Gecko Feet and Nanotechnology
I'm itching to write a little about my recent trip to Cozumel, but I'm a bit bogged down by homework for the next few days. Even so, the homework in my Principles of Nanotechnology course overlaps with some interesting observations about geckos I made while in Mexico (that they can walk on walls and ceilings in various conditions), so I thought I'd share. Unfortunately, my camera broke, so you'll have to do with a picture I took at the California Academy of Sciences. Anyway, the homework assignment is all about the nanotechnology of gecko feet, and what makes them stick. Hit the read more link for the rest of the goodies.
Actun Tunichil Muknal Recap
Actun Tunichil Mukal was absolutely my favourite part of my Mayan Adventure. I can't believe I didn't write a post about this while I was on my trip. Blame it on my inability to find an internet cafe in San Ignacio. That or spending too much time at a bar called Faya Wata:
The ATM cave was so cool that I'm going to hit you with a read more link to get the rest of the goodness, see you after the jump!
Mayan Adventure Trip Roundup
It's been a year since my trip and I'm itching to write down my last thoughts on my Mayan Adventure so I can start planning my next big undertaking. The trip spanned 22 days, 3 countries and countless adventures. Because of the unreliable internet and the fact that I didn't bring a computer along with me, I posted relatively few of the over 1500 pictures I took over the course of the trip. In the gallery below, I've selected some of my favourite pictures from the trip to help supplement the writing that I did. Hit the read more link below the picture to read my final impressions and see the photo gallery.
Final Trip Post
Here I sit, at an internet cafe in Caye Caulker and I really have to ask myself, "Why am I sitting in front of a computer?".
Well, at least there aren't rules against drinking in public (or internet cafes for that matter), *sip* ahhh.
Every restaurant has the motto "slow down". Everyone here will tell you if you're walking too fast. I was told to relax by a chef on the street, and I was already pretty friggen relaxed. I'm burnt as hell, the SPF 45 is almost meaningless. Tomorrow I'm SCUBA diving in the Spanish Bay and having a night dive at the local reef. Today I snorkled with nurse sharks, eagle rays, sea turtles, and saw those neat fish in symbiotic relationships with other fish. There are thunderstorms over the horizon which illuminate the clouds shrouding the moon.
I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life.
So I'm not going to use the internet for the rest of the trip. We're leaving for Playa del Carmen the day after tomorrow, and I'll be home Saturday night. I'll do a big round up post, and a couple of packing advice posts about what I used and what I didn't. But other than that, I hope you've enjoyed the last couple of posts and I encourage you to post your questions or e-mail them to me so that I can answer them in the big round up.
The beer is beckoning. Over and out.
Tikal and Ziplining
I found more of that delicious Guatemalan internet, and today it's not half bad, so here is a pictureful post of today for you!
This picture was taken from the top of Temple I, Tikal, and as you can see it was pretty dizzing for vertigo sufferers. Luckily, though, we didn't take the stone steps up because people tend to fall off those and die. Instead, we took a steeper set of rickety wooden stairs off to the side.
Here's a view of the same temple from another angle, and as you can see it has been restored very carefully. Tikal was amazing in terms of it's resoration, and I got to see some workers actively chopping blocks under the direction of an archeologist for further resortation of the 1000 odd temples in the area.
We visited Tikal at 5:00am, in the hopes of seeing the sunrise from Temple IV, but unfortunately it was overcast. Luckily, one of the guides basically told everyone to shut up, and we got to sit peacefully on top of the temple and listen to the sounds of the jungle for a good 20 minutes. My camera did something weird in the silence though, it took completely green pictures when I tried to frame one particular part of the jungle (thrice repeated), even after subsequent normal pictures. No scientific explanation available.
In the afternoon we went to a nearby ziplining adventure company and did a tour of the jungle canopy with 9 different ziplines. I have a bunch of hiliarious videos that will have to wait to my return to Canada to become available. Here's a picture of those of us who did the ziplining:
I got a lot of enjoyment out of teasing Francesca (the blonde in the middle) over her unhappiness about heights by doing this:
As you can see, I'm having a ton of fun, and the next stop is San Ignacio, where I plan on spending a night in the jungle, exploring caves and camping with bats!
