Posada los Mapaches

Friday and Saturday nights we stayed at a small hostel located just outside of Tulum, Quintana Roo, México. Called Pada los Mapaches, the hostel is run by Chelo and her two sons, Daniel and Joaquín. They were very kind and helped with everything we needed. We had bikes to get around the area, as the distances are a little too far for walking. When we arrived, Chelo gave everyone a reflective vest and a headlamp to wear when we were biking at night, a padlock for our bikes, and our room keys. The hostel is bordered by the main highway on one side and the jungle on the other three sides. We were not allowed to keep any food in our rooms, as we would attract ants, mice, and other animals.

There were three main sleeping huts, as well as a kitchen building, a palapa for dining/gatherings, a bathroom/shower building, and what looked like a general maintenance room with bike parts and snorkel gear hanging from the walls. Here are some of the pictures.



My key opened room number two, the only room here on the second level of this hut. Tristan, Debora, Danni, and Kayla were in the room underneath us.

This is the room I shared with Sioned and Maria. Forgive the mess; I snapped this photo while we were in the packing-up process. Two fans provided adequate ventilation during the hot nights. We were thankful the door shut tightly, keeping out those winged bloodsuckers known as mosquitoes.



 It was small, but we didn't spend much time in it anyway. Sioned and Maria shared this double bed and I got the twin bed to the right of the other picture.



The ceiling was quite high, which helped with the heat as well. As you can see on these three pictures, the walls aren't exactly airtight. But in a place where it rarely gets below 60 F, who cares?



Looking up our staircase. Not advisable to climb with wet feet or with a heavy load.



The view straight in from the main gate. To the left (invisible on the picture) is the kitchen area. Straight ahead is the bike parking lot (duh) and the cabin Jasmin was staying in.



I stood in the same place just inside the gate to take this picture, looking to the right. (See the fence to the right? It separated us from the highway.) The hut visible on the left is the one I was staying in. Debora (blue tank top, green shorts) is standing outside her room on the ground level.

This gives a little better perspective of our cabin. It was by no means large!

I walked over to the spot Debora had just left, and took a picture looking towards the bathrooms. I caught Debora brushing her teeth :D



This shows a couple of the other buildings, but it also gives you an idea of how much vegetation was everywhere. Roots and branches and leaves and plants and flowers were everywhere. It was beautiful, though!

Ah yes, here is the bathroom building. The two sinks in the front served for washing hands and brushing teeth. Inside, five stalls on the left had toilets and five on the right had showers. Toilets and showers were closed off by curtains, which did not always stay in place as they were supposed to. We had fifteen girls and five boys staying here and it was...interesting.

We were served breakfast between 8 and 10 each morning. Saturday we started with coffee and tea, and then either Daniel or Joaquin brought out some delicious fruit smoothies. Next was a plate of fresh fruit, adorned with a bougainvillea blossom. Once we finished that, he brought out the main course: a delicious egg, cheese, and vegetable quesadilla with a delicious salsa to dip it in. The salsa was different and probably better than any I have yet tasted; it was like a mixture of guacamole (because it had avocado), pico de gallo (because there was a lot of cilantro), and salsa (because the rest of it was like normal salsa). Definitely a good start to my day. Sunday morning we had another type of fruit smoothie (even more delicious than the first day, if that is possible) and a plate of pancakes with a mango sauce spread over them instead of syrup or butter. They were almost as good as Mom's pancakes, and I love having fruit instead of syrup.

All in all, I have to say the good outweighed the bad in this little hostel. We all gave Chelo a hug as we left. She is such a sweet lady, and she took such good care of us!

In my next post check out sunrise on the beach! Oh yes, and the Tulum archaeological site :) It is my goal to upload the pictures tonight, but the story might have to wait until Saturday. We leave for the airport in 38 hours (hey, the countdown was NOT my idea!) In that time, I need to pack, eat, sleep, finish homework, take two final exams, go to the chocolate store downtown, and have a farewell party. Sorry if I don't get around to my blog :P We have a total of 8 hours of layover time Saturday, so I will try to catch up on my blog then. Looking forward to being home with my family for Sunday!

