Once a week a group of four volunteers from the Pez Maya marine conservation basecamp, usually one staff member and three volunteers to be exact, make the more than hour long journey south to a small village called Punta Allen, where they spend the day making a difference in the community. The dirt road leading from Tulum to Pez Maya is already pretty hazardous, but it deteriorates even more between Pez Maya and Punta Allen, so the drive is very slow and full of twists and turns to avoid the massive potholes. I visited Punta Allen twice in the 10 weeks I spent with GVI. We would wake up at around 5:30AM to get on our way and arrive around 7AM, even though it's only about 22 miles away. The town is the largest in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere, which isn't saying much considering it only has around 500 residents.  All of the roads are still dirt, the electricity for the town is run completely off of generator power, so for most of the day there is no electricity in the town, and it serves only a meager tourist market of adventures who are able to traverse the rough-trod roads hours from the nearest tourist mecca of Tulum. The towns main source of income was once based in agriculture, harvesting coconuts, until disease wiped out most of their tree crops sometime in the 1950's. Many people left the village around that time, but the ones who stayed built a new life and trade in fishing and lobstering. Lobstering is a big deal in the town now, and only certain people are licensed to do it. These are pretty much the original families, as no new licenses are issued, and the current licenses can only be passed from one generation to the next within the family. Even more recently, a small tourism market has blossomed in the tiny fishing village, and they still seem to be working through the growing pains of this new market. Men who once made a small living fishing are now using their little boats to run tours through the mangroves. There is plenty to see, from manatees, crocodiles, and dolphins, to ancient Mayan ruins. 
Upon arrival we would settle in at a small roadside restaurant, called Lucy's, for a breakfast of cereal and coffee. We would also put in our lunch order with the super friendly Lucy, who makes the most delicious quesadillas and empanadas I've ever tasted. We also would normally put in an even larger take away order for dinner, so we could bring some back for the others. Letting her know in the morning helped her out since she gets busy throughout the day and she only works out of a small home kitchen with a few family members to help her. 
Once that was all settled the group headed off to whatever activity we had planned for the day. Our activities included visiting local schools from kindergarten to high school to teach children about marine life and environmental issues, meetings with town officials, town/beach cleans, or meeting with local tour guides to make sure their operations are environmentally responsible, that they know why this is so important to both the environment and their business, and that they are able to communicate this message to their customers. Everything we do tends to center some way around environmental impact.  
With the kindergarten and primary school kids we teach them about the ocean and marine life with fun games. When it comes to the older students we try to get them thinking more along the lines on conservation. We let them watch videos and conduct discussions. The struggle for me was definitely the language barrier. Most students did not speak English, and my very basic Spanish skills didn't go very far, so I found it hard to communicate.  The volunteers that did the best on these trips were those that could speak Spanish at some level. Some students had better English skills than others, but the students learn from non-native English speaking teachers or their parents. Still those few times I was able to communicate with a teacher or student it was such a triumphant moment for us both, even if it was as simple as "How old are you?" "I am 32!" That was actually a question I got quite often.
Other days we would spend time with the local tour guides. As I mentioned, tourism is still a very new concept to them, and so is conservation. They are finally learning that they can make a good living from their natural surroundings, and the only way to ensure they can keep doing this is to protect the environment and marine creatures that lure tourists to their tiny, way off the beaten path, village. We would teach them simple English phrases such as, "Do not stand on the reef." or, "Do not stand when the boat is moving." Just little things to help their business run more smoothly and environmentally sound. We would also give them facts and presentations on marine life so they can spread the correct knowledge to visitors. And we helped them organize marine clean-ups and gave them the tools to be able to continue these initiatives on their own in the future. They were incredibly open to our recommendations and ideas, and were all so friendly and grateful for our assistance. Some even offered to give us rides in their boat from Pez Maya to Punta Allen and back again, which was much more enjoyable than the bumpy roads.
I wish I could have spent more time in Punta Allen, but at the end of the day I was there for the diving, and so that is what I chose to spend my time doing. There were only 3 spots open to go to Punta Allen each week and more than enough volunteers eager to fill them, so I didn't feel too bad about staying behind most weeks.  The couple of times I did go was a lot of fun though, and eye-opening for sure. I really loved and appreciated the experience provided by GVI.

We taught the kindergarten class about whale sharks!

These kids from primary school have a blind classmate, so we had them draw different animals and then use a needle to poke holes around the outline so that their classmate could use them to learn animals with us.

I took two separate trips to Cozumel during my time in Mexico.  It was a short ferry ride from Playa del Carmen, maybe 45 mins, for about $15 round trip. The island had a really cool vibe the moment we stepped off the ferry. I wouldn't have minded an extended stay there. We took a long walk along the shore line to a park and marina the first day there. It was beautiful and had a friendly, local feel to it. Even the touristy part of the island, which was small park surrounded by hotels and restaurants just outside of the ferry terminal, wasn't over the top. There just seemed to be a laid-back vibe to the whole island. Each of the times we went we stayed in a hostel called Hostelito, which was within walking distance of the ferry port, and next door to a killer burger place- YUM! It had both shared accommodation with about 20 beds, which we stayed in the first time, and private rooms where we stayed the second time. The dorm was nice, it was just a bit noisy from a bar across the street. The private rooms were a bit quieter, and with 4 of us sharing a room with 2 double beds it was more than fair priced. The hostel also had a killer roof top with loungers and hammocks, and the wifi worked great. But, we weren't just there for the burgers and accommodations, we had heard great things about the diving on the island and we wanted to give it a go.  

