April 3-April 9: Mérida
I have to say that despite the incredible amounts of fun I had during my 2 week Semana Santa vacation, it was an exhausting one and I’m glad to be back here in Queretaro reminiscing about all I’ve seen and done. I’ve decided that since I went non-stop for two weeks, I will break up what would be an enormous entry into a few smaller ones over the next few days so I don’t overwhelm you guys or myself.
At the crack of dawn on Thursday April 3rd, I began my two week adventure in Southern Mexico. By the end of that evening, I found myself in beautiful (but HUMID) Merida with one of my best friends, Michael, who visited me from the United States. Merida, if you did not already know, is located in the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula. Without a doubt, I can say that the Yucatan is my favorite place in Mexico for many reasons. For one, the people Mike and I encountered were so welcoming and warm…in fact, the Yucatan proved to me that the term “southern hospitality” does not exclusively apply to the Southern USA. On more than one occasion, we would encounter a full-blooded Maya (or at least 80% blooded Maya) who would sell us their artisan crafts half off. One (I forget his name…we’ll call him Ramon) even went into an in-depth, one hour explanation of the varying qualities of hammocks sold in the Yucatan and how to identify shoddy craftsmanship. He let us try out various sizes and qualities of hammocks to compare and contrast, though he didn’t tell us the proper way to get out of hammock without falling on your face until after we had tried out 3 or 4 hammocks. “I like to see the Americans struggle,” he told us with a mischievous smirk.
Our first day in Merida, Michael and I decided to take it easy and explore the city for the day. Unfortunately, the 90 degree weather with nearly 100% humidity put a damper on our expedition because no sooner had we stepped out of the air conditioned hotel did we start sweating profusely. All I have to say is that thank god our hotel offered a cheap laundry service; otherwise the following week and a half would have been quite smelly and uncomfortable. With our little map in hand, Michael and I eventually made our way throughout the entire town, stopping at a church here and there, the cathedral, and a really cool market that had everything you could ever ask for – batteries, pirate DVDs and CDs, freshly killed chickens hanging and waiting to be roasted, corn, beans, guyaberas (traditional white, male button-up shirts), and every kind of fruit drink you could ever want.
After a few hours in the excruciating heat, we finally decided to find the nice air-conditioned Regional Anthropology Museum, which houses Maya artifacts found throughout the Yucatan at some of the most famous sites in the world (including Chichen Itza) and traces the development of the Maya culturally and economically since their beginnings. Aside from the wonderful pieces that can be found in this museum, the building itself (Palacio Canton) is historical because it was the early 20th century home of a military man and it serves as a nice backdrop to the priceless, ancient artifacts it houses. Some of the most fascinating things they had were the intricate stelas that recount the warfare of the Maya, who are normally portrayed as peaceful tribe, but it seems as though they were anything but.
The next day, we visited the oh so famous Chichen Itza, one of the most powerful prehispanic cities in the Mayan area. I was shocked at how big the archeological site is because there is so much more to see than just the main pyramid that most people can recognize.
Unfortunately, due to its new status as the 7th wonder of the world, you can no longer climb the pyramids or enter the buildings for conservation sake and that, to be honest, was a bit of a bummer after climbing the pyramids of Teotihuacan and Palenque (which I will get to in another entry). Nevertheless, walking around the site and looking at all the famous ruins I had only seen in books and postcards was unforgettable. Two of the coolest moments were walking through the biggest Ball Game court in the Mesoamerica and looking up at the Observatory and seeing the faint moon off to one side. Incredible.
The next day, Mike and I decided to go to a fishing village called Celestun, just on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, to see wild flamingos feed. Unfortunately, due to the height of the water, the flamingos weren’t there that particular day (who knew that flamingos drown frequently in water that’s too high? Not I!), but we did get to see a few beautiful herons and swim in these things called Ojos de Agua (Eyes of Water) where the salt water from the ocean mixes with the fresh water of little springs that bubble up from the ground.
I have to say, though, I was a bit nervous swimming in these because just 10 minutes before we hopped in the water with this ancient Turkish woman, our guide had nonchalantly mentioned, “and if we’re lucky today, we’ll see a crocodile! Jump in, guys, the water is great!” Thankfully, no crocodiles showed up and all my fingers and toes are in place!
If you have made it this far in the entry, congrats because I am about to describe the best thing I have done in my life. About an hour or so from Merida, there are these natural wonders called Cenotes. A cenote is essentially a waterhole found in underground caves that are either open to the air, semi-covered, or completely covered. After seeing a few pictures of these cenotes, it wasn’t even a question that we would visit and swim in underground waterholes. After an hour car drive, Mike and I arrive with our guide in this town that literally has nothing except for some horses and one shop that sells cheetos and refreshments. Shortly after arriving, we hop on this cart that’s pulled on train tracks by a horse that will take us into the middle of nowhere where these cenotes are found.
The first cenote was just incredible. As you can see, the water is as blue as a piece of turquoise and warm like a bath. All three that we swam in were actually pretty deep (anywhere between 24 and 72 feet deep), which was a bit unnerving when you can see the bottom because the water is so clear, it’s as if it’s not even there and you see these dark, ominous looking underwater caves.
I almost did not go into the second cenote because this one had a rock roof and, consequently, we had to climb down a small, well like hole on a shady ladder built in the rocks. I’ll be honest and it freaked me out quite a lot because I am afraid of heights and when you look down into the hole, it’s just dark and you can’t see the bottom even though it’s not that far to get to the man-made platform above the water.
Eventually, Mike convinced me to get over it and climb down and I am SO GLAD he did because it was entirely worth the shaky 10 minute descent on a slippery wooden ladder. Once your eyes adjust, you can see the pure blue water and long tree roots hanging from the roof and one sliver of sunlight shining through the few little holes that litter the rock roof. It was incredible.
The third and final cenote had friendly, safe looking stairs leading down to the water underground and this, by far, was the favorite cenote of everyone. Not only was it huge and had a giant root you could climb up and jump off from (the water here was about 72 feet deep all around), but you could jump off the platform into the water unlike in the other cenotes because the rock walls were sheer instead of sloping slightly. Jumping off this little wooden platform that’s about 15 feet in the air into this clear, blue water underground is probably the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. I remember thinking that the platform didn’t look as high as it was and so when I jumped and fell for an eternal 10 seconds, I thought, “oh GOD I’m still falling!” just before I hit the cool water. I didn’t want to leave, I could have stayed there all day floating contently and leaping into the water over and over.
Phew. We made it to the end of my trip in Merida. Next time, Mexico City and Chiapas. Until then, take care!
Kaitie
