Restoring the Americas: Being snubbed is no problem, part 2

Icame down from the light house a little shell shocked, but had a good time in the museum

, goofing off and learning about the ancient coastal Mayan's religion. Coming to Cozumel was a young man's rite of passage, sort of like the Hajj in Islam. I kept thinking, if people made a pilgrimage here, this place must have been rather sacred. I wonder what they would think if they came back and saw Cozumel today?

Back outside, I showed Andrea a little wildlife photography trick I learned back in Costa Rica: take a picture from far away, get closer, take another picture, and repeat until the animal freaks out and takes

off. Of course, one caviat is to never, ever do this with something dangerous!! The part where they freak out might get ugly.

The touristyness really showed right next door to the museum, where a trio of stick built gift shops offered all manner of trinkets and handicrafts. Touristy

as it was, I think the trio is a good model for what a gift shop in an "ecotourism" situation should look like. I mean, if you're going to have a gift shop, at least make an effort to have it fit into the lansdcape, right?

The reason we were hanging around the lighthouse in the first place is that we were waiting for the bus to the swimming beach. Because it is a sensitve area, they only built a small, one-lane road, which means only one

car at a time can pass. They also try to minimize the number of of vehicles that cross, thus they have a bus to ferry tourists across rather than let them all go in their own cars. Up to here this is all good environmental policy, but this is where Andrea's point (from part 1) kicks in: the guided tours can cross as many cars at a time as they want, and they pay a fee for this priviledge. As we arrived by bus, we saw our good ol' tour's six jeeps parked among the trees.

Andrea says several of the Corona ads were filmed in Cozumel, and I believe her cuz the beach was beautiful! Afterwards, as I was raving about how great the beach was, Andrea shot me down, claiming there was too much seaweed that day. People that live in the Caribbean are ntoriously picky about their beaches... let them spend a few years in Virginia I say!