​In true fashion, Ida, from Norway, was off immediately to find us the best diving deal. Unfortunately, on the first go around her choice ended up not so great. We went with a group called Cosumal (cant remember but it was a weird spelling on Cozumel) Divers. Our DM was crazy and definitely was far from following safe diving protocols. Our rental equipment was in such poor condition that one of our group decided not to even go on our 2nd dive because he didn't feel safe. The first dive was to a wreck, and it went pretty well, except that we penetrated the wreck even though no one aside from myself were trained to do so.  The DM insisted that there were enough openings to get out so it wasn't an issue. I knew better so I stayed behind the group to make sure everyone got out safely.  There was definitely a point when the back half of the group got lost and had to backtrack out of the wreck. The next dive was meant to be a drift dive at a wall. The DM knew that we had two inexperienced divers in our group, they had just finished their advanced open water and had about 10 dives under their belts. He gets in the water and immediately drops down to 30m, leaving the two newbies (one was having equalization issues) drifting near the top. I saw what was happening so I pretty much stayed with them, but by the time we got down we were far ahead of the rest of the group. I also watched everyones no deco time and was telling them when to ascend. The wall was more of a gentle slope and aside from some sponges, completely bare and devoid of color or life. The drift lasted for about 10 mins and then we spent another 10 over a sandy bottom with slabs of concrete and very little signs of life. Needless to say, the two dives didn't come close to living up to the tales we had heard of gorgeous reefs teeming with life and turtles everywhere. 

​So, we decided several weeks later to give the island and it's diving one more go.  This time we planned our dives with two different reputable companies, slightly more expensive, but worth every penny.  The first night in town we planned a night dive with Blue Magic Scuba. We weren't allowed to night dive at Pez Maya, so it had been a while and I was really excited - I love night diving! Cozumel did not disappoint this time around. The night dive was filled with free swimming eels, sting rays, lobster, and my very first octopus! Several octopus in fact :) I'm disappointed that I didn't bring my camera.  The next day we did two more day dives with Dive Bros Unlimited. They were another great company, lots of fun, and they took us to a couple of killer dive sites with lots to see:Turtles, seahorse, barracuda, rainbow parrot fish and more.  The DM's on all 3 of our dives this time around were amazing, responsible and fun.  I'm glad that we gave the island and it's diving another chance, it was definitely worth it.

Almost every weekend while I was at Pez Maya, our little group would escape basecamp to go exploring around the region. This post is going to encompass a couple of trips in which we checked out some ruins of the ancient Mayan civilization. Both ruins were in or around the modern small city of Tulum.

Coba is an ancient Mayan city just outside of Tulum. It was once one of the most powerful Mayan cities in the Yucatan, now reduced to ruin by time and nature, but it is certainly an interesting area to explore. Some people rent bikes to get around the ruins, but our group felt more than comfortable walking around. In fact, I think it would have been much more difficult on a bike, as the roads were not paved and the area was hilly. The main attraction on the site is Nohoch Mul, a giant Mayan pyramid, one of the only of it's size and kind that you can still climb to the top of.  The steps leading to the top were very steep, not meant for someone afraid of heights. By the time you reach the top you are high above even the tallest trees, and you can see for miles in any direction.  Other smaller, but no less interesting ruins surround this giant spectacle, including a game court where opposing teams would try to get a rubber ball through stone hoops.  It's written that the losing team would sometimes be sacrificed. Losing the game could mean losing your head! Just imagine playing a game with those kind of stakes!  This little outing only took about a half a day, and we did it during the same weekend that we went diving in the cenotes. My only tip here is not to plan it in the middle of the day because it does get super hot. We were lucky enough to have an awesome taxi driver that took us to get drinks and snacks on our way there, and had a cooler of ice for us to leave them in.  He waited around for us while we explored the ruins so we had nice cold drinks to come back to in the end. It was very resonablely priced too, but that was probably because we had such a large group. Just outside of the site there are a few restaurants that serve really yummy food and ice cold drinks. It's a little over priced of course, but what do you expect at a tourist attraction.

The ancient city of Tulum is interesting for many reasons. First it is the only Mayan city remaining on a coast line. It was once a seaport dealing mainly in the trade of turquoise and jade.  It is also the only ancient Mayan city which was fortified by a wall. The ruins are beautifully preserved, reminiscent of what you may see in Europe and Rome, with ruins scattered among rolling green hills, crumbling ancient pillars, and other buildings standing nearly whole. Surprisingly, the ruins are not terribly crowded as you may think.  Most people tend to simply flock to the turquoise beach found right on the site.  Our group explored around the ruins first, and then did just that.

What is a cenote, you ask? It is a sinkhole and doorway into the Yucatan Peninsula's underground aquifer system, which is the largest in the world. Mexico's, Yucatan Peninsula is made up of a limestone cave system that developed millions of years ago, in the age of the dinosaurs, when the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula was under the ocean. With the coming of the ice age the water receded, leaving the reef system exposed. When it subsequently died, the limestone skeletons remained. Eventually, rainwater carved its way through the limestone to form an intricate cave system marked with beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. With the end of the ice age and melting of the ice sheets that once covered the world poles, the peninsula was flooded yet again, leaving the underwater cave system that can be explored and enjoyed today. The limestone acts as an aquifer system, filtering rain water to make clean and clear fresh water, which sits atop the denser salt water at depth. All of this leaves us with crystal clear visibility to an absolutely stunning and mystical underwater world.

