has rained a lot lately and the Mosquitoes are as big as Geckos (lizards). We do have to get out the Deet to get rid of those critters. We decide to head for Akumal after enjoying Muyil Ruinas. It has been another experience in culture of the old. The return trip is uneventful.

We arrive at Akumal with out incident. We head for the beach where Rick is lying on a towel taking a nap. Lucky for him he is in the shade of a Coco tree. As I walk past the bar a person comes up from behind and sticks something in my back and calls out, Halto!  I have no idea what is transpiring here. I have a flash of concern, I then realize that I should not be feeling guilty. I turn to see what is going on and couldn’t believe my eyes. Jose my friend how in the world are you? Jose is my friend of a number of years and a former Driver Education Student. Yep, the one, the only Jose, friend of friends. I’m so happy to see him, I embrace him in a bear hug. He was down from Playa del Carmen to see his brother, sister and friends in Akumal. He was sitting at the bar having a cold one when He saw us, realizing who we were He jumped up to see me. I have to admit I was quite surprised and pleased to see him. We have enjoyed Jose since ’95. He is a very good friend. I buy him another beer and a Perro Especial (hot dog wrapped in bacon). The dog looked so good I ordered one for myself. We talked and talked. We laughed about the driving lesson in June of ’97. He has not been behind the wheel of a car since. He is a Bike person and rides the bus everywhere as most persons do. We finish our dogs and beer. I ask if he will be around for dinner and he says he has to go back to Playa to get some clothes. We make a date to have dinner at the Lol-Ha at 8 pm. Bye, bye Jose see you at 8 pm.

It’s about time for Rick to make his last dive of the trip. It’s is the night dive. He will love it to death. He will never forget about this dive. The girls and I stake out a place on the beach and take a rest while Rick is gone on his dive. The young people are playing on the beach. They are having so much fun. It is very dark now. The young people are gone by now and we have the beach to ourselves. Sitting on the beach in the dark is very restful. The lights of the evening are playing with my imagination. I think about the plight of the Turtles. Even though this is an Eco area there still are those that argue that we are hurting the
Turtles here. This place has been here for many a year by now. Don Pablo Bush would never have thought that his dive place would harm the Nesting Turtles. It must be true, as there are less and less every year. They do remove outside light bulbs at the Condos during nesting season. This is done to keep the external light down to help keep the Turtles from being disoriented when arriving to lay their eggs. Oh, the time has passed so fast and Rick is returning from his night dive. Where has the time gone? We opt to return to the condo to clean up prior to dinner. There are new people moving in next door and the Magic is continually transforming from person to person. We hang out for awhile before going back to the Lol-Ha to meet Jose.

We get to Lol-Ha restaurant and don’t find Jose. We take a table outside on the porch so we can admire the evening. The sounds of the very small waves are ever so soothing, the night lights and moon shimmer on the bay. What a site it is to behold. We can seem to get enough of this delightful scene. If we could only have this at our Condo in Tulsa (yep, we live in a High-rise in Downtown Tulsa) we would be in Hog Heaven. I turn to see if the dining room has anyone in it and there stands Jose all cleaned up looking like a business professional. He could pass for a Lawyer. That’s what happens when you have a young Mayan/Chino (Chinese) that wants to make something of himself. He has a very big desire to do well and excel at what ever he is doing. He’s quite the guy that Jose. We talk and talk. He has mastered the Italian language at the Italian Restaurant in Playa. He is now studying German. He speaks Mayan, Spanish, English, Italian, and a good deal of German. He spends all or most of his free time studying something. He says that he still goes snorkeling from time to time. I had given him his first set of snorkeling gear. I didn’t have room to take it home, do to many gifts in the luggage. He was the lucky one to receive this stuff. He was thrilled. He tells of working for the Akumal Dive Center for awhile and taking a Resort Course. This was before moving to Playa del Carmen. He got to do 4 dives at the Reef. He says it was Magnifico or something like that. Jose is looking to come back to Akumal as he misses all his friends and family. We certainly hope he does as we do enjoy his company. We like to do things with him on his days off. He always teaches us something new. Maybe we can go to Merida to meet and visit his parents. The time is short this trip but very welcome. He has told of the wages situation here and I find it amazing how little they live on! Dinner is good and we have a Coffee and Flan for dessert. It’s time to be heading home and let Jose get back to his friends and family. Good night and see you next vacation our young friend. Good bye Lynn and Bill, glad you got to see me. He has learned more about Gringo habits since we last saw him. He is a funnyman.

We are home and I am tired. I just go to my room and yell out good night all see ya in the Manana. Out like someone punched my lights out as I remember nothing. I don’t even wake in the night.

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Copyright November 29, 1998 Tulsa, Oklahoma by Bill Johnson (Bill in Tulsa) bill.in.tulsa@webzone.net

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