We finally arrived in Mexico. The reason I know this is that they had policemen on the docks when our 1,100-foot craft squeezed into port early Wednesday morning. I know very little about Costa Maya except it’s in the Yucatan and the Mayans trashed this place, too. Ruined almost everything except the beautiful beaches and waters of deep turquoise.
Being in Mexico, I try to keep one eye out for the cartels. I understand they send scouts here to check out potential prospects. I put on my MAGA hat and figured they’d leave me alone, plus my sex trafficking value is not what it once was. On the streets, I am now in the roadkill category.
Our excursion of the day was a Dolphin Encounter. We had purchased tickets to be able to interact with dolphins in a large saltwater pool. While we were strapping on our life vests, there was one dolphin at the other end of the pool selling tickets to the other dolphins for human encounters.
“Some of them are pretty smart,” the dolphin said.
But dolphins are really smart, quite friendly and fascinating animals – not fish, animals. A 7-year-old dolphin named Sophie and a young trainer named Mary would treat us to quite an aquatic show,
Mary explained that dolphins communicate by noise and can make over 3,000 different sounds. She said that in the wild, dolphins live to about 40 but in captivity they can reach 80 and more. Sophie was born and bred in captivity and relished the fish treats she gets when she performs properly, and she did every time.
We were allowed to pet our performer, shake hands with her, make her roll over, wave goodbye and dance. I even got to kiss her. I guess I’ll send her some flowers, but I probably won’t ever call her again.
It was a fascinating experience.
Next, we dug our toes into the sand of a shoreline restaurant beneath a straw roof and sipped frosty Bahama Mama’s while angry waves pounded the coral reefs within a few feet of our table.
It was a successful day – no cartel guys, a sweet dolphin encounter, unparalleled coastal beauty, and another entertaining evening aboard the Norwegian Joy,
I could get used to this.