Sunday Jun 04, 2006
We had tried for a full week in March 2005 to visit Isla Contoy with Tony, but it was always too windy! I appreciated Tony's caution because although I have a pretty good set of sea legs, I suffer from "sympathetic nausea" - if you're seasick and you barf, I will too. Luckily, there was some calm weather in March 2006 so we plunked ourselves down outside Tony's house on Matamoros at 8:30 one sunny morning. We were soon joined by an adventurous elderly man, his daughter and college-age granddaughter. There was another couple scheduled for this trip - but they were no shows. This almost cancelled our trip when no one else could be corraled, but we all agreed to chip in extra pesos so that we could go.
Tony and his brother Mario were busy assembling lunch ingredients and fitting us with snorkeling masks and fins. Soon we were walking down the street to where La Guadalupana was pulled up on the fishermen's beach. While gliding over the transparent turquoise water, Tony kept us entertained with stories of his childhood when his father was the lighthouse keeper on Contoy. His love and concern for the natural riches of Isla is very evident. Only a limited number of daily visitors is allowed on the sanctuary of Contoy, and we had to fill out paperwork to be submitted to the authorities. Everyone hates paperwork, but I'm glad that some effort is being made to preserve this special place.
As we approached Contoy, Tony and Mario pointed out birds and fish.We rounded a rocky point and tied up at a pier in a beautiful cove right out of "Gilligan's Island". The semi-tame ray was there to greet us.
Now it was time to snorkel for the first time in my 60+ years! (A scuba experience when I was in my twenties had gone bad - leaving me with a serious phobia.) What a magical time I had gliding over colorful fish and coral, being ignored by BIG barracuda. I learned to relax and breathe normally and my ample girth allowed me to float well. I'm now hooked on snorkeling.
After we spent about an hour in the water, lunch was served. The Garcia brothers had prepared a fabulous spread of grilled chicken and fish, accompanied by salad, guacamole, rice, beans, watermelon and cookies. What we couldn't finish was fed to the waiting iguanas and hermit crabs.
Then we were free to take a siesta under a palapa, swim some more or visit the research station/museum. We followed a few trails, climbed the observation tower and went to the Frigate Bird roosting area. It was mating season and the males were strutting their inflated red wattles.
On the way back to Isla, Tony threw out some handlines and he immediately hooked a big barracuda. Hubby pulled in one of the four that we caught - and it made his day. This trip to Contoy was a highlight of our 2006 vacation.
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