Saturday, November 22, 2008
I've made my decision
Okay, i'm not going to alter this blog, i'm just going to set up a different blog for the WARRIORS of Grand Junction. I'm setting it up today. Don't expect any new blogs for awhile. I'll just update this blog whenever i see something interesting. Bye!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
This blog form may not exist much longer
I'm sorry, but i'm not finding much to talk about that will be of interest to the general public, so i think that i am going to use this as a WARRIORS tribute blog/ travel blog. I still haven't made up my mind yet, but i'm thinking about it. Keep checking for blog updates.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I'm Back!
Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've been super loaded with homework since i got back from Mexico. We learned, once we got back, that my brother's parrotlet passed away. That bird was my brother's best friend, and he was really sad. Let us hope that he has passed on to a better place.
Helpotters
Helpotters
Friday, October 24, 2008
Royal Haciendas, Playa del Carmen Day 6
One day until I leave!!!! WAAAHHHHHH!!! I'm so sad. Dad couldn't go scuba diving with us yesterday, and he can't go with mom and jake when they go diving this morning. he's going to play cards with me for a bit.
About yesterday's dive. We just went with the hotel dive shop to a reef tower just about 300 meters off shore. I just sat on the rim of the motor boat with my tank, BCD (Bouyancy- Control- Device), mask, and fins, and just did a half back flip into the water. It was quite warm, considering that most of the garden at the hotel was flooded. We hung onto the bouy line all the way down to the ocean floor, about 35 feet down. I had to equilize my ears so that they don't hurt, but my teeth hurt in the regulator (still a mystery why). Once we got down there, the first exciting thing that we saw was a snowflake eel (smaller than a moray eel). As we were observing it, i looked down at the sandy floor, and a huge, grizzled, 8 foot green moray barely missed my fins as it skyrocketed to a small cave in the rock and coral. Everyone else saw it, but it got the closest to me.
After that, we saw two anemones, squirrelfish, a scorpionfish, a queen Angelfish, and we swam under a ten-foot-long arch covered in small coral bits and algea, something that i've never done before. It was so exciting, but i was really tired after that. When we got back to the hotel, i jsut sat in the pool next to the kiddy pool, which we call the "deep baby frier". I must have been so tired because of the accumulated nitrogen in my blood. That happens when you scuba dive.
I'll see every body monday!bye.
About yesterday's dive. We just went with the hotel dive shop to a reef tower just about 300 meters off shore. I just sat on the rim of the motor boat with my tank, BCD (Bouyancy- Control- Device), mask, and fins, and just did a half back flip into the water. It was quite warm, considering that most of the garden at the hotel was flooded. We hung onto the bouy line all the way down to the ocean floor, about 35 feet down. I had to equilize my ears so that they don't hurt, but my teeth hurt in the regulator (still a mystery why). Once we got down there, the first exciting thing that we saw was a snowflake eel (smaller than a moray eel). As we were observing it, i looked down at the sandy floor, and a huge, grizzled, 8 foot green moray barely missed my fins as it skyrocketed to a small cave in the rock and coral. Everyone else saw it, but it got the closest to me.
After that, we saw two anemones, squirrelfish, a scorpionfish, a queen Angelfish, and we swam under a ten-foot-long arch covered in small coral bits and algea, something that i've never done before. It was so exciting, but i was really tired after that. When we got back to the hotel, i jsut sat in the pool next to the kiddy pool, which we call the "deep baby frier". I must have been so tired because of the accumulated nitrogen in my blood. That happens when you scuba dive.
I'll see every body monday!bye.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Playa del Carmen Day 4
I'm sweaty, muddy, tired, and ready for food. I feel great! I just got back from kayaking, hiking, swimming in a cenote, watching wild spider monkeys, and climbing mayan pyramids with an unfamiliar tour company called 'alltournative'. Our guide, David, drove very fast and played united statsian music from his ipod. There were about eight other people on the bus with us, all reecently married couples. First off, we traveled about two and a half hours to a small mayan village, where everybody in the group except for myself went rapeling down 60 feet to explore a small cave. I was to scared to even strap into the harness. All that supported me was a few pieces of leather, a climbing rope, a steel eight piece, and a few pieces of wood. No way was i going on that thing. After rapeling, the rest of the group also zip- lined across the top of the rain forest to our starting point. I was, again, to chicken to climb up to the platform and harness myself in.
