El Pueblo, Puerto Aventuras

Also known as Poblado Puerto Aventuras.
My friend Christy and I went to the other side of the main highway to the town where the locals live, which is quite different from the part of Puerto Aventuras where the 'touristas' such as us, visit and live. We are on the beach side, with the nice condos and golf courses, but the other side has much more local color and interest, and is a photographers' paradise. I really enjoyed talking to the people, trying their food and admiring their choice of wild colors.

 I dragged my sorry you know what out of our condo today to go 'play' here. A bad sore throat has kept me under for a few days. Good thing Christy is here to keep me going! We had a good time, how could you not with all this color?

 No matter what, everyone is always well dressed with clean clothes.

 What are these tiny things? Baby socks?

Sunrise On A Good Rainy Day

What a spectacular sunrise we had today in Puerto Aventuras, the colors were flying! I dashed out with my Canon camera and was rewarded with a pretty show.

 The pool area in Villas Del Mar

 Our beach.

 My favorite Palapa to photograph.

 A couple enjoying their morning coffee, best seat on the beach and no one else but us were there.

 A first for me, an exercise class on the beach! What a pretty place for it, I watched Pelicans diving for their breakfast while I'm trying to keep up. This was a serious class, I couldn't keep up, and if I can still walk tomorrow I'll go back on Friday. 3 times a week at 8am. Today's class was cut short by rain, we were in it for an hour while it was coming down lightly, a first for me as well.

 Grabbed this with my iPhone, the best place ever to do lunges and crunches while a gentle rain comes down to keep you cool.

A walk in the rain to the outdoor market. Still warm out...

 An Agouti, they run around and remind me of rabbits. Cute!

Nearing the end of the day.

Sunset.

Birders Were Here...

One last blog of Ian here in Puerto Aventuras, with Luke and Jess... They went shopping for trinkets for people back home, watched the dolphins swim with the tourists, ate pizza, went snorkeling, ate guacamole, laughed a lot and now they are back in the States.  Ian's second semester junior year classes at UMass started today, Cornell's spring semester started for Luke yesterday and Jess's job is still going strong (they keep upping the date for closing her facility). 

Ian has posted some of his gorgeous bird photos from Mexico on his flickr site here.

Also a blog of his trip is here.

Luke composed a very funny list of their 18 day adventure in Mexico...

"I am currently sitting in the Cancun airport, having fallen madly in love with yet another Latin American country. I'm not so sure about returning to the cold and snow of Ithaca, New York. Here are some stats from the three-week road trip:

Total kilometers driven: 4,893 (2,935.2 miles)

Total Species of Birds: 467

Total Money Spent: <$1000

Total number of topes we went over: >40,000,000,000 

Total number of topes we bottomed out on: remarkably few (nicely done Jess)... Jess did all the driving.

Number of times our engine failed while on a small boat: 1

Number of times the car brakes failed on a steep winding mountain road: 1

Number of times it actually rained: 1

Number of military checkpoints we went through: ~75

Number of military checkpoints where they actually searched us: 2

Number of migraines: 0 (!!!)

Number of instances of food poisoning: 1 (x4 people)

Number of dead baby dolls in the middle of a random dirt road: 1

Number of penises I accidentally saw on a nude beach: ~30

Number of times "Thrift Shop" was played in the car: ~75

Number of times "I Knew You Were Trouble" was played in the car: ~100

Number of times I changed my mind about whether Rosita's or Orange-breasted Bunting is better: ~70

Number of times I shat in the woods: 0

Number of times I shat in a bathroom that was far worse than the woods could ever be: several

Number of times a herd of cows completely blocked the road: 1

Number of times I called a bird a "little slut" for not cooperating for photos: ~550

It has been fun. In the wise words of Bruce Springsteen: we'll be see in' ya!"

Amigos going snorkeling, they find and swim with a sea turtle!!

Jess.

 A waterproof camera shot.

Ian. 

One of my last shots with my new supposedly waterproof Olympus Tough TG-320 before it stopped working. No fix in sight, Olympus said to send it in, which is not possible from here in Mexico. I was really enjoying playing with it too :-(

Going out before we get pizza, nice bar at the Omni Hotel on the water. Closed on Saturday night, but we hang out anyway...

 Luke.

 Enjoying shopping for gifts...

Finding just the right scarf.

Birders are in Puerto Aventuras!

Ian, Jess, Luke and Keenan came 'home' on Thursday, a bit dirty, road weary, hungry and very happy! It was a very successful trip, many birds were found, enjoyed and photographed, they had exciting adventures and were still friends :-)  Memories were made and we enjoyed hearing all the great stories of their adventures. Someday they may post photos and stories on their blogs, links on the right column of this blog, but so far their lovely photos can be found on Facebook or Flickr. They saw some awesome birds!!

Ian finished his scuba certification he had to postpone from his tonsillitis, and today they are on the Island of Cozumel, looking for a few last birds. Departure back to New England, and college is tomorrow, Sunday, for Ian, Luke and Jess. Keenan left yesterday. I'm going to miss their laughter, enthusiasm and energy.

 First thing after they arrived was a swim in the ocean.

Nice spot to hang out.

 Joe's amazing guacamole, 8 avos gone in a flash. Makings for Pina Colada were good, too!

 Yummmm!!

Then out for some pizza.

 More home made food, fun feeding such enthusiastic eaters! Thank goodness they are very tolerant of me constantly taking photos...

 Swim at dark, I enjoyed the challenge of trying to capture it in low light, without a tripod. Luke jumping in.

 Jess jumping out of the water near Ian.

 Jess.

 One can bird anywhere, anytime.

Condo birding :-)

Wednesday is Market Day

Fresh produce, a thing of beauty. In our little enclave of Puerto Aventuras, it's available Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am to 4pm outside, right in the main center near all the shops. Which happens to be right next to our Villas Del Mar, fortunately for us as we carried home many bags. Twice :-)  Ian and his friends are coming back from their adventure tomorrow and we will have 4 more to feed. I'm excited about seeing them again and hearing about their travels and birds!

 Papayas are heavy, so are watermelon and avocados... humm, how much can I carry?

 I love baby bananas.

 Abundance!

Playing with food.

Gotta have a swim after all that shopping :-)

How many ways can you photograph a palapa?