Pez Maya, Weeks1 & 2

Weeks 1 & 2

Welcome to Pez Maya’s October 2009 phase. We’re coming to the end of our first two action-packed weeks so it’s time for an update.

We met each other for the first time at the Hotel Colorado in Playa del Carmen and from there ventured down the bumpy track into the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. The base itself is quite basic but I think we’ve made ourselves at home quite nicely. It’s an early start each morning. Up at 6am (!) to do our duties around base then it’s “BOAT PUSH!” and then we’re ready for the day ahead!

There are 20 expedition members this phase. Some were already qualified divers whereas some had never dived before. It’s been an incredibly busy fortnight with people working through their PADI open water and advanced open water SCUBA diving qualifications.

The ultimate aim of the 10 weeks is to collect data on the fish and coral species present in the reserve to pass on to GVI’s partner organisations, so on top of all the dive training we’ve had to learn how to identify all the species of fish and coral found in the area. A tricky task! This week we have also been working with some researchers from CICY who have been collecting water samples in the area to analyse isotopes. This gives an idea of where all the fresh water originates from.

It’s not all hard work though. We’ve found plenty of time for swimming and snorkelling in the beautiful turquoise sea, lazing in hammocks under the palm trees and responsibly sipping (almost) ice cold beer in the evenings (jealous yet?). Last weekend we had our first party night which coincided rather nicely with Sarah’s birthday. We saw some fantastic costumes including one hut dressed as pirates, one hut dressed as the staff and the staff dressed as Snow White and the seven dwarves (I think Greg secretly quite enjoyed wearing a dress).

We’ve seen plenty of wildlife already. The base itself is home to geckos and loads of iguanas. On our very first night we helped some tiny green turtles out of their nest and watched them start their journey out to sea. We’ve spotted several hawksbill turtles, a loggerhead turtle, a dolphin, two nurse sharks, a crocodile, a boa constrictor, moray eels and lots of sting rays. I’ll perhaps refrain from mentioning the other, less welcome wildlife that bites/stings/generally annoys everyone.

The past week we’ve been planning and organising games and activities for Turtlefest which takes place this weekend in Tulum. It’s a weekend to celebrate the end of the turtle nesting season and to raise awareness of turtle conservation. We’re all very excited about it because naturally we all LOVE turtles but I think it might also possibly have something to do with the thought of air con, showers and meat!

We’ll let you know how we get on with that next week…

Pez Maya, Weeks1 & 2