Wednesday, October 29, 2025
So weird! My phone goes off at 4:49 and only rings twice. But my alarm was set for 5:00 and is still set!! Whatever! I play with the photos for yesterday and we are both ready for breakfast at 7:30. We have breakfast in the hotel and it is a buffet, even though the maitre d' told Ginger it was ala carte! At any rate the buffet is quite varied with yogurt, cereal, scrambled eggs with ham, potatoes, meats, pancakes, and toast.
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| This lovely helps me remember which way to go to find the lobby! |
After breakfast we head to Edzná and start with the new museum that was built to help attract tourists to the site. Juan thinks it won't work! But it's a lovely museum and we learn a lot from him there before going to the actual site. I actually slept last night and I'm quite proud of myself for climbing everything that was available!
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| There is beauty in the parking lot before we even enter the site! |
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| Wild papaya |
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| Replica of the mask of the Small Acropolis, wearing the symbol of royalty on his head. |
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| I so need this to keep the dates straight! Juan rattles them off with such ease! |
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| This stella is so well preserved! You can see the king's headress and necklace and the slave at the bottom because you can't be a king without someone to rule! You also know he's a king because he is sitting cross-legged. |
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| Some times the drawings help if you don't have Juan to point out all the elements! |
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| Karen rescued this little guy from inside the museum but then he wouldn't let go of her! Finally she convinced him to cling to the small branch. |
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Juan says this coarse leaf is used as sandpaper to polish things.
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| Cool shelf fungi |
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| Sleeping Hibiscus (No, really! That's its name!) |
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| When you see a linear feature like this you know there is a man-made structure near by. |
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Vulture feather
There were several at the site keeping track of us! (birds, not just feathers!) |
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| These curved features are unique to Edzná! |
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| Yes, it's a nice picture of Ginger... |
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But I was up here when I took it! And this is a nice picture of part of the site, the Large Acropolis.
We're facing the five-layer pyramid that was the focal point of ceremonies. It served two functions, both residential and religious. |
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| Karen is in front of the structure that divides the two acropolises. |
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| More curves! |
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| We're all part mountain goat! |
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| And we made a buddy! |
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| Richard checking his facts with Juan. |
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Really well preserved!
Twice a year the sun will shine through this notch and line up with...
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the hole at the top of the pyramid, the edge of the stairs and the hole at the bottom.
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The sun masks are protected in here. These are about the only other tourists we saw
because Juan makes sure we come early enough to avoid them! Lots were coming in
as we were leaving and feeling smug! |
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The bark looks like it's covered with glyphs!
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| The young sun marks the east. |
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| And the old sun marks the west. |
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| The observatory |
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| part of the ambassadors yard |
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| One of the four gates |
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Water flowed downslope into a cistern holding more than 10,000 liters of water. The walls
were lined with stucco to make them waterproof. The archeologists have found artificial lakes
and canals that were used for irrigation. |
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| Sorghum is a major crop. |
From here we head to the beach! Our restaurant is part of a hotel called Tucán Siho that is on the Gulf of Mexico and although it is overcast we still sit and watch the water and sky and eat our lunch. Afterwards it has cleared up enough for us to walk on the beach and then sit outside and watch the water and the occasional birds and enjoy piña coladas until the spirit moves us to head for home. Lynette had decided to sit out today but we thought she might want to do the walking tour of the old part of Campeche; but she doesn't, so Samuel drops us off and Juan does his usual sparkling job, pointing out all the highlights before sending us home.
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| In the lobby |
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In the ceiling of the small chapel
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| Giggle! |
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| The Gulf is through those doors on the left. |
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Shrimp mignon a l'orange - we didn't know what that meant, so I ordered it! That pile of
shrimp is actually one long chain!
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| They make a hole in one shrimp and push the tail of the next one through it! |
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| Double oleander blossoms! |
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| "If you like piña coladas..." |
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This appears to be an oil-drilling platform right off the coast. We can see it from "our" beach.
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Bye-bye pretty hotel! And back to Campeche for our walking tour.
They built the wall to protect the city from pirates. Then, the city fathers wanted to beautify the city
and widen the roads so they tore down a lot of the old wall. Then they realized what they had done
and began restoring the old wall!
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The old city gate
Remains of the last pirate
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| The Franciscans established all the churches in the area. |
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| You can tell this was an old colonial home by the oversized doors and the stone doorframe. |
Last night's restaurant
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| One of the three Black Jesuses in the Yucatan |
We've got an hour before we reassemble for dinner. The restaurant usually closes at 8:00 but they are staying open for us! To speed things along Juan and Ginger take everyone's dinner orders. They've already ordered to guacamoles! Most people have ordered camarón coco but no one expected them to be as enormous as they are!! They come six to the plate with applesauce and mashed potatoes and Jan, Wynn and I can each only eat three comfortably! We wind up making a leaning tower of shrimp, as Richard called it, and sending it to the other end of the table! We think we're pretty slick, but soon Ginger comes back bringing a bowl of soup and one of the shrimp and tells us we can't leave until we finish our dinner! Much hilarity ensues!
We eventually stumble back to the van and head back to our room with instructions to appear for breakfast at 7:00 with our bags packed and in the hall way, or else in the lobby, so we can leave at 8:00. That gives me enough time to finish putting pictures in yesterday's blog and write up today's while my phone tries to remember how to sync the photos. I think I'll just let it marinate overnight and I'll go to sleep!!
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