Chankanaab

I've gone a bit mad for the fish ooaks, but as soon as I got my first one it reminded me of a wonderful holiday in Mexico, so I really wanted to make a Chankanaab bracelet  . Chankanaab is a protected national marine park and I spent a lot of time there swimming, snorkelling and diving with the fishies all day, it's the most beautiful place  .  Pyramids represents Chichen Itza, a pre-columbian Mayan city which I had fun exploring for the day; we went at the crack of dawn to miss the crowds and heat and flew over the jungle in a tiny little plane with the pilot  drinking cold beer all the way and a 90 year old lady in a flowery dress waving us in with bats when we landed in a jungle clearing   . I was determined to climb the pyramid but was shocked how steep it was when we got there, it looked almost vertical looking down! ~ being disabled it took me a while and I had to come back down more or less on my hands and knees but I did it  (bit disconcerting also to see there's an ambulance permanently on site at the bottom, seems like falls may be quite commonplace!).  It was such an amazing place, it will stay with me forever...Temples, Great Ball Court, monuments, sacrificial wells, a whole ancient world lost in time and tangled jungle to explore, I loved it! Planet represents the Mayans forward thinking in the science of astronomy and their heavenly body mythology and sun god worship, I learnt so much that day, we had a wonderful guide who'd had the knowledge passed down from his father and grandfather before him, so he really brought it all to life.  Then it had to have a spider...an embarrassing story but I'll tell it anyway haha... I needed the bathroom when we were at Chichen Itza and it was a bit rustic and jungly in its location..as I went in I saw the biggest tarantula I've ever seen sat right by the door, so I went back to get my other half and asked him to  keep an eye on it whilst I went and to shout if it moved  . Well I should have known better as he waited til I got in there, then started saying ooh it's moved, I think it's coming your way...oh no, it's only one of those red kneed Mexican jumping tarantulas, what if it suddenly jumps over the door, they can jump 6ft!  I knew he was winding me up, but I've never been in and out so quickly in my life  , so that had to be added as a Mexican memory too  .  Then there's the toothy Michael Weihe bead which represents Carlos, a barracuda that lived in the bay ~ the first time I saw him I panicked, spat my snorkel out and swallowed a lot of water as he was heading straight for my face with his mouth open, but the resort staff said oh that's just Carlos, he's retired here, he won't hurt you, he's lost half his teeth in old age anyway  . So from then on I swam with Carlos on a daily basis and got quite fond of him  . Anyway here's the bracelet, I think I'll keep it together as it brings back so many wonderful memories!

It is absolutely lovely - thank you so much for sharing it and your wonderful stories   

That's a lovely bracelet and some great stories. How long ago were you in Mexico?

Wow! I'd never take that one apart either!  

Awesome... the colours.... totally mine.... and your story of mexico behind the bracelet is totally cool.... I'm collecting beads for my mexican bracelet for quite a while and the pyramids bead you have is so cool.. well I doubt I'll get this one  but I hope I can come up with something cool as well... your bracelet rocks   

Hehe Thank You  
Wildthing, I think that holiday must have been about 10 years ago now, still living on the memories  

Minty, good luck finishing your Mexico bracelet  I thought I'd never own a pyramids bead either, but I got it recently when it was listed in the sales section here for a very reasonable price by a lovely fellow member, will keep an eye out for you

That is a lovly memory bracelet to make. In your photo it is like a tropical desert island also.

You see that all the fish all swim one way? I have some fish beads that only swim one way or be upside down looking.

Michelle wrote:That is a lovly memory bracelet to make. In your photo it is like a tropical desert island also.

You see that all the fish all swim one way? I have some fish beads that only swim one way or be upside down looking.

Yes, Cozumel where we stayed is an island in the carribean sea, it really does remind me of it  
I had my fish swimming different ways, then moved them all to face me when I wear it as I remember the fish were so inquisitive and always seemed to swim towards you hehe I love how making a bracelet can bring all these things back to you

Thank you for sharing your bracelet and the story behind it.

Sounds like a wonderful trip, TFS Love your fishy bracelet, just gorgeous

What a fantastic idea, each bead with a special meaning. Will you keep it permanent? Lovely beads!!

Wonderful story, gorgeous beads and colours that just sing of a tropical sea! Thank you for sharing

Lovely Mexican bracelet!

I visited Chichen Itza many years ago and I remember how steep it looked from the top as well!  But gorgeous grounds and great history.

Oh my gosh that is just brilliant   your fish are perfect, and your stories will stay with me now too   You are a very illustrative story teller and that was before I got to the bracelet. The bracelet - needs a different name really, bracelet is too tangible to do it justice, so alive now with your memories, those fishies are swimming and smiling. As for a Barracuda named Carlos,  ba ha ha ha ha (and I hope you got back at the other half for the jumping spider, my DH did a similar thing to me whilst we were hiking in the Rockies)  

splinty wrote:Hehe Thank You  
Wildthing, I think that holiday must have been about 10 years ago now, still living on the memories  

Thank you for sharing: now we can live on your memories also    Beautiful bracelet with all those lovely fishies  

Splinty, such a beautiful evocative bracelet... and so many great stories to go with it!  I love that the fishies are swimming towards you, ready to give direction if needed!

Thank you so much for your great story - I so much enjoyed reading it!!    
Your bracelet is absolutely terrific and I loved finding all your story places and happenings in your silver and glass beads!!

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story and bracelet! Such beautiful memories.

Beautiful bracelet and brilliant stories  

So enjoyed reading this splinty - wonderful photos of a very special bracelet, the fishies are fantastic.  

Thank you for sharing your story with us. Your bacelet is a perfect memory.

Splinty, Beautiful bracelet and the story behind It brings it to life. Well done. It's perfect.

P.S. Great use of the teal tigers too!

This is exquisite and it really conjures up your holiday so vividly I feel as if I was there with you! Fabulous. x

Absolutely brilliant!!! Both the stories AND the bracelet. I LOVE that toothy bead, it is really an eye catcher and your story is so vivid, I can picture it in front of me. You're so lucky to have actually lived it!

I love the toothy bead too!