Exploring the Yucatan

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Thursday February 27, 2014

This morning I was up too early for the breakfast provided by the hotel, but the nice señora who runs the place set aside some food for me after she heard about my morning tour. The people here are universally pleasant, helpful, and smiling. The tour minivan picked me up at 7:00 and there were two other people besides me. They were a retired couple who travel a lot and were nice company. The driver/guide drove us 90 minutes north to a wildlife preserve called Ria Lagartos (Alligator Water). We boarded a small motorboat and spent the next three hours moving slowly through the mangroves. We saw quite a number of different birds and even a crocodile. (Despite its name, there are no alligators here.) The ultimate destination was the salt flats where flamingoes can be found year-round. The flamingoes don't like people, so they congregate at the opposite end of the lagoon. It was hard to see them as well as I would have liked, even with my new binoculars and my new camera with the 12x optical zoom. We had lunch at a tasty local eatery and then drove through a sudden downpour to the ancient Mayan city of Ek Balam. By the time we arrived, the rain squall had passed and our guide showed us around the impressive ruins. The guide was a native Mayan who was born about six miles from Ek Balam. The "Acropolis" is the tallest structure in the area and the view from the top shows how flat and green the Yucatan is. We were even lucky enough to see a rainbow. We climbed the 106 steps and admired the unique sculpture along the way. Now I am back in Valladolid and looking forward to more adventures tomorrow. (I will include one last photo of me at the Mayan ruins doing my Indiana Jones imitation!)

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Comments

[Patrick]

on the road
Great narrative, good photos and awesome Indiana Jones. Dori and I are trucking with you, Bill! Our lunches aren't going to be the same. Blessing P & D