Blake and Deborah in Mexico: Tulum and Xel-Ha

We opted for an all-day tour of sites down the Caribbean coast from Cancun. The first of these was Tulum, home of a collection of 12th century Maya ruins perched picturesquely on a seaside cliff. Despite being packed with tourists and having the temples and other structures roped off to protect them from said tourists, it was fascinating place to visit, brought alive by our diminutive guide, who was of Maya blood. The Maya had a sophisticated culture and an impressive knowledge of architecture, astronomy and mathematics, but also worshiped the snake and had the goofy practice of deforming the heads of newborns by pressing them between two boards, all to make them appear more snake-like. By the way, our guide also assured us that although 2012 marks the end of a cycle in the Maya calendar, it doesn't portend the end of the world.

Leaving the serpent loving Mayas behind we spent the rest of the day at Xel-ha, an all inclusive lagoon park where one can swim, snorkel, float on inner-tubes, zip-line, hike, dive off cliffs or just lounge about in hammocks to your heart's content. You can also eat and drink as much as you like. Considering the fact that I don't swim and Deborah freaks out when fish touch her, snorkeling might seem a strange choice of activities for us. We did it anyway. As I discovered in Fiji a couple of years ago, life vests actually do keep you afloat so I don't mind getting in the water while wearing one – and they are required of everyone in the lagoon. I still struggled to get a tight fit of the mask over my beard and swallowed more seawater than I care to remember, even though employing a nose clip, but still had a good time. And Deborah found the concentration of fish wasn't so great that she had them sliding their slimy bodies over her arms and legs. So she had a good time too.

After we climbed out of the water I slipped on an algae-covered stone step at the end of a bouncy floating bridge and fell flat on my back. As I did so my snorkel mask flew out of my hands and into the dark waters under the bridge and some overhanging rocks, never to be seen again (as was part of my deposit for the snorkel gear). The well-named life vest may have cushioned my fall as I sustained no injuries. Still, my mother might insist that it is I not she who should be using a walker.