Hurricane Ike Refugee – Day 4
I have been watching the news back home (via Internet) and it does not sound good: lots of lines for food, ice and fuel. Most of Houston is still without power and some parts are without water. Fortunately, we have not had the crime that New Orleans has experienced during hurricane Katrina.
I was able to get thru to my building’s staff and I am told they weathered the storm well. They plan on inspecting apartments today for any damage. As I had expected, they did have some problems with the backup generator and that is why they had not answered the phone.
Things still look bad but I think I will return to Houston on Wednesday.
Back in Mexico, today was a busy day with scuba diving and celebrating Mexican Independence Day. First, the scuba diving …
We headed south for Akumal. We did a little snorkeling first and I was able to see some turtles (one huge one) and a stingray. I also managed to get my back thoroughly sunburned!
When it came time to put my gear together to go diving, I could not find my underwater camera in my gear bag! I really regretted not having my camera as soon as I got in the water.
Today we dove Media Luna and the first thing we did was go thru a valley of coral, swimming under an archway at one point. The sea life may not have been as interesting as what I have seen further north but for me the geography was the best part. This was a really nice, easy dive (no current) down to 53 feet. Total time was around 63 minutes.
Once on the road back to Cancun, I got word that I was expected in Cancun at 6PM for a Mexican Independence celebration. We were still south of Playa del Carmen and the drive from Playa to Cancun usually takes me around and hour (depending on traffic). I had about an hour to get to Cancun so I put the Nitro’s power to good use and raced to Cancun.
We made it to Cancun just before 6PM and I called my friend to check in. Wouldn’t you know it? There was a change of plans. We were now meeting at 9PM. Oh, well.
As soon as I arrived home I went in search of my underwater camera. I looked where I thought I had stored it but it was not there! I looked for a few minutes and nothing. And then I checked my dad’s dive gear bag: there is it was … and this bag had been with us all day!!!!!
For the celebration we went to Pericos in Cancun to take in a dinner show. I was going to go easy with the drinking but I ended up having too much tequila and dancing. After dinner we joined the rest of the festivities on the city streets and the city center.
The next morning I woke early but I decided I did not want to take a chance driving to Playa and back for a dive: I had only slept 3 hours at that point and I was worried about falling asleep at the wheel.