Chichén Itzá

Yes, we went to the wonderful Chichén Itzá so famous in this part of Mexico. Chichén (as some locals fondly say) was the first stop on our weekend away. We had breakfast at 6:30 Friday morning (June 13) here at the Central House and then loaded up the vans and left. Nelson and Jorge were our drivers for this trip. We arrived at Chichén Itzá shortly before 9 am. Our goal was to beat the crowds and the heat of the day.

Nelson, one of the drivers, led us on an hour-long tour of the archaeological sites, and then we were free until noon to explore on our own or shop the dozens of vendors lining the pathways.

Our first stop was the big ball court. This is similar to the ball court we saw in Uxmal, and the same ball game was played here with the same gory beheading of the winning team's captain.
This ball court is the biggest yet discovered in the Yucatan Peninsula. It is over 400 feet long. The acoustics are so good here that a person speaking in a normal tone of voice at one end can clearly be heard at the other end.
We took a group photo here, but I haven't managed to get a copy yet.

A glimpse of Chichén Itzá's largest building, El Castillo (The Castle), from behind a wall.

El Castillo viewed from the north

This was my first glimpse of the sacrificial cenote, located about a five-minute walk north of El Castillo

I walked over to the side so I could see down into the water better. It is rare to find an open cenote like this, unless you are close to the coastline.

Women and children were thrown into this cenote as sacrifices to the rain god. It is quite a drop to the water, even more than it appears in this picture. Because they were thrown in wearing all their ornamental clothes and jewelry, they inevitably drowned.

Our tour guide, Nelson, is leaning over the fence explaining the process to us. Regan and Sioned (left) are listening closely, but Amii and Stephanie (right) apparently have other things on their minds.

Before being thrown into the cenote, the victims had a purifying steam bath in this stone hut at the edge of the cliff.

A view from another angle. We stayed here talking for quite a while, so I was snapping pictures out of boredom. You know, when the tour guide IS giving useful information but your mind wanders anyway.

Although the picture does not do it justice, the Temple of the Warriors is quite the impressive structure. The number of pillars in front sometimes gives it the name Group of the Thousand Columns.

There are buildings ender the very ground we were walking on, as this partial excavation shows.

What? I like them, ok? And there are three on this picture! How cool is that?

The view from the east.

This is the Observatory. Its Spanish name, El Caracol, means the snail. It was named that for a spiral staircase inside. From the locations of observation points inside and outside, we know that the Mayans watched the autumn and spring equinoxes as well as the summer solstice. They also watched the stars and planets closely.

We ended our tour here. There were some other buildings. It was interesting to see the difference in architectural styles, as this area was developed during a different time period.

Alright, if you think I am crazy about the iguanas, you need to meet Alex. He spent a full three minutes chasing this guy around before settling in to have this fascinating conversation with him.

Jasmin, Kayla, and I went off the beaten path and found another group of ruined buildings.

When we finished exploring, we spent some time looking through the vendor stands. Every morning, dozens of locals roll in their goods on carts and set up their stands for the day. They charge outrageous prices for cheesy trinkets and try to draw in any tourist they can with phrases like "cheaper than Walmart" and "only ten pesos-one dollar!" (We liked stands like that, because most of us only had pesos, and the current exchange rate is $12.2 pesos = $1 USD.) My favorite was when one of them used a whistle-type thingy to make the jaguar call: a harsh, grating sound. Then he called out to us as we were passing by, "Get it for your ex-boyfriend!" It was toooooo funny!

 

 Some of them claimed they gave us better prices because we spoke Spanish, but I am not convinced. In any case, we had fun bargaining when we found things we couldn't live without. Thankfully the pathways were mostly shaded, so the heat was kept to a minimum. We were glad to leave at noon, because the crowds were steadily getting thicker.

 

We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant that served buffet-style. The best dish was the breaded fish; the coating was seasoned perfectly. There were also salads, vegetables, rice, beans, chicken, pork, and desserts including fresh fruit, bread pudding, and Jello. 

