Mexico

On the road in Mexico, Baja Peninsula

After 1 short and 2 long days of driving we are now here in a fantastic little surf camp in Pescador at the southern tip of Baja California Sur, writing emails in the darkness on the roof top terrace under the stars, listening to the cicadas singing and the dogs barking. We are ready to catch the ferry tomorrow to the mainland. Here are just a few pictures from the road.

Lunch burritos on the highway

Frida hanging out at the surf camp in Pescadero

Frida and Marco relaxing on the Pacific coast after a long day of driving

Driving through the cactus desert of the central peninsula

Different types of seafood….

Tacos, Palapas and Siestas

We sailed from La Paz on the Baja Peninsula to Topolobampo on the Mexican mainland on 10 August 2012. Seven hours of trying to find a place with a slightly cool breeze!

The sunset was beautiful as usual. In the distance we saw heavy lightning as a warning of the upcoming tropical storms we would experience on the mainland.

The first thing we did was to eat! This very ugly but tasty fish was fried and served at the roadside with tacos, fresh vegetable salsa, beans, lime and hot sauce.

Another small road side restaurant with paintings and pretty wall paper. Here we had tacos with asado (grilled beef).

Then we went to San Blas to buy to hammocks! Here the first hammock has been mounted between Frida and a palm tree and the wife has volunteered to test if it is working.

Freddie got himself a real rancho hat. Now all the girls are running after him!

Malene and Freddie taking a siesta.

Marco and Freddie checking out the girls on the beach.

Mangos, Tacos and Coco Locos

The Mexican Pacific Coast – loooooong stretches of deserted beachs, big waves from the Pacific Ocean crashing on the beach, tall palm trees swaying in the wind. Not a bad place to spend a few days!

Jackfruit – the biggest fruit in the world! Tastes like mild pineapple (and according to the lady in the fruitstand it is “good for man”!)

Mangos, mangos, mangos! This morning we ate 10 big ripe mangos for breakfast. Too much? But why not, when they were costing just a little more than 1 EUR.

Frida and her parents relaxing in the breeze from the Pacific.

View from the hammock.

Marco in his new office…

Club Defender! We met Thomas from Germany and his Landrover Defender in San Patricio.

Zipolite Beach – Dedicated to Mauri!

Thanks to Mauri we found the small and beautiful Zipolite Beach, 10 km off the main road. Now we are relaxing and enjoying the sweet beach life for a day. Cheers Mauri!!!

San Cristobal de las Casas (Chiapas Province)

Maya Ruins at Palenque

Temple of Inscriptions in the morning mist. The name of the building comes from the 617 hieroglyphs found on the inner walls. Equally important, the grave of the great Maya king Pakal (K’inich Janaab’ Pakal) was discovered inside, including an impressively decorated sarcophagus and a death mask made of jade. Pakal the Great reached the incredible age of 80 years and ruled for 68 years. He was responsible for constructing many of the great temples of Palenque.

Temple of inscriptions. Archeological work is still ongoing.

Palenque overview with the Temple of the Sun (left) and the Temple of Inscriptions (right).

Temple of the Cross.

Temple of Inscriptions.

Palenque overview with Temple of Inscriptions (left) and the palace (right).

Maya hieroglyphs.

A good Maya nose.

Maya ruins in the jungle.

“The queen’s bath” with natural pools of crystal clear water.

From the museum at Palenque.

Merida (Yucatan Province)

On the Yucatan Peninsula we saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on our trip. It was calm and lovely and the fishermen were just coming in from the sea. We had tacos with fresh seafood right there.

Then we arrived to beautiful and historical Merida, another spanish colonial town, very clean and friendly and with lots of patina.

Chichen Itza – Maya Ruins

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it contains a mix of architectural styles, which indicates that it also had a culturally diverse population.

El Castillo or the Temple of Kukulkan (a feathered serpent deity). The temple was built upon an earlier, smaller temple and inside was found a red jaguar throne with inlaid jade.

The jaguar throne in one of the Temples of the Jaguar at the Great Ball Court (see below).

The Great Ball Court – the largest and best preserved ancient ball court in Mesoamerica. The walls are 8 m high and almost 100 m long. The Mesoamerican Ballgame was played here – and the game had some important ritual aspects including human sacrifice which has been documented on the wall panels.

The ring through which the plaoyers had to throw the ball (is also visible just above Marco’s head in the picture above).

Here one of the less fortunate players had his head choppped off and the blood is seen gushing out like snakes from his neck.

The Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars shows wall panels with eagles and jaguars eating human hearts…. Or as we heard one of the guides explaining, they are eating avocados!!!

More hungry eagles eating avocados…

Wall panels on the Skull Platform.

One of the holy cenotes, natural sinkholes, where the Maya would make sacrifices during periods of drought. Also human sacrifices.

The Temple of Ossario with serpents flanking the staircase.

The Temple of the Warriers with a small part of the Group of a Thousand Columns in the foreground. It is believed that the Maya were collecting rain water in an extensive roof system carried by the columns.