There are over 3,000 cenotes in the Yucatan which are known, and it is believed that most of these caves are connected. I had the opportunity to dive only 2 of these 3,000, which simply means that I have 2,998 reasons to come back and visit the area :) But, I will say, I feel like between the two dives I got just about everything I expected out of my cenote experience.

Our group traveled 2 hours north from Pez Maya to the small city of Tulum. Luckily,  one of the girls in our group was uber organized, and as soon as we were checked into our hotel she was off to find us the best cenote diving deal. She ended up booking us a two tank dive with a shop called Scuba Tulum for about $70 total.  So, at 8AM the next morning we were off. First we went to The Pit, a cenote that is more than 100FT deep.  As we descended we experienced a dazzling light show, the sun piercing through the almost unreal crystal blue of the water. Next we passed through a halocline like I've never seen in all of my diving experience. It was like passing through a layer of oil, like coming out of a dream, trippy and hazy. Under the halocline the water became like glass once again, just a bit darker. All around us were ghostly limestone walls intricately carved by mother nature, more beautiful then anything man made. The vastness was like being in a grand cathedral. Below we could see what looked like a white sand bottom at roughly 100FT. But it wasn't a flat bottom, not even close. As we dropped closer it was exactly what I wanted to see, exactly what I had read about and seen in pictures. It was a hydrogen sulfide cloud, which as we got closer looked like an underground, underwater river. Protruding from the depths of this eerie river were dark branches from centuries old trees, reaching hopelessly towards the surface so far above. It was absolutely magical. We could have passed through the cloud into the very dark depths of the Pit, but not everyone was certified to dive that deep so after a short visit floating just above the cloud we began out ascent. On our way back to the surface we explored a short distance into one of the caves and even got to see some artifacts from the ancient tribes of the area, which used these cenotes for burials and sacrificial ceremony.  Excellent first dive!

​The second cenote we went to was Dos Ojos, which can be explored in 2 parts, the Bat Cave or Barbie. We chose Barbie because it was a longer more intricate system. This cenote felt more like actual cave diving, as we passed from cavern to cavern through clear overhead environments.  Apparently it's not considered cave diving because you can see light from the caverns from any point in the caves, but I found that was not always the case. For someone who is not certified to cave dive and may never get certified to do so, this was a really cool experience. The deepest we were in this system was about 20FT, which allowed a much longer dive, over an hour. Going through these pseudo caves also required an excellent control of buoyancy, as some spaces were tight. And to keep divers on track, a rope was run through the caves for us to follow, and a sign with a grim reaper was placed before unexplored caves that we shouldn't enter.

Like I said before, between these two dives, I felt like I got everything I was expecting from my first cenote experience. Cave-like diving and underwater sulfur rivers, and deep and shallow, crystal clear waters sliced by thermoclines. It was amazing! However, without question, you will find me back in Mexico again to explore even more of these magical underwater worlds. In the mean time enjoy a few of the many many pictures, which hardly do justice to the beauty of Mexico's cenotes.

Of course there were other cenotes that were perfect for a refreshing swim and free diving practice

And just to give you a view of how different cenotes can be. The pictures below are from a cenote set back in the jungle of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere. It looks more like a lake, and the green hue is created by algae growth, runoff and the surrounding mangroves after a rainstorm.

