Mozambique fellow volunteers visit!

Felix, one of the young men I volunteered with in Mozambique, has come to visit me in Cozumel!  He is traveling Mexico with 3 of his friends from Oxford University.  Felix is now an Oxford graduate!  Time for real life….but not quite yet.

He arrived yesterday and we did a long snorkel from my backyard over to Chankanaab.  I wanted to show Felix the dolphins and check up on the nurse sharks.  The dolphins were so interested in us!  After an entire day of performing for people, they seemed very interested to see us through the fence.  There were 6 or 7 of them who really checked us out and followed us as we snorkeled.  They were so beautiful…smooth and serene.  And best of all, the cross fences which seemed to “pen” or corral the nurse sharks were totally gone!  So were the sharks, although they had been around earlier in the day when my friend Lyn and her group snorkeled over there.  Maybe we will see them tomorrow!

Today we dove Columbia Deeps, one of the southern reef systems in Cozumel, with towers of coral, very beautiful.  Not much in the way of fish, but when one hasn’t seen coral like that, it is breathtaking.  We then went to an area known as “Cielo”, a shallow aquamarine area filled with starfish.  I didn’t see many today, but my friend Lyn went later in the afternoon and her group saw plenty of them!  After our surface interval we dove Punta Palancar, the very start of Palancar Reef, made famous by Jacques Cousteau.  It was absolutely crystal clear, and filled with fish, turtles, and a hunting green moray accompanied by a Grouper!  I actually took a short video of the eel, which I will try to post.  I’m not sure I can, but I will try.

We dove with an older couple (70s) and their granddaughter, delightful people, but after the first dive the older man had a rough time of it and stayed out the second dive.  I was worried when we surfaced from our deep dive as they seemed to be struggling.  All turned out well.

Tonight Randy and I were treated to a delicious meal, Felix cooked for us.  He even made his own tortillas!  While in Mozambique I stayed way out of the kitchen….I was absolutely floored by the culinary abilities of Felix and Patty, a woman from San Francisco who flambeed pineapple….incredibly wonderful.  Since I have trouble making toast, I kept a very low profile in the kitchen.  Tonight we enjoyed shrimp tortillas with guacamole and Mexican potatoes…Felix found a recipe and off we went to Mega, the grocery.  Excellent meal, Felix even bought us Mexican white wine.  Delicious!

It seems a funny thing, really, to consider that Felix is the same age as my son and his friends, and yet the experience in Tofo bound several of us together regardless of age.  Tomorrow Marcel (Switzerland) and Dani (Munich) will join Felix (Cambridge, UK) and I (USA, originally from Ohio) here in Cozumel.  We have a night dive scheduled for tomorrow night, their first!  I will be sure to tell you all about it!