Ross Lockwood

SCUBA Diving

I can't even express how ABSOLUTELY AWESOME SCUBA diving is! I got to see fishes and animals that most of the locals here haven't even seen. (Not to mention, I've tried inventing words that the locals haven't even heard of to describe them... Hint: 'pocco gato' doesn't mean 'kitten'.)

The dive crew has been taking pictures, and I'm bringing my flash drive along with me today, so I'll be able to post some photos later tonight. Because my camera is rated for 3 meters, and we dive between 10 and 15 meters, I don't have pictures on my own camera. I also brought along the GPS unit, which came in handy finding the dive school, and finding my way back to the hostel. I would still be lost down Merida street near the chicken vendors if I didn't have that handy device! (Thanks Mac & Discover GPS!)

Anyways, I spent all night in a bar studying 170 pages of a SCUBA manual, (well tended to, of course, since I was happy to pay more than the salary the waitress, $8CDN/day, as tips). If I miss an upcoming bus this morning, I'll have to wait for another one, which will probably arrive 30 seconds later. But anyway, I don't want to be late, because today the test my emergency procedure skills underwater! Also, if anyone knows the correct way to ask to be let off the bus (they don't have stop buttons), please post it in the comments, because right now I usually wait until someone else gets off at one of the nearest stops to mine (I've been lucky)!

Arrival Impressions

So, I made it, in just about the same condition I was in when I left. Special note: never try to sleep at the Edmonton International Airport, you will fail.

Cancun is like 1,000,000% humidity. It's so humid the outside of our plane fogged up when we landed, no joke. I've successfully downed my first Mexican meal, and I'm excited to report back with photos of tomorrow's Caribbean adventures! I'm going to catch up on sleep now!

Packing Inventory

This is my last post before I head to the airport! I will try to update the blog either in Denver, or when I arrive in Cancun!! Wish me luck!!

I thought it would be a good idea to have a list of things I packed so that I can be better prepared at answering questions about what to pack on a similar trip. By the time I finish my trip I will, of course, have a better idea of what I shouldn't have taken. Click the more tab for the details...

Distance Estimate

Sweet Gukumatz! I just used Google Earth's path tool to estimate my trip length, and it came out to over 2,500km!! (Roughly the distance from Vancouver to the Mexican boarder, as the crow flies). Here's a map of the basic route I'll be taking from the G.A.P. Adventures company that I'm traveling with:

If your interested in a more detailed version I've already written about my itinerary here, which includes a link to my trip dossier.