Marine environment research and conservation was the main purpose of my trip to Mexico, so let me go into this aspect of my time in Pez Maya.  The volunteers at Pez Maya are broken into two main groups, fish and coral. The fish group is further broken down to juvenile and adult species, and coral breaks out into PI (Point Intercept) or CC (Coral Communities). I was assigned to coral research, and as I mentioned, I was given around 47 different coral species to memorize before I even arrived in Mexico.  To my shock and amazement I did actually learn most of the corals prior to my first day on base, and it was not easy! Imagine trying to keep 47 scientific coral names in your head, many of which you can hardly pronounce. For instance, what you may simply refer to as, Brain Coral, could actually be any of the following coral species: Diploria Labyrinthiformis, Pseudodiporia Strigosa, Pseudodiploria Clivosa, or Colpophyllia Natans.  It could also be any one of the  Isophyllia, Mycetophyllia or Meandrina gens. As difficult as it was though, to learn all of the scientific names of these corals, am glad I was put into the corals group, because while I would probably end up learning a lot of fish species on my own, under no other circumstance would I have learned all of these corals. And I learned to appreciate these living creatures, both beautiful and interesting. I even got to the point where I would get more excited about the corals I was seeing on my dives, rather than the fish.  My favorites were probably the Mussa Angulosa, and the Scolymia. They are both beautiful and fleshy, and they were not very common in the area, so finding them was pretty special.  Actually, on one dive, my buddy and I came across a discarded long line stretching across the reef.  Slowly we started going along the line, gathering it up and removing the hooks that were placed every maybe 5 feet along the line.  One of the hooks we found ended up being hooked into a big, gorgeous mussa angulosa, and I remember be so angry.  I was probably as upset as I would have been if I had seen a grouper or shark caught on the line.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
We didn't just get to jump right into research when we arrived. It took me nearly 6 weeks to get to the point where I could actually conduct research dives. It wasn't enough to know the names of these corals.  I had to learn them inside and out. I had to know the minuscule differences in the shape, texture, size and colors that set the corals apart to the species level, and I needed to be nearly perfect.  The data we collected was actually being used to develop a baseline for the overall health of the reef, so there was no room for error. Most of our dives in the first few weeks were coral spotting dives. During these a staff member would point out the corals and we would need to write the full scientific name on a slate. They would point out anywhere from 20-30 corals and we needed to get all but one correct in order to pass the spot.  And we needed to pass 3 coral spots to move on to the next level of training.  At the same time, we also had to pass a written test which involved looking at images on the computer and guessing the corals. This test was even more difficult because the images were not always easy to see down to the corallite level. For the test you could not get more then 2 wrong.
Once you passed the coral test and the 3 coral spots, you were assigned to either CC or PI. Coral Communities learned more about the diseases which effect corals, while PI went on the learn more plants and species that make up the substrate of a coral reef.  I was assigned to PI, or Point Intercept, which is one research technique in which you lay 30 or so meters of line and then record whatever you see on that line at every 25cm point. In order to do this properly the PI needs to not only be able to identify corals, but also algae, sponges, tunicates, anemones, marine grasses, or gorgonians (sea fans/rods), etc. For some reason I did much better at learning these, and in half the time it took me to pass all of my coral spots and exams I had passed my PI spots and exams and was ready to move onto the 3rd level of training, practice monitoring. When a coral team monitors a site, there is a PI specialist and and CC specialist who work together. The PI chooses the bearing and makes sure the bearing stays the same while the CC lays 30 meters of line. The PI also has to make sure that the 30 meters of line never deviates more than 1 meter in depth from end to end. If it does, then the line must be reeled in and another bearing chosen. Once the line is laid both monitors go to the beginning of the line to begin the data collection.  The PI goes first recording whatever is under the line at each 25cm interval, and the CC follows up recording any coral diseases along the line.  At least 5 of these monitors are preformed at each site in order to close the site, and the 5 monitors must be completed within 10 days of the first monitor. If you are very quick, and depending on the conditions of the site, a team could complete 2 lines during a single dive. Which brings me back to the practice monitoring.  We would go out with a seasoned staff member who would show us how to lay the line and tips on how to move quickly along the line while monitoring. Then they would score us on actually completing a full line by following after us and recording what they saw at each interval and then comparing it to our list. If the discrepancy wasn't too high (because there was always some discrepancy due to the line moving and whatnot), we would pass the test. We needed to pass three of these practice monitors in order to be signed off to do real monitoring.
I actually passed these practice monitors pretty quickly, and moved onto monitoring before anyone else in my group. So, I was able to go out with staff members to begin actually monitoring the reef. I even got quick enough, that my partner and I were able to complete 2 lines on a single dive.  The sites we monitored were not the ones we normally did our practice dives at, in fact, in order to keep the data clean we were not allowed at the sites unless we were monitoring, which happens every 2-5 years if I'm not mistaken.  One of the sites I went to was horrible and brown and boring, but another was absolutely beautiful, with gorgeous giant branching Acropora Palmatas, or Elkhorn Corals, a species that nearly became extinct in the Caribbean due to disease, but are coming back slowly. 
I also got to lead coral watches. For these I would work with a partner and we would choose 20 corals along a line and record their lightest and darkest colors using a color chart and flashlight.  Corals, when healthy, are generally a single deep color, with maybe white edges where it is growing. The further apart the colors we recorded, the more unhealthy the coral.
It was very cool to know that I was contributing to the data that would help scientists determine the heath of the 2nd largest barrier reef system in the world. They could then use the information we provided to lobby for environmental protection and change in policy. I really learned so much during my time at Pez Maya, and I'll probably never dive again without noticing and naming all of the different corals I pass. I hope that one day I can use this knowledge in some way.

In my last post I told you a little about GVI, and first impression of the program basecamp at Pez Maya.  Now I'd like to go a bit more into the day to day at camp. Aside from the main reason we were there, which was to learn and take part in marine research and conservation, there were certain duties we needed to perform daily in order to keep the camp running smoothly.  There were 4 volunteer huts that could each sleep up to 6 volunteers.  During my program we only had about 3-4 people in each hut. Each hut had a name, and that hut group became a team of sorts under that name.  Each day of the week each of the huts were responsible for duties around camp, and we rotated daily so that whatever duty you got on a Monday you repeated on Friday. The duties included:
Boats: This team was responsible for getting kits set up for each of the 2 boats.  The kits included things like emergency 02 and first aid kit, and extra set of dive equipment, water, sunscreen and vinegar, rope, dive flag, flares, etc.  Then they took these kits, along with 14 life vests and 4 flotation rings to the edge of communal to be carried to the boats by the entire team. They also make sure there are two fuel pods ready for each boat.  At the end of the day they undue everything and put it back where it belongs. They also fill the fuel pods for the next day.
Communal: This team cleans the entire communal area. They sweep sand that has collected in the open part of communal, wipe down the tables and chairs, take out the garbage and handle the recycling, and fill/refills the rinse buckets for dishes before each meal.  They also clean the two communal toilets and fill the flush buckets.
Grounds: This team rakes the sand from communal down to the beach, and all of the pathways to the the huts.  This is done to kill the sand fly eggs apparently.  They also are in charge of keeping all of the drinking water filled throughout communal.
Kitchen: This team is responsible for cooking throughout the day.  Breakfast isn't so bad because its dictated what is to be served each day. Oatmeal on Mondays and Thursdays, cold cereal with room temperature milk (remember, no refrigeration) on Tuesdays, pancakes on Wednesdays, and eggs on Friday. The other meals are yours to figure out.  We are provided mainly fresh veggies of all sorts, rice, pasta, dry beans, and a bunch of spices.  It's amazing how creative some people can get. Of course, by the end of the week we are usually running low on the veggies, so those people have to get very creative.  This team is also responsible for cleaning after each meal, and cleaning the entire kitchen at the end of the day.  For me, this was the worst job because you tend to get stuck in the kitchen all day. Plus, I'm not very creative when it comes to cooking.

