We're baaackkk....

We got home at 11 PM last night. Both of us feel pretty exhausted today, and man is COLD HERE!!!

This isn't my final post, but I'll start some wrapping up comments. The Yucatan is wonderful. It's beautiful, full of ancient ruins and great museums that reflect on the history and art of the
region. I highly recommend it!

The people are relaxed and very friendly - you don't get the tense feeling that is present in other, also fascinating parts of Mexico. The feeling on the streets reminded us more of mellow, relaxing Costa Rica. This is something of a mystery. The region does have a tumultuous history'
There were many conflicts between the Mayas and the Spanish in the 1500s and on. There were also conflicts between the Maya and Mexicans with strong Spanish backgrounds after Mexico became independant. Tension raged in the early 20th century as well. We are not sure of what happened between that period and present times, except that there was a very disruptive hurricane 20 uears ago.

There is poverty, to be sure, especially in Merida where you do see lots of beggars. There are some in the other communities, but they seem more affluent somehow. I am not sure of what the economic base is in those towns. And Merida is also pretty calm. You aren't hit in the face by po;itical conflicts the way you are in other parts of Mexico. We do wonder if the Zapatista upreasing, which was based in nearby Chiapas state about 16 years ago had any impact here. There are no signs of it now.

So - a mystery, and a pretty mellow couple of weeks on the whole. If I find out anything about this issue, I will post.

For now, I am going to make a big pot of soup, and we can kick back for the evening.
Have a great weekend, and I will post a few more pix fairly soon.

Cancun is an unusual town...

Cancun is quite unusual for Mexico. From what we have heard and read, it was built as a tourist haven 40 years ago. They tore out mangrove forests to build it. It was also seriously damaged by a hurricane 20 years ago - the same storm impacted the rest of the Yucatan as well. So it has a really new feel to it. It lacks the sense of history of the other cities we stayed in, which date from the 1500s.

There are lots of night clubs, shopping centers and fancy restaurants - and we are downtown, not in the Hotel District.Many houses are self enclosedand seperate, and not the block long structures divided into individual homes that you see in most towns. Most internet places have private booths for customers... come to your own conclusions there.

There are also beautiful parks. One had a kid climbing structure shaped like a Mayan pyramid.
It also had play structures shaped like huge mushrooms. Someone is quite creative with their design!

We ate at a wonderful veggie restaurant.Kates meal was tofu enchiladas. I had fajitas with nopales (cactus). Both were very fine. I love nopales, sometime I will cook you my huevos con nopales (eggs and cactus.) They also had beer mixed with fresh fruit juices - unusual and very refreshing in this heat.

So... we board the plane for San Francisco tomorrow. BOO HOO!!! We will get home very late tomorrow night, so watch for more comments on Friday. I also plan to post some pictures soon.

¡Buenos noches!

sad to leave

At first Isle Mujeres seemed commercial, crowded and unoleasant. We`ve discovered that it has its own charm and beauty, though you have to dig through the tourist trap scene to find it. Island cnaracters abound. And there is a lot of wonder in unexpected places. It will be sad to leave.

But today we went snorkling. It was unbelievable - I still close my eyes almost three hours after the adventure ended and see blue, yellow, white and striped fish, to name a few swimming past my face. I´ve read that fish do have calls, but I think they are at a lower frequency than humans can hear. To me, the silence was uncanny. It has been strange to readjust to walking. I keep feeling like I will have so swim to my next destination. it is really weird to be sitting in a chair without drifting away!

And what do these beautiful little creatures think about the strange primates with duck feet (flippers) splashing around in their world? it would make a good story if there were fish tour companies that brought them to watch our anctics. The sky matters little here; what are the stars when you can´t see them? The ocean is where life on earth started out; it is a surreal kind of homecoming to return here!

We take the ferry back to Cancun tomorrow. We fly out of there on Friday, Neither of us is ready to stop rambling; watch this space and I´ll lt you know when there will be further adventures. I will post from home in Oakland on Friday if not before.

Snorkeling

Today we had a snorkeling adventure, visiting some coral reefs. Here's PG ready to dive in.

This place is a collage

So many different sides to Isla Mujeres. On one hand, it is the kind of tourist area that has bars with names like "Margaritaville 2", "The Soggy Peso" and "Hemingway´s¨ (I am not sure if old Papa H. spent time here, but ok.) Some of this is clever. One bar had swings at the bar and advertised itself, ¨Come Swing With us.¨ But on the whole the congestion and commercialism are hard to take.

We found other sides to the island today. There is a facility that rescues sea turtles. They have babies, young adults and adults in different tanks. They do release turtles, and I am guessing they release the adults they have here, There was no one to answer detailed questions; I will give them the benefit of the doubt. The turtles are really beautiful and fascinating.

We also did a long walk around the Island. We wandered through a pleasant Mexican village away from the tourist section and found freshwater lakes where we saw a number of interesting birds. We also wandered back to our hostel on the side of the Island that faces the open ocean and not the mainland; it is quite picturesque and must less congested than the other side. At one point we were surrounded by kids, who I guess were around 7 - 9, They wanted to sell us some of their artwork that is made from seashells. They were thrilled when we bought a piece and danced around. These were not poor kids. I am guessing they are at the end of their winter break and a parent suggested they do this as fun project.

We swam in the Carribean before dinner, a very refreashing swim. We ate at a place called
Pita Amore, where we had a very unique dish served on a pita. The chef and his friend were really Island characters. They got involved in a discussion about Frank Sinatra{s musical style. We get the feeling that there are lots of unique individuals who spend time on this island.

I hope all is well in Los Estados Unidos. More posts to come.

Isle Mujeres

We took the ferry from Cancun and arrived here around 3:30. The Carribean is beautiful here; it is turquoise and very clear. It is great to be in a place with cool wind and clean ocean air right now!
We have not had much time to explore so far. The town is more developed and touristy than we expected. We will check out some outlying places tomorrow and Wednesday. Yes, there are lots of magnificent frigate birds!

UNBELIEVABLE!

Today was a peak travel experience. We visited another estuary, on Ria Celestun. We connected with a wonderful project called Manglares de Dzinitun. This is a collective of eleven local people who are working to preserve the mangroves and the estuary. I do need to do more research on the history and goals of this project, but they are really impassioned and are doing a fantastic job.

We visited the project and one of the men who works here took us on a canoe ride. We started exploring a tributary of >Ria Celestun. Mangroves were unbelievably thick, and at one point we passed through an 800 meter long [tunnel[ of mangroves. It was fantastic, so silent and cool. These trees are especially adapted to living in salty estuaries. One species thrives here, another has roots that filter the salt out. Many of the roots actually grow from the branches and descend to the water. The trees are lovely, some look like they are standing on pillars.

We made our way to Ria Celestun, where we saw osperys, magnificent frigate birds, egrets and many more birds. We also walked on a boardwalk through the forest. We found an armadillo burrow, and saw some manta rays swimming under the boardwalk. They bury themselves in the mud when they feel threatened, it was amazing to see how fast they did this.

There{s more, but I have to organize it. There may just be an article in all this.

Tomorrow, on to Isle de Mujeres. I will check in from there when we find a computer. Again,
!Prospero año nuevo!