Map Of Our Travels

During our five weeks of traveling we took buses through the Yucatan and Chiapas and went to some pretty and cool places. We took a picture of a map of Southern Mexico in our Palenque hotel and also made a map of our route.

Map we made

Bye Bye Everyone

A huge temple at Chichen Itza

Yesterday was our last day in Mexico after five weeks of traveling around. It was mostly a travel day from Merida to Cancun, but we did make a stop in Chichen Itza for a few hours. 

Merida was where we spent the last 6 days of our trip and is a big city with tons of plazas and shows almost every day, and great food stands. We stayed in a little house several blocks away from a big plaza where we saw Noche Mexicana and ate delicious tacos. It is a really flat city but unlike Tulum you can’t bike because the drivers go too fast, although on Sundays they block off part of the city so we got to rent bikes and ride around. There were a lot of places selling hammocks in Merida so we went to a small shop and got a couple to bring home. The reason why there are so many hammocks around here is because Mayan women traditionally made them from the henequen fiber which was grown around Merida (now they are usually nylon or cotton). We really liked our small house in Merida and are glad we can hang out in our hammocks when we get home. 

The Adventure In The Cenotes

One of the moto-cabs

On Monday we went on a trip to some cenotes about an hour away from Merida. First we had to take an hour bus ride that was really hot because the air conditioning didn't work and there were a lot of people. When we got to the small town of Cuzama we took two motorcycle taxis (we're not sure why we had to take two because there were four seats, but what can you do??). We took the taxis to a little railroad where horse drawn carts would take us to the cenotes. Cenotes are big water tunnels and pools under ground and they are super beautiful and fun to swim in.

The first horse drawn cart stopped at a little rest stop for the horses. After a little waiting at the horse stop another moto-cab took us to another horse stop and we got on yet another horse drawn cart. The railroad ride was a lot longer than the first one but then we got to the Cenotes. At first I couldn't see the cenotes but when I got closer there was a hole in the ground with a stair case leading down. When we got to the water my brother, my mom and my dad all jumped in right away but I'm a wimp of cold water so I had to test it first, but after awhile I jumped in.

Dancing In Plazas

At two places we have stayed on our trip, Merida and Chetumal, there have been dancers in the plazas. While we were in Chetumal there was a carnival at a plaza by the sea and a big stage where all ages of dancers showed off their moves and it was kind of fun.

In Merida (where we are right now) we went out for dinner in one of the many plazas and there was a stage that had a lot of different dance groups. A lot of the shows in Chetumal had people who were lip syncing and had crazy outfits on. The dancers in Merida were more traditional. One of the nights we were here a band was playing in a plaza close to our little house and there were lots of people dancing.

The first dance we saw in Merida

The Small Town Of Celestun

Flying Flamingos!

We stayed in Celestun for three nights and four days. While we were there we visited the beach a lot, which is covered with big shells along the ocean. We also went on a boat ride to see pink flamingos. On the ride to see the flamingos we saw lots of other birds in the water as well like a black eagle and some white pelicans. We saw a couple of patches of flamingos in the ocean and kept going to see mangroves.

The Walled City Campeche

A view from the walls

While we stayed in the city of Campeche we got to learn about its history and why they have parts of a giant wall around it. A long time ago in 1511 two men named Jeronimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero shipwrecked on the Yucatan Peninsula. They were taken in by a Mayan village. Guerrero married the chief's daughter and stayed there while Jeronimo got rescued by the conquistador Hernan Cortes. Campeche wasn't very populated, but natives that lived in the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula could rebel the occasional attack by Spaniards. Later in 1527 Francisco de Montejo tried to conquer the region, but the Amerindian defenses were too strong so he fled. Three years later he returned with his son, yet again the Ameridians were too strong. At last on his third attempt in 1537 he was successful and de Montejo established the cities San Francisco de Campeche in 1540 and Merida in 1542. 

Casas del Arco Iris

While I was walking around the colorful town of San Cristobal de las Casas, I thought that it would be fun to make a rainbow collage with pictures of colored houses. On just one block I took a picture of each color but kept taking more so I had a variety. I chose these six for the arco iris and a few extra just for fun. I really like how there are so many different colors here and hope you enjoy them too.

A rainbow of houses

Pakals Tomb

The Palace

On Saturday we went to the ruins in Palenque and walked around for several hours. The ruins were really big and they had a lot of steep stairs so we got a good workout. The Mayans started building the city of Palenque in 100 BC and they flourished from around AD 630 to 740. Palenque is a good example of Mayan civilization. The big ruins that we visited are really cool, but they are not the only place you could find Mayan artifacts because the Mayan civilization was huge and there were villages and cities everywhere.

Exploring Palenque is a good way to learn more about Mayan civilization. It was a big city that is well preserved and has been extensively excavated by archeologists. The archeologists have made many good finds there including the discovery of Pakal who was Palenque’s greatest king.

They found his tomb in 1952 and it is considered one of the greatest Mayan archeologist finds. The Mayans buried valuable things with their leaders but over time people looted the tombs so archeologists didn’t have much to work from. Pakal’s tomb is unique because it was found completely intact.

Nadar en Mexico

The main spot where we would swim in the ocean

There have been a lot of good swimming spots that we have visited on our trip. We have been swimming in the Caribbean, under ground caves, a lake, and pools.

I prefer the Caribbean because there are a lot of  small waves and sometimes it's completely still. My brother and I like jumping into the waves and getting sucked under the water. The ocean here is different than it is back  home. First of all it's the Caribbean Sea and we live on the Pacific. It's also a bit warmer and the beaches are really white and the water is super blue.

The under ground caves were fun because they were super dark and little fish swam around your feet. The under ground caves are also called Cenotes and they have really long underground tunnels filled with water and sometimes bats. All of the little fish swim around and nibble on your feet. There are also some small turtles that you couldn't swim by in the Cenote we visited, which was the Gran Cenote outside of Tulum. The Cenotes are found in the Yucatan and used to be one of the main sources of water for the Mayans. 

Comida en Chetumal

The taco stand

We arrived in Chetumal two days ago and went for a walk around dinner time in search of food. We found a little taco stand that had amazing tacos. The taco stand was pretty nice for a small food stand--it had chairs in front with tables and a roof made with a tarp. It was kind of close to our hotel but we made it a longer walk since we didn't know about it yet.

Tulum Ruins

A view of the cove

While my family and I were staying in Tulum we visited some of the ruins that were by a beach. We rode there on bike then and stayed for a couple of hours. We saw a ton of black spiny tailed lizards everywhere because the ruins are perfect habitat for them (my brother did a blog post about these lizards). Towards the end of our visit we walked down to the beach that was in a little cove next to the ruins. Swimming was really fun and maybe even my favorite part of visiting the ruins. My mom and dad said that the Mayans picked a beautiful place to live and I think that I agree with them.