October 21 to 27, 2018

Whoa! It's the end of week 3 and all is well!!

You can see the Sargasso (seaweed) is back again - from day to day you just never know.

It certainly does keep the locals busy and the Municipality is spending lots of money to keep it cleaned up.

The Sargasso situation is not in any way hampering the fishermen, they are still going out to get their catch every day.

Life Guards are still on duty.

We are sad to report that the restaurant at Ojo De Agua (Don Ernesto) is now out of business due to a fire - the palapa over the bar and restaurant  burned. It was one of the better restaurants on the beach - their food and service was top notch. Hopefully they are able to reopen before long.

More Sargasso - it is thick along the shoreline and it is deep at the water's edge. You have to wade through it to go into the ocean for a swim. There is a smell of sulfur off it and it makes the water a yellow colour - like swamp water. Very discouraging for the tourist, that is why the Municipality and locals are working at cleaning it up. Tourism is the main source of income here so they can't afford to loose the tourist. Allan just read on the Internet that out of 1280 favourite places to vacation in the world Puerto Morelos ranks 14th.

Dinner at Chilpayas was a  treat - your meal starts with a Crab Broth - OMG I love it! Allan of course doesn't which suits me fine because I get to have his too.

We had coconut shrimp and full fish - delicious!

This is the Municipal Palace (Municipal Building) 

lit up at night.

Photos from our walkabouts in the Colonia.

A nice cool shady spot for a trampoline.

This is the sports dome in the Colonia - 

this is early in the morning but afternoon and evenings find it  to be an active spot.

These are photos of our new bird this year the Great Kiskadee - they remind me of our Canada Jays in that their feathers resemble fur and they are very friendly with people. They certainly enjoy using our pool as their bird bath. One day we were in the pool and they chirped loudly until we go out so they could use it. Too funny!

Priceless!

One evening we went to the Port side and found this man playing the Bagpipes in the park. Interesting to find a Mexican playing the Bagpipes - A Mexican Scotsman. He played several songs including Amazing Grace for Allan.

Later that evening we attended a Musical at the Church in the Port. It was a 3 evening event - we went to the second night and enjoyed it very much. Thank you to our neighbour Claudia for suggesting we attend.

Did you know that Palm trees produce seeds?

This was a great week for birds - we also had 2 Mourning Doves put on a show.

Beautiful!

We also attended a Fashion Show at Hacienda Hotel in the Port which started the celebrations of Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos)

The lady in this group has one breast removed with a pink cancer ribbon in place of it - representing a death by cancer.

A tequila being sold at the event "1921" - a tasty creamed tequila - mmmm good - the sample was 
so good we bought a bottle.

Delicious cupcakes with this creamed tequila in the icing.

Ocean view from the venue.

This photo is not as clear as I would have liked it to be but I had to show it anyway. The setting sun is reflecting on the windows of this ocean cruise ship - it looked like the ship was on fire for those few minutes.

The fashion show begins and continues to have lots of eye candy for all viewers.

The commentators.

Miss Quintana Roo

Two of the Municipal employees came dressed for Day of the Dead celebrations.

Our photo was taken with Miss Quintana Roo!

It was a wonderful evening - we are certainly enjoying these celebrations - great fun.

We also went to Playa Del Carmen to see a parade down 5th Avenue in celebration of the Day of the Dead.

Adorable!

The little ones sleep on a parent's shoulder - no one stays at home - they all come out to celebrate and enjoy a party.

Another enjoyable evening.  The Day of the Dead celebrations begin Oct 30 and go until Nov 2nd. These few days are for the living to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on from this life. They believe their dead family member's spirits return to earth during this time. What an interesting custom - how I wish we had it in Canada. One time of year to celebrate and remember our deceased family and friends.

Until next week stay safe! Bye for now.

Sunday October 21, 2018

Week 2 - how time flies.

We spent a day at  My Paradise Beach Club - the heat of the sun feels so good.

Police are on patrol  during the day.

The sargasso (sea weed) has receded leaving the beaches so much cleaner.

New beach clubs are popping up along the shoreline

This is low season but there are still many visitors/vacationers enjoying the beauty of paradise.

 The beach has been cleaned of sargasso which has built up on the shore over the years along with that which has been coming ashore recently.

Don't you love to see kites flying

We had to take shelter from a sudden rainfall on our way to do our grocery shopping.

These photos are of pan de muerto - bread of the dead. 

The Mexican culture celebrates Day of the Dead from October 31 to November 2nd. This is a time to celebrate dead ancestors. We are going to attend some of the events and will have lots of photos to share on an upcoming post. 

The small breads have a round ball on top in the centre which represents the head, then 4 long pieces extend from around that ball, these represent the bones - arms and legs.

This larger "pan de muerto" represents the head of the family and the extensions represent the bones of family. Pan de muerto is a delicious sweet bread.

 More beach clean-up

The sargasso is loaded into trucks and hauled away.

We sat in the restaurant at Ojo De Agua and watched all of this activity.

We ordered nochos for lunch - lots of leftovers 

to take back home.

During a walk about the colonia in the early morning - we see our boat is still waiting for some TLC

Donna here are a couple of pics to share with Hugh

Interesting houses to find  here  in Puerto Morelos.  

 

A beautiful daytime view from the rooftop bar 

at La Sirena in the Port

Allan patiently waiting for his cold Sol atop La Sirena

Chicken cooking on the rotiserary at El Ray here in the Colonia.

 For the animal lovers in my group of followers - this is a sad, sad situation. The owner of this dog kept him chained and fed him very little. The local vet has him in her care now. I can not imagine why anyone would keep a dog and treat it this way. The red spots are open sores and the brown ones are in a more advanced healing stage. 

You see photos of  animals in this state but never expect to actually witness one in this condition.

Allan wiping the perspiration from his brow while waiting for his customer number to be called at the hardare store.

School children and their chaperones on a field trip.

One of the fruit markets we purchase produce from.

This is a nursery where we have bought some of 

our plants from. They have a great selection and 

prices are very reasonable.

The owner of the buisiness has expanded his services to include building Adobe style housing from the sargasso collected on the beach. What a wonderful idea! He has 5 factories between  Puerto Morelos and Tulum.

Each house will house a large family and the cost is approximately $10,000.00 Canadian for each house.

 The materials used are all from the earth - no non green substances added! The materials are mixed together and then placed in boxes similar to the one he is using above. Once the brick is dried it is then ready to be used to build with.

This is a small pile of sargasso from the beaches, the main ingredient.

 Several of these houses are being built in Leona Vicario, a community inland from here a short distance and he has orders from the government for many more. This is very cheap housing for those of lower incomes.

This little bird is getting himself presentable for the day - a light rain overnight provided a nice birdbath.

This ends another week in Paradise.  Take care everyone and enjoy life - it is short.