After zip- lining, we traveled to a calm river and kayaked a short way to another cave, which descended down quite a ways to a small cenote, or a holy sink hole. David called this the "entrance to the underworld". A part- time shaman was there to greet us and burned some amber and asked the mayan gods to allow us passage to the cenote, which was called Chinuch (translates as "frog mouth"). After that, we were told to change into our swimsuits, wash off the mud we had collected on the trail, and we crept down the ladder to the cave. In the cave, the water ranged from six inches to twenty- one feet deep. There were a few catfish in there also, and there were tons of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave was made entirely out of limestone, and i later learned that the entire peninsula is made entirely out of limestone that was pushed up from under the sea when the giant asteroid crashed into earth 65 million years ago, so there are a bunch of shells and fossils to be found here. We jumped into the water, which wasn't really cold, and we swam about for about fifteen minutes. Then, we crawled out of the cave and hiked back to the van to get some authentic mayan food. on the way, we spotted two wild spider monkeys swinging through the trees.
When we got back to the village, we made a quick restroom break, cleaned off, and started serving ourselves mayan sphagetti, black beans, vegetable soup, and chicken in chipotle sauce. A scrawny tabby cat came around and was beggiing for food and pats, but we could only give it pats. It was cute, though.
After lunch, we sped along the road to Coba, the village that was older than Chichenitza. We met up with one of the archeologists, who guided us for about forty minutes around a few small ruins. He told us that the mayans built some temples on top of temples, sort of like the egyptians did. Also like the egyptians, they predicted that in 2012, something spectacular is going to happen, but not something destructive. after that, we visited a few more ball courts, an observatory, and the tallest Mayan pyramid. I'll try to send in some pictures to Mr. Warner.
On the way back, we passed a lake that said it had alligators in it, and we actually saw two of them. Apart from that, nothing much happened. I'm going to watch "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" now, but i'll post later.
Mr. Warner, check your email. THere should be some pictures.
After zip- lining, we traveled to a calm river and kayaked a short way to another cave, which descended down quite a ways to a small cenote, or a holy sink hole. David called this the "entrance to the underworld". A part- time shaman was there to greet us and burned some amber and asked the mayan gods to allow us passage to the cenote, which was called Chinuch (translates as "frog mouth"). After that, we were told to change into our swimsuits, wash off the mud we had collected on the trail, and we crept down the ladder to the cave. In the cave, the water ranged from six inches to twenty- one feet deep. There were a few catfish in there also, and there were tons of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave was made entirely out of limestone, and i later learned that the entire peninsula is made entirely out of limestone that was pushed up from under the sea when the giant asteroid crashed into earth 65 million years ago, so there are a bunch of shells and fossils to be found here. We jumped into the water, which wasn't really cold, and we swam about for about fifteen minutes. Then, we crawled out of the cave and hiked back to the van to get some authentic mayan food. on the way, we spotted two wild spider monkeys swinging through the trees.
When we got back to the village, we made a quick restroom break, cleaned off, and started serving ourselves mayan sphagetti, black beans, vegetable soup, and chicken in chipotle sauce. A scrawny tabby cat came around and was beggiing for food and pats, but we could only give it pats. It was cute, though.
After lunch, we sped along the road to Coba, the village that was older than Chichenitza. We met up with one of the archeologists, who guided us for about forty minutes around a few small ruins. He told us that the mayans built some temples on top of temples, sort of like the egyptians did. Also like the egyptians, they predicted that in 2012, something spectacular is going to happen, but not something destructive. after that, we visited a few more ball courts, an observatory, and the tallest Mayan pyramid. I'll try to send in some pictures to Mr. Warner.
On the way back, we passed a lake that said it had alligators in it, and we actually saw two of them. Apart from that, nothing much happened. I'm going to watch "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" now, but i'll post later.
Mr. Warner, check your email. THere should be some pictures.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Xcaret, Playa del Carmen Day 3
I just returned from Xcaret! (eco- theme park), and it was so @#%^in' awesome, anyone who reads this will want to come here too! They have restaurants, swimming with dolphins, an underwater river that you can swim through, sea turtles, jaguar and mountain lion island, a mayan village, a chapel, monkey and deer shelters, an aviary, and beaches! it was so much fun, and we spent the whole day there. thte first thing that we did was to swim through the underground river, which had crystal clear waters and a few fish ( there were supposed to be fossils, but we didn't see any). Then, we traveled to the nearby lagoon and had lunch and snorkeled. THe lagoon was right by the dolphin pen, so we had free entertainment while we gorged ourselves on hamburgers and fries. After lunch, then rain started, so we traveled around some of the animal shelters. There was a tapir, white- tailed deer, and a creature very similar to a badger that i can't remember the name of. After that, we went to visit the butterfly house, but the rain started to pour then. We sheltered under a thatched roof in the mayan village, then traveled the 500 meters to see the jaguars and mountain lions. After that, it was getting pretty late, but we still wanted to see the aviary and sea turtles. All that was in the aviary was a bunch of macaws and a toucan, and there were only four sea turtles. After that, we stopped at the giftshop and i purchased a stuffed jaguar that i have named Guadalupe. I will talk some more tomorrow, but i hope that you might visit xcaret if you ever come down to the yucatan.
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