 

 I need to interrupt myself for a moment here to talk about the importance of football--soccer, as we know it--here in Mexico. Since we arrived, the World Cup has been the hottest topic. Teams from all over the world are gathering in Brazil for this month-long tournament that only happens every four years. Well, from our table we had the perfect view of the TV, which was showing the final twenty minutes of Mexico's first game in the World Cup. The score was 0-0, until Mexico scored a goal near the end of the game. The whole restaurant let out a cheer, but I am pretty sure our table made the most noise. Just saying, we are twenty students, and we can raise a pretty good shout if we want to. We were finished eating, but we waited the extra five minutes until time ran out and Mexico officially won 1-0. By then the restaurant was filling up with other tourists, and I don't think some of them appreciated the amount of noise we made as we headed for the door. Judging from the looks on the faces and the amount of muttering, you know.

 

Eric and Sioned are our soccer fanatics here in the house, and they keep us updated on what is going on. On Monday, the US won their first match 2-1 against Ghana, for any of you who care. Tuesday Mexico played against Brazil, and neither team scored. When Jasmin and I went out for supper with our language partners Tuesday night, they were horrified to hear that we hadn't watched the game. Their employers had given them the afternoon off so they could watch, along with probably every other citizen in Mexico. So the World Cup is definitely a hot topic here. We even had lunch a half hour early Tuesday because the game started at 1:00, our usual lunch time.

 

Anyway, back to our weekend away. After lunch, we got back into the vans and headed towards Tulum. We stopped partway there at another cenote to swim for an hour. This cenote was much deeper, but a platform was built across one end so we had a place to stand knee-deep in water. The steep wooden spiral staircase had two jumps built in, which proved to be the highlight. We filled the small area with shrieks as we jumped from horrible heights into the clear, cool water. Some people needed a little encouragement before jumping, and we were happy to provide that as well. It doesn't look scary from the bottom! I didn't go off the high jump; the other one was quite high enough for me. Regan has a video of me jumping--think screams all the way down...

 

After I got my fill of watching others jump, I put on my life jacket and floated around the cenote for a while. I could have swam it on a normal day, but I was already exhausted and I didn't want to run out of gas on the far side. It was so peaceful floating around staring up at the ceiling. I had to use a lot of will power to keep from thinking about the fish in the water. Of all the things to fear about swimming, fish have to be the worst. I will wade through seaweed, jump off a high jump, and swim underwater, but when I heard there were fish in the cenote, I almost got out of the water. Even sharks don't scare me as much as little fish (come on, think probability here--what are the chances of me seeing a shark?) But I paddled around the circumference of the cenote without being touched by a fish, much to my relief.

 

 

I didn't take my camera into this cenote, but Regan shared this picture taken from the stairway. This is the left third of the cenote: we jumped into the right third, and the other third was open to swimming/snorkeling. Once again, the water was perfectly clear. I couldn't get my fill of just gazing at the beauty around me!

After leaving the cenote, we drove for another hour before arriving at the hostel that would become home for the next few days. Check it out in my next post!

Do you love iguanas or hate swimming with fish? Leave a comment to stick up for me! :D 

Animaya

Tuesday, June 10, our class excursion was to one of the two zoos in Mérida. Animaya, which is the name of the zoo, is quite small but very interesting. I took over 120 pictures (because I love the zoo), but I am only going to post my very favorites here.

Animaya is special because you can get very close to the animals. After walking around the zoo (it took about an hour), we "went on safari." We piled into a jeep--all 11 of us--and rode through the enclosures. We were close enough to touch a giraffe! Of course we had to keep our hands inside, but he was right next to us! I love giraffes! Then there were zebras and deer and llamas and peacocks and emus (SO ugly) and ostriches and ducks with BABIES and swans and flamingoes and...iguanas. There are always iguanas. There were also lions, but they were in their own cage. We didn't go on safari through there. Not really sure why :)

Anyway, here are my favorite pictures/moments.