Each day started at 7AM with duties. I usually got up at 6:30 so I could start my day slowly. We had 30 minutes to finish our duties, which was sometimes difficult with only 3-4 people doing it. I'm sure it was probably much easier for the volunteers when the huts were full. Also, in the mornings one volunteer goes on a bird watching walk with one of the staff members, and together they record all the different species they see. I did this 2 or 3 times during my stay, and it was a really interesting and relaxing way to start the morning. Plus you get to get out of morning duties so that's always a win. At 7:30AM breakfast was served, and we all ate together.  8AM the staff called for boat push.  This included bringing down all the gear prepped by the Boat team, lifting and turning our 2 flat bottomed dive boats and pushing them towards the water. Then we returned to communal where you either started getting ready for your first dive if you were on one of the morning boats, start prepping for lunch if you were on kitchen, or fill tanks from the compressor if it needed to be done. Or if you're really lucky you actually get to study the coral or fish you have learn in order to begin research diving.  There was always something to keep busy with.

The first boat of the day usually went out by 8:30AM, another at 10:30AM, another at 1:30PM, and the last around 3:30PM. Each boat held 6 divers and a captain, so just about everyone got 2 dives a day, weather permitting. Between the morning and afternoon dives, usually at 12:30 we all sat down together again for lunch. Some days the boats were delayed for additional duties, such as filling the tinaco once or twice a week, which I explained in my last post and is accomplished by assembly line, passing buckets from the well to the cistern on the roof of communal, or once a week when we spent an extra hour cleaning the kitchen.  On those days we removed everything from the kitchen, cleaned everything head to toe, fumigated the kitchen with bug spray and then after about 20 minutes, put everything back. We also did a beach clean once a week, usually on Thursdays or Fridays. For an hour we would walk the beach picking up and recording every little piece of trash we saw. I'll get more into this in a separate post.

There are also people assigned to man the radio every time the boats go out.  Each captain carries a radio and lets the office know when it is leaving, when it has arrived at the dive site, when the divers are down and when they are all back on the boat, and when they get back and are anchored at the beach.  As well as any outrageous sightings or problems encountered. Records of this are kept by whoever is manning the radio in the office.  Written records are kept of just about everything that goes on on base, so people are also assigned jobs such as science officers, recording data that comes back from the dives. This can be data from coral watches, research dives, or sightings of turtles, sharks, rays or other larger animals. There is also someone put in charge of equipment and other one-off duties around base, such as composting, recycling, compressing, and so on.

At the end of the day, usually around 5:30PM, the last of the boats return and everyone has to get into the water to push the boats back to shore. We all stand in two parallel lines about chest deep in the water, the captain then drives the boat between us and we race in the grab it and push it back to shore where staff members are waiting with the rollers. This is where the hard work begins.  Getting the boat onto the rollers and then pushing it up a sloped beach was really difficult. It takes everyone's full strength. Again, maybe this is easier when they have a full group of volunteers, but with our 12-13 volunteers it was a struggle just about every day. That doesn't mean that it wasn't made fun at times. The staff members were usually doing something goofy, or someone would fall flat into the sand, and of course make everyone burst with laughter. And lets face it, when everyone is feeling like their pushing with everything they have and the boat doesn't budge, you kind of need that bit of comic relief. On Friday's after boat push we also clean and rinse the boats. 

After boat push we get about 30 minutes, where most people rush to shower before dinner is served at 6:30. After, or sometimes during dinner, staff presents a board laying out the following days schedule, which usually includes a little lesson or goofy personal list. In the evenings we studies, took knowledge tests, sat through a presentation, or just relaxed with a few beers. By around 9:30 most people were ready for bed. 

Except on Fridays. Friday was party night. It was also the night that staff cooks a meal with actual meat and cheese, and provides coolers of ice so that we could drink cold beers! After dinner we put on some music and clear the tables and party through the night. Each of these nights usually had a theme, so we would dress up and act like idiots. It was a good time :) 

On weekends we could leave base for some AC, wifi, and decent shower, usually to Tulum or Playa.  I stayed on base a couple of weekends just to get some quiet time, since everyone usually left for the weekend aside from a couple of staff members. Those weekends were kind of nice, but there were plenty of others when I got away for some adventures. Again, I'll get into those in another post.

So that pretty much covers he day to day. Don't worry, I'll go more into detail on a few of these things in future posts. The good stuff it yet to come!

