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.