Chichen Itza……Betty's Notes Jan. 11th

Our group left Paa Mul RV park early Saturday morning, Jan. 10th. We traveled back to Tulum heading towards Coba. We managed to by-pass Valladolid by taking the Merida Toll Road and arrived at the village of Piste in the early afternoon. It was too late and too hot in the day to visit the ruins of Chichen Itza that are about 1km away. The whole area is riddled with ruins in various shapes and sizes. We read that there were some underground caves nearby so Bill, Marilyn, Larry and I ventured out. The Balankanche Caves were very interesting. The entrance fee was minimal. We also hired a guide. Take good running shoes and light clothing as the pathway is rather uneven. Also, it was very humid down in the caves, we were all wringing wet by the time we surfaced. The air did not move so if you have breathing problems you may not feel comfortable going. These caves were used by the Mayans for legal ceremonies so no sacrifices were performed there. A river ran through it at the bottom.

That night we all went out for dinner to a restaurant down the road and had traditional Yucatan meals…..Poc Chuc is a very tasteful meal of either chicken, pork or beef. Done in a marinade with seasoned and sautéed onions, beans, stewed tomatoes and sour orange. Very filling.

Today we got up early and spent the morning exploring Chichen Itza, another profound Mayan ruin. It seems that each ruin we have visited so far has a different story to tell. The entrance fee is 110 pesos each. Also, we hired a guide for 600 pesos. The ticket office issues wrist bands that are good for the entire day so you can come and go as you please. Seven of us took the tour, it worked out to less than 100 pesos each and worth every penny. The guide was Mayan and related many legends that have been passed on down through his family. After the day show, we had a nice buffet dinner at a restaurant across the street from where we are camped. If some one tries to give you a restaurant buffet brochure at the ruins…be sure to accept it. The buffet normally charges 100 pesos per person. The brochure gave us a 35 pesos discount. The buffet was plenty. They even had traditional dancers to entertain us. Tonight we are going to the sound and light show at the ruins. Make sure you keep your wrist band as the admission to the sound and light show is included..

The sound and light show was a treat. It starts at 7 p.m. We were told that there is only one show and that it is in Spanish but you can rent earphones that translates the Spanish to English. We would recommend this.

Tomorrow we depart for the upper coast of the Yucatan hoping to find camping, beaches and birds for Sherry.

Rio Lagartos Jan.14th…..Larry

Prior to starting on our trip to Mexico we did a lot of map work, looking over possible spots and finding what information we could on those areas. Well, the north end of the Yucatan had these roads that went up to the coast and just stopped. I saw that there was a Natural Reserve located on Mex 295 where it stops at the ocean and thought it might be a nice place to visit. Betty and I tried to find some information on camping there but did not have much luck. There was not much of anything anywhere, not even Church's book except that the park had lots of birds and flamingos. So when we arrived near this area we decided to take a chance and drove up.

Highway Mex 295 is a paved road in fair to good condition. We had a couple minor problems going through a couple of the Mayan villages. John, in the lead, missed a turn so we had to guide him back to where we were. Thank goodness for our marine radios and GPS system! In the village of Tizimin, the highway became a small street and due to a festival there was a detour. Thanks to my gps we managed to find our way around it. A tight right here, followed by another tight right, and again and again!!!! We are probably still the talk of the town. Some places were so tight that we could have shopped for veggies along the way without getting out of the truck!!!

As we traveled up Mex 295 there were many vehicles that passed us. I think the whole village of Rio Lagartos knew we were coming because when we arrived at the Pemex we had several boat tour guides waiting for us. One particular person named Elmer, a jovial fellow who spoke good English, wearing binoculars with a bird watching neck strap stepped to the front of Johnny's truck and caught Sherry's eye. "Wow, a bird watcher she said", he must know something on the local birds. That's all it took. Johnny asked Elmer if there was anywhere we could camp and Elmer said "follow me". He took us to the town's public park area by the estuary and said it's free! There were palapas, a freshwater spring, lights and a maintenance worker who worked in the afternoon and provided security. A perfect spot. The police even drove by every once in a while to keep an eye on things.

As it turns out, of course, Elmer just happens to own a company called (La Lagartos Adventures) and he just happened to do tours of bird watching, fly fishing, boat rides and a naturalist guide. He also just happened to own a nice restaurant in town. The next day Sherry and John got up before early light and went on a 4 hour bird watching hike with Elmer. Betty, Larry, Ben and Lynnette took a three hour boat tour up the estuary with one of Elmer's employees. We saw several different types of water birds along with several crocodiles. The highlight of the trip was to spend time viewing the thousands of flamingos in their natural environment. There is also a sea salt collection area. It was a cloudy morning. The crystals from the sea salt reflected on the clouds, giving off a bright pink glow. We really enjoy this area and would highly recommend it. Be sure to look Elmer up....every one here knows him!!.

Elmer Canul Yam of Rio Lagartos Adventures and Restaurant Las Palapas de La Torreja. You can reach him on his cel: 0 44 986 86 6 73 18, or his e-mail which is: elmer_flamingos@hotmail.com. Elmer also has a WEBSITE.

We will be staying in this location an extra day to do some exploring. The weather has been cool and cloudy with the occasional bit of rain, a big change from the heat and humidity.