Global Vision International (GVI) is a volunteer abroad program, which I had to pay to be a part of, roughly $500 a week to be exact. Since I had decided that grad school was just not going to happen, I figured that gaining a bit of real world experience for a fraction of the price of schoolin' it was not such a bad idea. I honestly wish I would have done something like this before or during college, but better late than never I suppose. If I had explored a bit more then maybe I would have studied something like marine biology or environmental sciences instead of boring business, and I would be further on a way to a career I that actually interests me. But I digress. What is done is done. 
I chose GVI, over the many other similar programs out there because they had the most reasonable pricing model, and they had a program semi-close to home (by that I mean on this side of the globe) that fit my needs pretty perfectly.  The program I signed up for was 18 weeks long, 10 weeks on the conservation base camp, and another 8 weeks at a dive shop earning my instructor a master scuba instructor certifications. My plan was to gain some research and conservation experience because that is the area that interests me the most, but to also get my instructor certification mostly as a fall back since jobs in marine research are not easy to come by, let alone land.
From the beginning GVI was really great, totally responsive to any inquiries or issues I had. I knew exactly what to expect the entire time. Even while I was home they sent me information on the coral species I would be studying on base. There were about 50 species of hard corals, but I only learned about 10 prior to the trip.  I think I may have picked up an additional 20 on the plane from Philly to Cancun, and maybe another 10 during the 3 days I spent in Play del Carmen before meeting up with GVI. 
That morning I arrived at Hotel Colorado at 9AM sharp. I was the first to arrive of course, but slowly another 12+ volunteers trickled in. Most of them were gap year students, or students volunteering during their summer break, so anywhere from about 18-24 years old.  I was drastically older than everyone there, aside from one older gentleman, about 60ish.  That made me feel a bit better :) 
Two staff members from the conservation base and the Mexico program director met us and gave us all the run down. I hadn't realized it but about 6 of the volunteers there were bound for a community based volunteer program which was based in Playa del Carmen.  They would apparently be spending their time with children, the disabled, and cuddling kittens at an animal shelter. Sounds cool, but I was excited to move on to Pez Maya, where the rest of us would be spending our days scuba diving and conducting research studies on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world.  There were 7 in our group, 1 from Scotland, 3 from the UK, 1 from Sweden, 1 from Switzerland, and me, and we would meet another 6 who had started their internships months prior. 
It was about 2-2.5 hours from Playa to our new home in Pez Maya.  We stopped first in Tulum to pickup any food we wanted over and beyond the basic meals that GVI would provide us.  Nothing that needed to be kept cool though, since there was no refrigeration at camp. As we drove on from Tulum, and entered the reserve, the road became bumpy and unpaved.  It honestly wasn't too bad considering it only gets maintained once a year, just after the rainy season. I heard that during the rainy season the road can become impassable pretty quickly, making a normal 2 hour ride from Playa much longer. The dirt road part of the journey is only about 12 miles long, but it takes 45 minutes to an hour to pass it.  And that's when the roads are still good. Just before Pez Maya we crossed over a small bridge with a few locals fishing off the edge.  They told us that that river was home to some pretty large crocs, which is why there was no swimming in the ocean within so many meters of the estuary.  Apparently the crocs didn't really come out of the river, but just in case they did we should stay away.  You can actually search on Youtube  from "Croc chases swimmer mexico" and find a video of a stupid American tourist that almost got himself eaten by jumping off of the bridge. 
Our basecamp was nestled right next to that river, wedged quite perfectly with the river to the North, the Ocean to the East and nothing but jungle all around us.  Quite beautiful and peaceful. The camp had once been a fishing village, but was abandoned after a strong hurricane.  It bounced from owner to owner for a few years until it fell into the hands of GVI somewhere around 2005.  The original concrete structures are still used by GVI.  There is a main communal building with a kitchen and a few other rooms, an office for staff and an equipment maintenance room. Then there are couple of groupings of small huts, one group by the beach where the staff sleeps and another grouping in the jungle were the volunteers sleep.  Any electricity we enjoyed was provided by solar power and generator, usually we would get a few hours of light in the evening.  Drinking and cooking water was delivered once or twice a week, but all other water for showering and such was rain water from a well below the communal building. Toilets were bucket flushed, cleaning water for dishes and stuff was pulled from the well and then purified with a bit of bleach, and for showers you would fill your bucket from the well, carry it into designated showering areas in the woods and cup it over your head.  We had running water only in the kitchen, and that was from a cisturn on the roof that we had to fill once or twice a week from the well by forming an assembly line of sorts and passing buckets. This system was fine by me for the most part.  The only thing that creeped me out was when at some point the well started to smell, and they pulled a dead, bloated iguana carcass from it.  Apparently it happens often, but all I could think was how many showers did I take with the dead iguana water!
The huts we slept in were very basic. Just a concrete room with 3 bunks, and screened windows and doors.Each of us also got one of those plastic storage bins to put our stuff in.  When it rained, most of the huts flooded, so it was a good ideato keep your stuff in those bins or off he floor.  The biggest problem with the accommodation wasn't the uncomfortable mattresses, or the mice and scorpions that would surprise us now and again, it was the location of the huts in general. The volunteer huts were in the middle of the jungle, so there was not a breeze to be had, which was horrible when it came time to sleep.  So many nights were hot and sticky. There were nights I tossed and turned all night.  I would think about ditching the huts for the hammocks which were hung right out on the beach, but others had done it before me, and you end up getting eaten alive by sand flies. The only solution seemed to be to sleep in the least amount of clothes possible, sprawled so that you didn't have skin touching skin anywhere. Many nights I slept just about naked and just made sure to wake up before everyone else in the room so I could dress :)  
I had 3 roommates in my hut.  Alex from the UK, Betty from Switzerland and John D from the US. Everyone for the most part got along great. It did take a little while for a few of the old volunteer group to warm up to us, and even some of the staff. I think it was just because the dynamic of the old group was really good, and many of them had just left, so those that were left and even some staff members were bummed out.  It actually took about 3 weeks to a month for the whole group to really start coming together. You kind of have to, living in these conditions and working together every day to keep the place running. I'll get more into that in my next post.
I'm realizing that maybe I am making the place seem kinda horrible, but it honestly wasn't. I am mentioning some of the rougher aspects of the camp because that's what made the experience of it so great. It was simple and remote, but also beautiful.  It was kinda nice to live without electricity and wifi, and even water. All of these things are just a given at home. Things that we don't even think about. While a nice warm shower was probably the comfort I missed the most, I was amazed that I could actually shower with just a single bucket of water. It really puts into perspective how wasteful I was at home.  Also, we found that we could enjoy a warm shower now an then by getting our water from the well earlier in the day and leaving our bucket in the sun for a few hours. So things weren't so bad, and the experience was quite interesting. I'll take a hut on a secluded stretch of beach, and diving on uncrowded reefs any day over wifi and being glued to my smart phone. And, when we were really in need of a real shower, or wifi, we could always travel into the cities on the weekend for some creature comforts.

