Becán, Mexico

On our last night in Mexico we stayed at a hotel in Xpujil (pronounced like ish-poo-hill) that was unfortunately surrounded by barking dogs and a rooster that started crowing at 11:30 pm and never stopped. It was not a great night's sleep for any of us, but after a yummy breakfast of juevos Mexicanos, we decided to check out one last Mayan archaeological site before returning our car in Chetumal and taking the transfer to Corozal for the flight back home to San Pedro.

We were originally going to check out the Xpujil site, and we thought we'd found the entrance, but the police had pulled some guys over right in front of it and the whole thing looked a bit sketchy, so we continued heading west another 6 km or so until we saw the sign for Becán. We followed some dirt roads just a short way off the main highway, parked in a completely empty parking lot, and paid the 96 pesos entry fee.

After a very short hike through some woods and across a bridge over the moat surrounding the site, we came to a surprisingly impressive collection of temples and dwellings. They are not as large as Tikal or Calakmul, but very well preserved and excavated. These buildings also have many features of the Rio Bec style of Mayan architecture, which we had not yet seen. All of the structures are easily recognizable as Mayan, but there were enough differences that even our novice eyes could spot them.

Standing on the bridge over the moat

Entering the site and seeing the first structures

An interesting detail on one of the temples

It's hard to imagine, but at one point the entire structure was covered with intricate carvings

We explored many rooms within the dwellings

Not all of the roofs/ceilings were intact

The boys exploring a narrow staircase

A view of a temple, from the top of a temple

Lochlan ascending the steep steps

This checkerboard pattern is particularly indicative of the Rio Bec style

Amy and the boys atop one of the temples

It's hard to get a sense of scale, but this structure is absolutely massive, the size of several city blocks

We climbed three of the structures and saw loads of parrots, at least three different species. After descending from the second structure, Amy and I saw a flash of very bright blue feathers as a bird we'd never seen before landed on the steps of a temple on the other side of the central courtyard from us. We walked quickly towards it and it flew into a tree. It was a blue-crowned motmot! These birds have truly spectacular plumage--blue primaries, light blue secondaries, a yellowish-green breast and throat, green back, a black mask topped by almost neon blue feathers, and a pair of very long tail feathers. Fortunately the bird hung around long enough for all four of us to get a really good look, and I also managed to get a couple of decent photos.

Blue-crowned motmot

After a couple of hours exploring the site, we regretfully headed back to the car--we enjoyed Becán just as much if not more than Calakmul, and there were still several really interesting looking structures to explore, but it was time for us to gas up the car and drive back to Chetumal.

We got back on the main road and pulled into a brand new Pemex and filled the tank with 300 pesos of gas. I handed the attendant my credit card (I had been spending down our pesos in anticipation of leaving the country) and he said "lo siento, sólo en efectivo"--sorry, cash only! Apparently the station is so new they did not yet have the credit card readers installed. I apologized, explained I did not have enough cash, and asked for the nearest ATM (cajero). He said it was in town, about 1 km away. I told him Amy and the boys would wait in the little store while I drove into town to get the cash.

It took some doing, but I found the ATM in a tiny little grocery store in a busy intersection in the middle of town. The ATM was only in Spanish, but as far as I could tell, I pressed all the right buttons yet did not get any cash. I tried this twice, and a line was beginning to form behind me. I was starting to panic. So I walked away from the ATM, had a bit of a think, and it occurred to me that perhaps the bank had put a hold on my debit card since I had been making withdrawals in unusual places the past couple of days. I decided to try my Belize bank card, so I got back in line. I noticed everyone in front of me was walking away from the machine with a look of either consternation or confusion, but none of them had any cash. I carefully watched the older couple in front of me work the machine, and they received the same error message I got--and no cash. Unfortunately for them, the machine also ate their card! I asked them if there was another cajero in town, and they said there was, then proceeded to have a heated argument in front of me about it's exact location. The only thing they agreed on is that I had to go to "El Palacio".

I drove off in search of El Palacio, expecting to find a bank or grocery store by that name. Instead, all I found was a technical school and city hall. I asked for directions to El Palacio, and the woman directed me back to city hall, which as it turns out, is called El Palacio. I quickly located the ATM, pulled out the pesos with no trouble, and drove back to the Pemex.

When I walked into the little store to rescue my family from the temporary hostage situation, Liam said "Dad, what took so long?!" and I busted out the sentence I'd been working on during the drive back to the gas station:  "El primero cajero no tiene dinero!"

We paid the attendant and hauled butt back to Chetumal, making it to the drop off with five minutes to spare. The border crossing went smoothly, but unfortunately one of the airlines was booked and the other only had 3 seats available for our desired departure time. Amy and I talked it over and decided to send her and the boys on the first flight and I'd wait an hour and a half for the next flight.

