Abi's Deep Dive

Leaving Chinchorro made me feel more emotional than I expected after 5 days there. It has been hard to put into words what it was like there, and the impact it had. Instead I have tried to describe the island and what we did there. This experience definitely touched me more than I expected……..Jumping off the boat we gathered as much as we could carry and walked through the water to the island. As we walked we became aware of the eyes on us. Creatures completely still, drifting in the water, blending in, but entirely capable of moving quickly enough to catch us. The crocodiles just drifted around, raising their bodies out of the water or effortlessly submerging like the best designed submarine. We got to the island, mud between our toes, otherwise unscathed, nervous about what we would find over the next few days.

Chinchorro is such a beautiful place, a protected area, so there are no tourists, and fishermen’s numbers are controlled. Due to it being peak fishing season a lot of the palafitos (huts on stilts) are occupied by fishermen at this time of year. There are some palafitos over the water, and others on the sandy island. The men stay there for weeks at a time with the odd visit from their wife or girlfriend. When we arrived we were 4 of the 6 women who were there that week.

Our palafito was a one roomed hut with a porch, all above ground level. The CRIP team showed us where to hang our hammocks from rafters inside. The three of us were sleeping inside. The palafito is made from plywood with a tin roof, like the other palafitos around. We put the huge cool boxes underneath the deck in the shade, the scientific kit was put together on the deck under the balcony roof, and we put our kit inside next to our hammocks. The food we had brought was taken to Marcelo’s palafito which is where the CRIP team were staying. Marcelo is a fisherman who started one of the cooperatives on the island. He greeted us fondly with a warm welcome and a meal. He is short and stocky with a face wrinkled by years in the sun. He chatted away whenever we were in his company, and by the end of the stay I had realised that this was a man with a thousand stories to tell and I was more than happy to sit and listen to them, (even though I could only understand some of what he said in fast Spanish). Marcelo was the perfect host during our stay and we had breakfast and an evening meal with him every day.

After unpacking I had a quick look around and soon noticed that anywhere you walk things scatter away from you making unexpected rustling noises! There are crabs who scurry away to little holes in the sand or under anything that’s lying around, Iguanas who lounge around eyeing you suspiciously and moving away if you get too close, then there are the crocodiles. I don’t get close enough to see who is more scared of who, but seeing them lumbering across the camp dragging their heavy leathery tails is a constant amazement for me. One morning I wake up early and go outside to sit on the decknat 5.30 the sun is just starting to creep up, and a crocodile of about 2.5 m quietly passes the palafito leaving a trail in the sand as it heads for the shore. You couldn’t escape the connection with nature here which was scary at the beginning, every move echoed by a creature, but after a couple of days I was better at spotting them and knew where to look, and then I loved living that close to the animals whose lineage had been here for 100’s or 1000’s of years. Someone had done some genetic testing on the crocodiles on the island and they are descended from crocodiles from thousands of years ago. There had been no new ones introduced so they had remained really close to the original crocodiles that were known to inhabit Chinchorro!

For each of the mornings we were on the island Marcelo cooked us breakfast which was refried beans, scrambled eggs with ham, warm tortillas and some fresh habanero peppers for added spice. We tucked in knowing that there was a long day of freediving ahead. Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches using mayo instead of butter as it’s too hot to keep butter/ spread. The sliced bread that you buy here is sweet like lots of the other foods, does sugar help preserve food? Evening meal was generally refried beans, soft tortillas and grilled pork or chicken stew. Vegetables/ salad don’t feature. Water and fizzy drinks full of sugar line up and we happily tuck into the food and chat. In the morning and evening Marcelo makes coffee by boiling cinnamon bark in a pan of water, you fill your cup with this hot spiced water then add instant coffee and sugar. It’s delicious and he quickly realised that I love it and gets a pan started when he gets up and after dinner so that I can have a cup. Marcelo doesn’t let us wash up, telling us that we are his guests. He washes up on a board outside his window with water and soap powder. All scraps get dropped for the iguanas so they congregate there at meal times. Marcelo talks so quickly that I only pick up a few words but he uses his hands constantly, and his face is so expressive that I often get the jist of what he is saying. Nitza sometimes translates the stories for James and me too. Marcelo remembers a time when there were so many conch that when “greedy men” filled their boat they would sink with the weight of them. This is hard to imagine now that most queen conch are juveniles so haven’t yet developed that thick heavy shell. 