I know it's been a while since I've kept you all up to date on my travels, so I'm going to try to back track on my 5 months in Mexico through a series of posts. Here it goes....
 My trip got off to a little bit of a rough start when I got a some kind of bug or food poisoning or something the night before my 6:30AM flight. A 24-hour bug had been making the rounds through my family, so I am assuming that is what it was, but thank god it didn't last a full 24 hours. It stared around 7PM and cleared after about 5-6 hours. The thing that sucked was that I wasn't completely done packing, so I had to finish pulling myself together between vomiting my guts up. It was not pretty. But, by 6:30 the next morning I was on my way to the airport, feeling a little wobbly, but with the worst of it behind me.
I flew into Cancun airport where I received a 180 day tourist Visa, even though I didn't have my return flight booked. The customs agent gave me a little bit of a hard time about that, but I just told her that I would be backbacking around and then flying home from Belize and she finally let me through. Phew! From there I took a bus directly to Playa del Carmen where I was to meet GVI, Global Vision International, who would be hosting me for my internship/volunteership. But first, I had 3 days to spend around Playa.

I stayed in a little hotel, several blocks from the very touristy 5th Ave, called Hotel Casa de las Flores. It was gorgeous and authentic, and the shower was heaven, which is exactly what I wanted before I went to a place with no running water.

Staying off of 5th Ave, I explored around the city, and to tell you the truth, I don't have much to say about Playa. I mean, it's an okay city, but nowhere I would want to stay for any length of time.

I did however find a few awesome local eats that you should definitely check out if you are ever in Playa del Carmen. One is a killer pizza spot called L'Osteria di Playa. I know, it sounds strange to be touting a pizza restaurant in Mexico, but this place had some of the best pizza I've ever had, and is very inexpensive.  I actually never would have gone there, except I was walking by and this fat, tan Canadian guy flagged me down and insisted I try it.  My thoughts: why the heck not. This guy looks like he knows good food. So, on my first night I enjoyed an amazing pizza and a couple of beers with my new Canadian expat friend, and it was definitely worth it.  The next place is a Venezuelan restaurant called Kaxapa Factory, that you would probably pass right by if you happened to walk past it at all.  The empanadas were incredible at this place, and so were the kaxapas, which are basically empanadas with a sweet corn breading shell. The drinks were also awesome and the server was really friendly.  The woman who owns the place serves the tables and she took the time to explain the whole menu to me. I went back to the place a few times during my time in Mexico, and even after a few weeks away, the woman still remembered me. There is also a German restaurant called Manne's Biergarten, run by expats that has really great food, but the best part is the beer garden in the back, and the giant mojitos for only 70 pesos, or $4 dollars. And next to that a hole-in-the-wall Falafel place with excellent food as well.

I know what you're thinking....Kristen, you are in Mexico, what about the Mexican food! Well, there was a bit of that too, like a place where I was served an entire roasted chicken, rice and about 20 tortias for about $3, but the best Mexican food I ate was definitely not from Playa. Playa is not really authentic Mexico at its finest.  It's more of a party town, filled with expats and Mexicans all trying to make a buck off of the gullible tourists.  Fine for a few days, but I was very happy to be moving on. I did return a few times over my 5 month stay, but I;ll get to that later. 

Well that's it for now, but I'll definitely be updating you with many many more stories soon!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of preparations for my next great adventure.  This time I will not be going quite so far, or for quite so long as my past travels, but what this trip will hopefully do is get me closer to the career of my dreams! By this point, if you have followed my adventures, you know that I am in love with everything scuba.  From the moment I descended below the surface of the water on my first dive in 2013, I felt a serene calm and have seen some otherworldly, incredible sights. I have also developed a deep appreciation for ocean conservation, and that is what this next trip will be about.  

On Tuesday, March 29th, I will leaving for the Southern Yucatan to participate in a marine conservation project on the Mesoamerican Reef, the 2nd largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. I researched all kinds of conservation volunteerships when I came home from Thailand, and landed with a company called GVI - Global Vision International.  They have similar projects all over the world, both marine and land-based.  For me, I wanted to be a little closer to home this time.  Also, this project allows me to gain experience in research diving, and get my instructor certification all in one, opening up many more job opportunities for me in the future.  

The base camp, where I will be spending most of my time, is in the middle of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere, a natural reserve in the Southern Yucatan.  It is small and very basic accommodation, as in no electric, wifi or running water. This may scare some, but I'm excited to live a simpler life for while, even the showering in rain water! My days will be filled with diving and studying, my concentration being coral. I have already be tasked with identifying and learning the scientific name of about 47 coral species....I have about 12 down. The base is run by the volunteers, everyone sharing in the cooking, cleaning and dive maintenance duties.  After my conservation volunteership comes to an end I will be traveling even further south, to a town called Xalack, on the boarder of Belize for my instructor training and IDC.  I'll be a little bit more connected at that point, but not much. Then I will be finishing off my time there, or they will send me back to the base.   