I waved at Amy and the boys as they sped down the runway and spent the time reading and drawing in my sketch book. When it was my turn to board the plane, the pilot put me in the co-pilot seat, which I thought was pretty cool. About 10 minutes after takeoff, he looked at me, said "Take the stick", then proceeded to let go of the controls and enter information into a log book. I stared at him in utter disbelief for a moment, he looked up from the log book, pointed out over the open water in front of us, and said "San Pedro is that way. " I took the stick AND FLEW THE PLANE for a few minutes while he finished up whatever he was doing. This experience was most definitely near the top of my list of "only in Central America" moments, and made for a memorable ending to a memorable trip.

Piece of cake

Calakmul (Mayan site), Mexico

After our time in Campeche, we headed south, retracing our route from Chetumal. We had planned on stopping at Calakmul, one of the largest sites in the Maya world, and (I believe) the largest in Mexico. Calakmul is north of Tikal, in Guatemala, and the two cities were rivals for regional dominance during the height of the Classic Maya period.

Unfortunately, we got a bit turned around in Escárcega (which I blame on a distinct lack of signage, but could possibly be due to my lack of Spanish-speaking ability) and ended up at a police checkpoint. We spent several minutes in the queue, and when we made it to the officer running the checkpoint, he told us in super-duper rapid-fire Spanish that we needed to turn on our hazard lights (which we did) then he told us to pull over to the side of the road.

Naturally, we pulled over, with our hazards obediently blinking. He walked up to us in a very imperious I AM THE LAW manner, stuck a ticket book in Amy's face (she was driving), and told us he was giving us a ticket. We asked why, and he said it was because we did not have our flashers on when we were in the queue for the checkpoint. Amy looked back at the line of cars, and pointed out that none of them had their flashers on, so why was he giving us a ticket? At that point another Federale walked up to the officer, and he fairly rapidly withdrew from our window and gestured at us to continue down the road. The next day, we learned from our Belizean driver that he was most likely looking for a bribe (!).

After surviving the checkpoint, we made a U-turn and got comprehensively lost in the middle of downtown Escárcega. I have never seen such congestion--cars, buses, bikes, pedestrians, pushcarts, people EVERYWHERE. Eventually we made it through, found the (unsigned) highway, and continued east towards Calakmul.

Unfortunately, the delays in Escárcega and the rather decrepit state of the road from the highway to the archaeological site resulted in us arriving at 3:30, much later than we anticipated. We paid our entrance fee and walked into the park. We were not given a map, but I figured "no big deal" based on my experiences at Tikal. I gave the map a cursory glance but assumed there would be adequate signage throughout the complex and we could easily find our way to the main structures (Estructura 1 and Estructura 2) we were interested in seeing. I could not have been more wrong--the signage inside the site was execrable.

Habla Español?

Making our way into the jungle, it was a LONG hike to get to the structures estructuras

Lochlan found an "air plant" along the way

Finally, we locate the first structure! Pretty cool, but definitely not Estructura 1 or Estructura 2 (the two big temples we've seen in pictures and are searching for)

In front of some of the numerous Stelae. Starting to wonder if we will find the big temples.

Really running out of time now, so we start running through the structures.

Calakmul is enormous--there are thousands of structures, and only a small percentage have been fully excavated. Aside from the one big map at the entrance, there are no other maps in the site that show the full extent of the excavated structures, and none of them show you where you are in relation to the structures you are standing next to. Also, everything is in Spanish, which is fine, except it is more difficult to extract contextual clues from an unfamiliar language, particularly if you get a word wrong.

So we got lost, and it was starting to get dark, and there were no other people in the site for us to ask. The howler monkeys started howling in the trees all around us, and it was awesome, but it definitely added to my growing sense of unease. But we did not give up, and after an additional 10 minutes or so of walking, we came through a clearing to find--ESTRUCTURA UNO! We all did a little happy dance, then we climbed to the top.

Estructura 1!

The climb to the top was very steep, and we did it very quickly

But the view was worth it! The forested lump in the middle of this shot is the backside of Estructura 2

Amy and the boys at the top

Cool carvings on a stela at the top

The boys in front of Estructura 2, one of the largest structures in the Maya world. Unfortunately we were running out of time and daylight and did not climb this one

On the hike out to the parking lot, we saw a bunch of spider monkeys up in the trees

On the drive out, we saw a lot of wildlife--deer, a gray fox, a snake, bats, and this guy, which I have yet to identify. I believe it is a roadside hawk (Buteo magnirostris)

Estructuras 1 and 2 were awesome. I really wish we'd had more than 2 hours to explore the site, and if I had it to do over again, I'd schedule an entire day for Calakmul and arrange for an experienced, English-speaking guide to give us a tour.

Campeche, Mexico

Last weekend was a school holiday, called the "Long Tropical Weekend" (which gets my vote for best holiday name ever) and we took the boys to Mexico.

We pulled them out of school a bit early to catch the 3:00 Thunderbird ferry to Corozal. We were met there by a transfer driver (sort of like a long-distance taxi) who took us through the Mexican border and to our hotel in Chetumal. The next morning we picked up our rental car from the Hotel Noor and drove west.