Going to the toilet was an adventure in itself. You walked to another little hut that had a seat over a hole in the floor. A compostable toilet there was sawdust to cover your deposit, but I soon learnt not to look down when I walked in as knowing that I was squatting above cockroaches was more than I could think about!

We will be going out monitoring at 7.30am so have to get up by 6.30, we are tired after the trip and there are no lights in the palafito so we go to bed with the sun on the first night. We are woken early by the fishermen next door who get up at about 4.30. Soon after rising they light a joint and they frequently cough up phlegm. It’s a frequent sound during our time on the island and one that I find particularly unpleasant. I wake with them for the rest of the trip so do see some beautiful sunrises on the deck.

I was a bit sunburnt after the journey over ( no sunscreen allowed) so I was well covered for the days monitoring

The second evening, after a day of monitoring I stay in Marcelos palafito with Lalo, Thalía and Serena for a while after dinner. We manage to communicate in “Spanglish” and I enjoy listening to the Spanish and seeing the relationship that has developed between the fisherman, his son who is also a fisherman and the scientists. There is a mutual appreciation and Marcelo clearly enjoys hosting them. I wonder if he misses his home being full of these people from the mainland when they leave. That night a big storm comes in. The sound of the rain pelting the tin rooves is deafening. Claps of thunder make the palafitos shake. water drips from the roof onto me, a constant rhythm for hours. I don’t think anyone got much sleep that night and getting up at 6.30 was so hard. At breakfast the decision was made to delay the start of the monitoring so we went back to our hammocks for an hour. The sky cleared when we were out on the boat and that evening the light was glorious. Crocodiles lined up to be fed that guts of the fish that were being prepared by fishermen that night.

The two days monitoring were long but I loved being on the water with the local fishermen who free dive as deep as we need them to to gather conch. One site was about 18 meters, I snorkeled and watched from the surface as they gathered conch staying underwater for much longer than I can hold my breath. They seemed to equalize automatically and I am full of admiration! I saw sting rays and ocean trigger fish and got a distant glimpse of a bull shark that cruised past us, without even a glance in our direction. We stayed an extra day and had one boat for monitoring to gather the extra data that we missed due to the late rainy start. Nitza went with the team and James and I stayed on the island. It was another beautiful day in paradise and we explored and learnt more about each other. James is 23 and comes from a traditional family. Dad is from Yorkshire and doesn’t understand why James isn’t settled and wants to travel and see more of the world. He has an older brother who is also dismissive of his flighty ideas and feels like (at my age) that’s it for your life and you should be satisfied with what you’ve got. I told James a little of the journey that’s brought me to starting my adventures in my 40’s and how I am lucky to have family who have supported my decision to take off. It’s a frequent internal conflict for me: earn money and pay off the mortgage sooner, or do something like this, earn enough just to live on but see the more of the world and don’t yet settle! The wanderlust has won for now, the mortgage won’t be reduced yet!

We found a croc under a palafito. She was about 3 meters long (video on my instagram Abisdeepdive) and apparently very friendly. She once having a warning bite to a fisherman who was throwing coconuts at her, but it was just a nip, she left his leg intact!!

That evening the sky was beautiful, and after the iguanas had eaten our scraps from dinner there were card games, more writing up of data and then some deeper conversations that reflected that we all felt much more comfortable in each others presence. Marcelo teased me for being so tall and said that my father must be taller than the men in Mexico. He indicated that his own father was about 5 feet tall and then put his arm right up above his head and asked laughing “su padre?”. Marcelos son talked of his first son being born when he was just 14, and Marcelo told us about the three wives he had had. With the help of google translate I could speak as well as listen and we had a lovely evening.

Marcelo admitted that he does miss us when we leave the island after the days we spend monitoring, he is older and he says that the younger men drink and smoke and he doesn’t get the same conversation that he gets from his visitors. The extra food we brought tops up his kitchen, with some treats for him too. His missing front teeth point to a love of sugary teats and a few bottles of Fanta that the team brought for him are happily received. Life is basic for the fishermen, the routine only disrupted by the storms that overwhelm the peace and remind us of the fact that this island has it’s own schedule that humans have to follow. I felt sad to leave this beautiful place that had quickly felt like home, and when Marcelo hugged me and said that I would always have a home there, I felt sure that I will go back.