Packing. Mexico.

For this trip I thought I would whip out my old leather suitcase and take it on one last trip before it heads for the trash can. A bit of nostalgia. Only kidding!! I've not traveled with a suitcase, except for when I go away on business, for years and I don't have any intention of starting now.

Over these past few years of travel, since my trip to Peru in the summer of 2006, I've traveled with a backpack and I've traveled light. I still travel light but now the backpack comes with wheels as well so I can roll my luggage in places that allow for that.

Clothing wise, I've accumulated a small collection of lightweight travel clothes and until they become threadbare, I will continue to wear them.  Everything scrunches down so clothing takes up little space.  In fact, I can probably fit in all my shirts in the same amount of space that my shoes take up!

Tortuga.

Loggerhead Turtle

Tortuga is the Spanish word for turtle.

There are seven species of sea turtle in the world, all of which are either threatened or endangered. México is home to six of these species, four of which can be seen off the coast of the Yucatán.

 The local beaches around Akumal, "the place of the turtle" in Mayan, are nesting ground for two of these species - the Loggerhead (Caretta Caretta) and the Green sea turtle (Chelonia Mydas). Nesting season for these turtles is May through October.  Along with its 4.5 kilometers of nesting beaches for the Loggerhead and Green turtles, its bays are a year-round home to juvenile Green turtles, and the coral reef just off shore is feeding ground for migrating Hawksbills.

Shark.

May to October is whale shark season in the Yucatán and from June 1st to September 15th, tour operators are allowed to take tourists out to swim with these magnificent creatures!

A while back I had lunch with my friend Roger who told me of his experience swimming alongside a whale shark, off the coast of Mozambique. I remember thinking to myself how amazing that experience must have been to be and that I must do it if I ever got the chance. So you can imagine that I'm thrilled to pieces to find out that we'll be in Tulum at the time of the year that the sharks will be in the waters off  the Yucatán.  There is an interesting article in the Washington Post that describes a phenomenon known as the afuera - a gathering of hundreds of sharks that have migrated in to feed off the huge schools of little tunny, an abundant member of the tuna family, which spawn in the warm Yucatán waters.

Mexico Itinerary.

We're set to go!  Itinerary finalized and air plane tickets bought!

My brother and I will be doing the full trip - a combination of several tours cobbled together and independent travel. I like to mix and match things up. We do the tour where it makes sense and whenever possible, we travel on our own.

My friend and former colleague Ayşe ("ai-yee-sha) will be joining us on the Puebla to Chichén-Itzá leg after which we will continue on to Tulum and she will head to Cancun to spend the night before catching the plane back to DC.  It will be her first trip to Mexico and she's very excited about going! 

I still have to finalize the tour arrangements for Ayşe which should be taken care of next week.