The Yucatan Peninsula is surprisingly large. Chetumal is in the southeastern corner of the peninsula, and Campeche is about halfway up the west coast. It took us six hours to get there! We passed many security checkpoints along the way, some staffed by Federales, others by the Policia Municipal, and still others by the military. The landscape was pretty flat just outside of Chetumal, but as we headed west, became increasingly hilly and we gained a fair bit of elevation as we neared Calakmul.

At Escárcega we turned north and arrived in Campeche just before sunset. We stayed at the Hotel Castelmar, an old military barracks that was converted to a hotel. It is such a cool place! The walls are tremendously thick, the doors are made from ornate tropical hardwoods, there is a central courtyard, and each room has a balcony. They even managed to fit a swimming pool into the building!

Our hotel

Courtyard of the hotel

Amy and Liam on our balcony

We chose Campeche as one of our destinations for this trip because of its history. Campeche was founded in 1540, and quickly grew into a prosperous sea port. Before long, this prosperity attracted the unwanted attention of PIRATES (including John Hawkins, Henry Morgan, and Edward Mansvelt). The city was attacked so frequently that in the late seventeenth century the Spanish throne consented to fund the construction of a wall surrounding the entire city.

Map of the old city and the wall

The wall is truly impressive--it includes eight bulwarks or bastions (seven of which have been preserved), is about 24 feet high, 15 feet thick, and features four gates:  the sea gate, the land gate, and two lesser gates on the remaining two sides of the irregular rectangle.

The buildings encircled by the wall have all been painstakingly restored, and walking through this portion of the city feels very much like traveling back through time. The ornate doors, iron work, and architectural details seem a bit European, but the color combinations and tropical climate make for a festive atmosphere. There were also some very interesting sculptures placed throughout the old city.

We saw many ornate doors

The boys posing with one of the cool sculptures placed throughout the city

Amy and the boys with another cool sculpture. There are faces within the hands of the bird lady.

The Cathedral was really beautiful at night

Our first evening there, we attended a "re-enactment" at the land gate. There were actors dressed in period costumes, some as Spaniards, others as pirates, Mayans, priests, dancers, and various others. We got to walk along the top of the wall and look out over the city from the gate, which was really cool. The balance of the presentation was a super-duper cheesy video (!) that was projected on the wall, and the costumed actors would (sort of) act out some of the bits that were being narrated in the movie. And of course, the whole thing was in Spanish. In fact, just about everything was only in Spanish--there don't seem to be many non-Mexican tourists in Campeche, so my advice if you are contemplating a visit is to bone up on your linguistic skills.

The Land Gate

The Land Gate from outside the walls

Cannons, cannons everywhere

Walking atop the wall

We drove south a couple of miles to visit the Fort of San Miguel. This fort was built slightly after the wall around the city, but with the same goal of protecting the inhabitants and the bustling commerce. The fort is also in remarkable shape, and we were able to explore the entire thing--across the drawbridge, down into the moat, all around the curtain wall, climbing on the cannons, you name it. There was not a barrier or a "no climbing" sign in sight, and naturally the boys took full advantage.

The inside of the fort is a (rather ironically) a Mayan museum, and we saw many very interesting artifacts. Of course, like the rest of the city, everything was in Spanish, and there were no English speaking guides, so I only kinda-sorta knew the story behind each of the artifacts. Many of the most interesting pieces came from Calakmul, a very large Mayan site in between Escárcega and Chetumal.

Obligatory cannon shot

Another cannon shot

On the drawbridge!

After we toured the fort, I bought coconut ice cream for Amy and the boys...

...from a guy on a motorcycle.

 Apparently, American tourists--particularly of the fair-skinned, blue eyed variety--are so rare in Campeche that we really stood out. In fact, one woman was so enamored of the boys that she asked Amy if she could take a picture with them and her twin girls. Of course we said yes, but I think Lochlan's expression nicely sums up our family's reaction to the request.

My boys are celebrities in Mexico

On our last day in the city, we took advantage of the numerous restaurants and had a delightful lunch where we were serenaded by two fantastic guitarists/singers. They asked what we wanted to hear, and not knowing a single Mexican song, I punted:  "Uhh...conocen los Beatles?" So naturally they played a very Mexican version of....My Way, by Frank Sinatra. It was awesome. That night at dinner, we also found some Mexican craft beer (first craft beer in six months!) and it was muy delicioso.

They played it THEIR WAY

Craft beer!

Horchata!

Overall, we were very impressed with Campeche. It was frustrating at times that we did not really understand much of what we read or heard, but that is more a reflection of our poor Spanish language abilities than a lack of information. The old portion of the city is also a bit Disney-fied, which we discovered during a nighttime sojourn outside the walls. But everyone was very friendly, and we all enjoyed the palpable history of the place and the pervasive presence of PIRATES!

Pirate

Pirate

Pirate

Ammo...in a pirate's chest

Even the hostel is named after pirates!