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Hola Amigos.

So, we decided to go to Mexico! We got a steal of a deal on a one-way flight from Winnipeg to Cancun. The sunshine and the heat has been very much welcomed as we´ve ventured around the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula. There are many fascinating Mayan Ruins in this area and we have enjoyed wandering through some of these mysterious sites. The Mayan civilizations were amongst the most developed and advanced in the Americas, with huge stone pyramids, temples and stadiums, which were all extremely well built and engineered. We are still trying to wrap our heads around the ritualistic human sacrifices -much like the Incas- but cutting out the heart of the victim was apparently the Mayan thing to do. We had an entire philosophical discussion on what makes us do the rituals we do. So when we really think about it, are we that different? Apart from sacrificing their own kind and ripping their hearts out - as an honourable gift to their gods, we do some pretty wierd stuff as other cultures would state. It is the intention behind the ritual, is it not?

A quick funny: Theresa had lost one of her rubber pads on her glasses in Tulum. She then began to have a very funny diamond cookie cutter pattern on her nose. So we asked about 4 different people in different shops, where the Optica (Optician) was.... and each time, we got a different response. We felt as if we were pinballs in a very silly (and hot) game of pinball. The wizard was laughing. Especially when we were told that there was NO Optica in town. After a restful sit on a bench for a wee while, we were ready to head home for the night. Just then, Dave began to stare at the ground as Theresa kept walking, then stopped.... 'Dave what are you looking at? a snake? a bug? (Theresa was thinking)'. No, it was a business card for the only Optica in town!! What are the chances, eh? So we may have had sore feet from the many miles of searching that day, but Theresa no longer had a cookie cutter diamond on her nose after new replacement pads.

One feature of the Yucatan worth mentioning, which are almost exclusively Yucantanian, are the cenotes. To fully appreciate them you have to go into one and go for a swim in the crystal clear water that they contain. They are basically underground cavities that have filled with water, a bit like caves.

A very brief lesson on Cenotes... A few years a ago a giant, six-mile wide asteroid weighing hundreds of billions of tons smacked into this area at 45,000 mile per hour and caused unimaginable global devastation. We are constantly checking the sky to see if there is a tag-along...? Hopefully not! The crater rim created from the impact is where all the cenotes are found. Over the 65 million years since the KT Extinction Event, erosion has created these incredible natural features for us to enjoy. It is, however, rather unfortunate that old Tyranosaurus and Triceratops are not here any more to cherish such beauty.

We are currently in Bacalar on the shore of the tranquil Laguna Bacalar. It´s a peaceful place. We like it here...

Hasta la proxima

D y T

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