There were three lions: Papa, Mama, and Junior. Mama is posing here for us. When we didn't get tired of her and leave, she stood up and paced back and forth along the fence for a moment, then reared against the fence as is she were trying to climb or jump out.  I had already put my camera away, so I missed the moment.

These llamas were in the center enclosure, which is lower than the rest of the zoo. Can't you just see what this one is thinking? "More people with their stupid cameras. What are you guys looking at, anyway? Can't we ever have a minute of peace and privacy?"

We stopped by the deer and had an interesting conversation with our teachers. Deer are endangered here in the Yucatan, so they were quite entertained to hear that we have a special hunting season for them and that they often run out in front of vehicles on the roads.

The babies were so cute! This one was sitting partly in the shade of a rock (as you can probably tell), and our first reaction was, Where are your parents?!? They were nearby, but we didn't see them immediately because they blended in so well among the rocks and plants.

This one was looking at us at first, but then he hid his face behind these leaves.

This is a shot of part of the zoo. The tall tower was an observation tower looking out over the zoo.

We climbed the tower after we finished the walking tour. That is, we took the elevator to the top. The air conditioning was not working that day, so the thirty second ride seemed a lot longer! About two thirds of the zoo is visible in this picture. Mérida is in the background.



This is the other third of the zoo, just to the right of the last picture. The lake in the center is home to water fowl and fish, and the "safari area" is around that. There are a few more cages/enclosures and that is all there is to it! Very small zoo, but oh so worth the time! At least for this zoo lover.



This guy decided to run up the cement wall (can you see it below him? It was very steep, but he climbed it without a problem.) to greet us. He strutted his stuff for a while, then left again.

Giraffes, zebras, deer...I still think my favorite picture is of these ducklings. What is it about baby animals? Or baby people for that matter :P They just always bring smiles, don't they?

Ok, this is how close we were to the giraffe! The other one walked in front of us and started going to the bathroom, so we were thankful this one didn't follow suit! We would have been splattered!

I figured it would be worth getting thrown out of the zoo to go over and hug these zebras, but luckily I was stuck in the middle of the seat between Jasmin and Debora.

This baby some-type-of-cow-or-buffalo was lying next to his parents. He had the sweetest face!

Not the most flattering picture of an ostrich, but I was amused.

This post wouldn't be complete without an iguana picture. Isn't he huge? And yes, I will agree that this one is ugly.

Every time I go to a zoo, I wish I could take my nieces and little sisters! Animals are so fun. Even we big girls had fun. And we got back too late to have any class work time, so it was a win-win situation, right? In defense of the educational value of the trip, we did learn a lot of Spanish animal names. And the twenty minute safari tour was given in Spanish. And our teachers always talk to us in Spanish, although they both speak English very well. All in all, it was a fun AND educational trip! And if you want to see more pictures, I have about 105 more on my computer!

 

Hacienda and Cenote

We started our morning Saturday (June 7) with a visit to a local Mayan healer, don Felipe. He showed us several of the plants and leaves he uses in his herbal concoctions. He assured us that they really do work! He must have noticed our skepticism, because he added that a certain amount of faith in the healing powers of the plants is also necessary to get the best results. He was a spunky little man! He told us 86, but he looked like he was 65 or 70. Maybe there is some good in his healing remedies...

We took this group picture in his back yard. It had just rained, and the red clay stuck to everyone's shoes.

After leaving don Felipe's home, we drove to an old henequen hacienda and spent some time walking around and learning a little bit about the haciendas. This particular one, called Hacienda Yaxcopoil, dates back to the 17th century but was in use as recently as 1984. Henequen or sisal is a plant whose fibers are extracted, dried, and woven into rope.

 

The haciendas were very similar to the plantations of the American South in that they were largely self-sufficient. They had their own church, store, and other services. It is denied that slavery was practiced, because all the workers were paid in cash for their labor. However, each hacienda printed its own money, which was of course not accepted anywhere else. The goods in the store (think company store) were outrageously expensive. For these reasons, most of the workers did not have the option of leaving.