My schedule  will look a little like this:
March 29: Fly into Cancun and take a bus directly to Playa del Carmen
March 29-April 1: Relaxing on the beach in Playa del Carmen
April 1: Meet up with my group and drive another 2 hours or so to the base camp, Pez Maya
Next 10 weeks: at Pez Maya diving and gathering data with weekends off to travel around the area or head to the city for a real shower or wifi :)
Next 6 weeks: In Xalack training and taking the IDC and MSDT Course
Next 2 weeks: I will either be staying in Xalack or going back to Pez Maya
August 6th - Program ends and I will either head home, or continue traveling for a few weeks more, we'll see!

I'm actually hoping to get a job out of this experience, so fingers-crossed for that.  So, that's it....this is my next adventure and I could not be more excited!  I'll be honest and say I am not sure I will be posting to my blog much while I am away this time.  The only time I will be able to do it is if I travel into the city on the weekends.  I'm sure I'll do it every once in a while, but there will be so much to see and do in and around the Yucatan I will not be spending every weekend in the city :)  The best way to keep in touch with me and what I am doing is to follow GVI Mexico Yucatan on Facebook, or to follow me/message me on Facebook, because it will be easier when I do have internet access to do a quick update on Facebook than posting here.  

I will promise though to take plenty of pictures and post when I can, and for sure when I get home.  

So, that is all for now...Adios por ahora!

This travelers life is an addiction, a healthy, wonderful, eye-opening, horizon expanding, kick ass addiction. Each time I come home I think I am going to "settle down." Into what, I don't know. A relationship, a career, a family. But it never seems to happen like that.  Instead, when I am at "home" it feels less and less like home, and with each passing day I grow reckless, feeling as though my life has come to a standstill while everyone else around me is moving at warp speed. I'm 32. That means that most of my friends are getting engaged, married, having kids, getting promotions, making a good living and a good life for themselves.  For gods sake, my little brother is even married now, with a beautiful baby girl and his eye on a home in suburban New Jersey. Where do I find myself in the midst of all of this life building and progress?  Well, I am lucky enough to be living very cheaply in my parents beach home in New Jersey, which works out perfectly since I am making just above minimum wage managing the same store that I cashiered at at year or so ago between backpacking and Thailand. I've attempted dating, unsuccessfully, and I can't seem to get my mind off of the two real loves of my life....traveling and diving.  

So where does all this leave me. Well, my new train of thought has been figuring out a way to create a life for myself that includes both travel and diving.  I need my next move to be one that gets me closer to a life that feels like "home", wherever that may be. Only then will I be able to open myself up to a relationship and the possibility of a family. This is starting to get all philosophical, so let me break down my exact thoughts.

I want to make diving a part of my life and hopefully a career (this will inevitably include travel).  So, what are my choices.

1- There's military diving. I've looked into this quite a bit.  Pro's: military benefits, free commercial diving training (very lucrative skill to possess), possibility of cool assignments, get in killer shape through boot camp and training, could go back to school for nearly free.  Con's: Time commitment of at least 4 years, possibility of crap assignments that will make me hate diving, dealing with lying recruiters.

2- The tourist route, which would require getting my next level certification as an instructor.  Pro's: Living somewhere tropical, loving what I do and passing that on to others, meeting lots of cool people. Con's: Being far away from family for the rest of my life, meeting horrible people and being responsible for their well being, potentially shit income, no benefits or security.

3- Conservation/research/scientific diving: My ideal, though the one option I am not at all qualified for. This opens the greatest number of doors to a life that would include the type of diving I love, be really interesting, possibly provide stable and lucrative career options, and would make me feel really good about having a hand in the conservation of our planet. The cons, of course, are that I would need a marine biology degree or some equivalent, which would take years and tens of thousands of dollars. 

So there are my choices.  Obviously #3 would make me the happiest, but after considering the educational hurdles, I just wasn't willing to put myself in debt over another 4 years to get there. But I didn't give up on the idea completely.  Instead, I thought my way round the hurdle, and my solution even includes getting my instructor certification as a back up, and all for a fraction of the cost of going back to school.

So, what is my solution? Well, if I learned anything from my first time around the track its that experience trumps education. When I graduated college with a degree in business and joined the workforce I quickly realized I knew nothing.  Experience in my field was the best education I could have asked for and I didn't need a nearly $100k degree to get it.  If I would have come straight out of high school and found myself an apprenticeship or the lowest level job in my industry I would have been better off in 4 years then I was the day I graduated from university, and that's a fact.  So, lending that knowledge to my new situation, I have decided to volunteer  my time over several months in a marine conservation program.  This is a paid volunteership, meaning that I will be paying them for the chance to join their team, but the cost is, like I said, a fraction of a degree program, and they will also train and certify me to a master diving scuba instructor level in the process.  And, when all is said and done there is a great chance that this same organization will hire me.  So, training, experience, certifications and a job all rolled into one. Not to mention, I get all of this while I travel adventure style through tropical paradise. 

I know you must be asking yourself at this point what, when, where, how?!?  All in good time my friends :) This post is getting a bit long though.  I promise to go into full details in my next post....very soon :)