[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18213129 w=640&h=360]
William Trubridge becomes the first human being to dive completely unassisted to 100 meters (one hectometer). With a single breath of air, and only his hands and feet for propulsion, he set this historic world record in Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas, on December 13, 2010.
Found via Thako: The HECTOMETER freedive on Vimeo.
Went swimming into another hidden (private) cenote today, once again thanks to my local friend, Stéphane (yup, another one). It’s located close to the previous one, but is private instead of communal. It’s also enclosed, instead of opened, and is only accessible via a small manhole straight into the ground.
The above picture depicts how it looked to us: dark, with a beautiful sunlight coming through a man-made hole, wth crystal clear waters. The gallery shows it with a flash, to see how it actually looks when lit.
On December 21st, I had the privilege to be invited to attend a traditional fire ceremony during the total solstice lunar eclipse. As per NASA, “this solstice eclipse is the first in 456 years, although so far it appears that no one has figured out when the next solstice eclipse will be.”
The ceremony was deeply rooted in the traditions of the Huichol (or Wixáritari) tribe of the Sierra Madre Occidental and was passed on to Leon, the Texas Apache shaman presiding our ceremony, when he spent 6 months studying with them a few years ago.
As all religious events, it was very serious, elaborate and intense; lasting from dusk until dawn. It is not my place to divulge all of its details, but it involved 9 people, chants/prayers and traditional sacred medicines such as food, water, tobacco, copal and peyote (which I had never tried before).
The tipi pictured above was setup in the Mexican Jungle, far from the city’s distractions. It had been used for years for native Americans ceremonies in the Bronx (of all places) and was brought to Playa del Carmen for a traditional wedding last year.
When the morning came and the ceremony was complete, we topped it all off by going bathing in a nearby hidden cenote maintained by a local community. A perfect end to an unforgettable night.
[wpvideo gnAKu8AP]
More of my temporary desks while working from the Sandos Playacar Hotel this week. If you look closely to the screen in the fourth photo, you can even catch a glimpse of Matt with his Santa hat on. 🙂
Since we’re traveling, we didn’t have our own Christmas tree this year, but I thought the one at the Sandos Playacar Hotel was pretty beautiful, so I took a quick pict for my traditional holidays post.
Hoping you’re all enjoying time with your family and friends. Happy holidays, from Playacar (Mexico).
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.
via Why we track Santa, found via Nick.
Looks like I’ve been slacking on my blog updates in the last two weeks, but it ain’t really so. I just had to conserve my 3GB worth of 3G bandwidth for work. On the other hand, not only will my real vacation kick in tomorrow (24th), but we’ll also be in a villa with (likely) ADSL and (for sure) wifi. Photo/video posts to follow! 🙂
A few of the many critters found on hotel property, at Sandos Playacar, Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico.
I know, I know… I do feel a bit mean and guilty to be posting this while so many of my friends are stuck in the cold and snow, but I couldn’t help myself… :p
As you probably know, my family and I are in Mexico for a few weeks. Because we’re here for close to a month, I’m working full-time for part of our trip while my wife and kids enjoy the goodness that is the all-inclusive Sandos Playacar (we’ll be moving in a villa for the last 2 weeks on the 24th). This lead me to acquire a TelCel Amigo 3G USB stick (comes with 3GB of monthly bandwidth).
Since this is the only constant internet connection we’ll have throughout our stay, I wanted to be able to share the connection so that I can also connect via wifi for our iPhones (unlocked, also set with simple pay-as-you-go local SIMs, but no data) and my son’s netbook.
If you happen to be on OSX, doing so is absolutely dead-easy.
Tada! You should be all set and now be able to see your mac-as-an-access-point from any wifi-compatible devices. Enjoy! 🙂
Update: Had forgotten to attach the screenshot I mentioned. See below.