 

Hacienda Yaxcopoil is neither the biggest nor the grandest in the Yucatan, but it is big and it is impressive. It is one of the few that are preserved in original condition. Many have been restored or turned into hotels and restaurants.

 

Arturo gave us a tour of the hacienda, explaining life and work as it used to be. It looks like the owners left one day and never came back. The original furniture is mostly still there, and it is easy to imagine it in use.

 

The most interesting fact I learned while touring this hacienda was that the owners did not live there. There was only one bedroom (umm, that would be hammockroom) and one bathroom. Almost without exception, the hacienda owners lived in Merida in their mansions on the Paseo de Montejo (remember the pictures from the Turibus ride?). They only visited to take care of business. They rarely even spent the night. Although there was a kitchen in the hacienda main building, it was never used to cook food. The servants cooked outside in the summer kitchen and served the food in the dining rooms. Why did they build the kitchen? Arturo said basically because the architecture of that time was European-influenced, and houses in Europe always had kitchens. Once we knew that, it made sense why most of the rooms seemed to be sitting rooms, offices, or dining rooms.

 

 

This is the view of the main house as we walked up from the parking lot.

 

There were a lot of sitting rooms in the hacienda. On many of the chairs they put a piece of tape over the seat to prevent use by visitors.

Another sitting area



This covered porch was on the back of the main building. Papel picado (cut paper) is hanging from the ceiling as decoration. It is NOT laundry, towels, or diapers hanging to dry :)

A shelf of old books in the library.

The old roll-top desk in the library.

The patio behind the main building.

There were also several china cabinets filled with dishes.



One of the two fancy dining rooms in the hacienda.

An old buffet in the dining room.



Another china cabinet



Another sitting area, but this one seemed less formal.

Arturo giving the grand tour :)

The ceilings were very high, which I imagine helped with the heat.

One view of the patio. Not sure of the purpose of the little pond in the middle: it was only a foot deep.

An outdoor sitting area overlooking the yard

This was a swimming pool! There were also showers and changing rooms. Remember the hacienda owners did not even live here. This swimming pool would have only been used a few days out of the year. I didn't see a fancy drain or filtration system: imagine the work involved in keeping it clean!

This is one of the machines in the shed, used to extract the fibers from the sisal leaves.

Walking from the main house towards the machine room, or the workroom.

A wheel housing for the giant wheel that mashed the leaves to rid them of the pulp and the juice.

 

Another view of the main house from under the enormous tree in the front yard. The machine room is behind and to the right of the big house, almost visible on this picture.

The plant responsible for it all! This young sisal/henequen plant is one of several planted around the perimeter of the yards.

After the hacienda tour, we were all hot and sweaty. Good thing the final stop for the day was at the cenote! We were all excited for our first cenote. For anyone who hasn't heard of cenotes, they are unique to the Yucatan Peninsula. It is so flat that there is no above-ground water. All the water flows under the surface. In many places, there are small openings to these underground rivers. Some have been developed for tourism with stairways, lights, and admission fees. Others are completely untouched. This one had a stairway, but no lights.

 

Approaching the opening to the cenote.

Going down the steep, slippery stairway.

I stopped halfway down to take this beautiful picture. The water is perfectly clear. The front half of the cenote is shallow and well-lit, and the back half is much deeper and darker.

The rocks to the left offered a place to wade into the water, and a small cement pad and wall barely visible to the left was a place to lay our things while we played in the water.

It really is just like being in a cave with stalactites, other weird rock formations, and yes, the occasional bat.



Most of the group posing around a big rock near the stairway.

Towards the back, some of the kids were diving off the rocks and watching the fish.

I was the official photographer for the group, and went from camera to camera snapping pictures. I put my feet into the water, but wasn't allowed to swim. It was part of the agreement I had made with Val to be allowed to come on the trip: I had just been diagnosed with mono and she was worried about the germs in the water and about me being too tired to swim. (I was too tired to even care, although I could see that everyone was having a good time).

After an hour of splashing around, we reluctantly climbed back into the brightness of the summer afternoon. We unanimously decided that we need to visit more cenotes!