Francomenz

Me with Kana’ab

Originally uploaded by j58.

Go ahead. Try to find Costa Maya, Mexico on Google Earth. Betcha can’t. That’s because it’s not an actual town – it’s the name of the port that was built specifically with cruise ship tourism in mind. The town is Mahahual, and if you so much as blink while your bus passes through, you might just miss it entirely. But that hasn’t stopped shops, bars and (largely empty) brand-new hotels from springing up around it in the hope that it may just evolve into another Cancun. There’s a lot of investment riding on it – a fully-equipped deep water harbour and the typical “sun, sea and sand” offering to go with it. Can you say tequila?

The result is that the locals, much of whom are of Mayan ancestry, have more steady work. Real estate is picking up with promises of “owning a piece of paradise”, the buzz is circulating about this new destination. But with it comes the sacrifice of the simpler life, one that was more connected with the land. The land now seems to be yielding bounty of a different sort.

Not all Mexicans are comfortable with the change. My mother, stepfather, aunt and uncle who chose to do a “Reality Tour” in Costa Maya, met a Mayan family whose patriarch has sent his children to university to ready them for the developing world around them. But education has provided more than he bargained for – his kids are now more interested in iPods than in cocoa pods. It’s an interesting dilemma; one that will have to be constantly re-negotiated as the area grows to meet tourism demands, while struggling to hold on to the tradition that makes the destination different from any other.

Our experience in Costa Maya, by contrast, was again water-based and in many ways the highlight of the trip – we swam with dolphins! The Delphinus facility, 100% Mexican-owned, was impressive, stressing respect towards the mammals and providing a thorough safety briefing before we were even allowed in the water with them. I have to admit, I was in two minds about the whole thing, being the type that can’t stand to see birds in cages (or any wild animal in captivity for that matter). But I started to feel better as I learned more about the facility and saw how wonderfully the dolphins were being treated. Delphinus is involved in ongoing research projects about the life and reproduction of dolphins – international scientific studies have all pointed to the mental and physical benefits of human/dolphin interaction. The Costa Maya facility has had tremendous success with live births and often participates in the rescue and rehabilitation of stranded dolphins, so by the time I donned my life jacket and got into the water to meet Kana’ab (Mayan for Ocean), I was convinced that it would be a wonderful experience.

We spent about twenty-five glorious minutes in the water with Kana’ab and his cohorts, learning new things about the species and stroking their amazingly strong bodies as they swam alongside. In that short period of time, I was a child again, gleeful and wide-eyed. The feel of their skin was smooth, yet muscular, but the most enduring impression was made not by their physical presence, but by their spirit. Kana’ab seemed to feel especially comfortable with Mark, to the point where the trainer volunteered him to do most of the one-on-one interaction. As Mark said so aptly after the whole experience, “Dolphins have such pure souls.”