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| Isla Roatan - Beach Day! |
First, Carnival recap. This is our second Carnival cruise and I must say that I can’t rate it very highly. My sense is that those cruises that leave from Gulf ports are geared at the lower demographic cruise customer and it shows. I would rate the service quite good at an 8. Other areas were sorely lacking. We could not seem to ever arrive at a port on time shortening our time ashore. To a type “A” like me, this is an unforgivable sin. The condition of the ship was poor. It was clear that maintenance was lacking…..it’s almost as if the ship’s crew were tired and uninspired to clean up their house. We took two excursions which were not bad (but overpriced). My brother in law, Ken, will tell you that service quality differs greatly within all of the big three cruise lines and Carnival is no different. The cruise we took earlier this year to Hawaii aboard the Spirit was far better. Read Trip Advisor or Cruise Critic before selecting a ship.
Belize was our first stop. Not much to tell…..Pat and I had nothing planned for the day and wanted to walk around town (such as it is). That didn’t really work out. Belize City is a very poor place and “creative panhandling” is the profession. Not much to do here unless you take an excursion out of town or head to the reefs for diving or snorkeling. Pat and I spent most of the day relaxing and working through a couple of books.
Isla Roatan – Mahogany Bay.
Big difference here. The facilities and beaches are absolutely gorgeous with white sands and friendly people. Understand that you will still get approached by locals selling cigars, massages and other equally diverse products under the same umbrella (take from that what you will). We took an excursion to a local Zip line park and beach. As I may have said before, Pat has had a desire to do this for quite a while and she jumped (literally and figuratively) at the opportunity. The guides were skillful and Pat got the hang of it quickly. No surprise to those that know her, but Pat liked the speed and “came in hot” to several of the stops along the way. It was exhilarating and another activity crossed off the bucket list this year! We then took a short ride to Tabayana beach where we hung out for a couple of hours and enjoyed perfect beach weather in late December. Great day and would highly recommend this as a stop.
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| Pat getting hooked up and ready to sail down the line. She really enjoyed this! |
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| There she goes....with perfect form! |
Cozumel – Playa Del Carmen.
The next two stops of which this was the first were in the Yucatan Peninsula. Part of Mexico, the Yucatan is a couple of states of the “United Mexican States.” Our guide was careful to make a couple of points about this to us Gringos. Calling someone a Mexican is essentially saying that they are from Mexico City. By that logic, calling someone an American would imply that we are from Washington DC, not from America. What I took from this was, like we learned in Spain earlier this year, Mexican citizens are more defined (or prefer it that way) by their region or ethnicity than by their conquerors. The Yucatan was settled by the Mayans. Archaeologists generally feel that this civilization began in Guatemala and extended up through Caribbean Mexico. Mayans date back to 3500 years BCE and remained the dominant culture until about 1400 AD. The Aztecs did not come to power until about 100 years later who were eventually conquered by the Spanish. Mayans were skilled mathematicians who were probably best known for their more accurate calendar.
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| Coba - Tallest Mayan Pyramid. Doesn't look like much but it's very steep |
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| I start my climb up the Pyramid. Not difficult climbing but coming down is tricky....notice the rope to the left. |
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| Pat sitting this one out. Forgot to mention that it was a 30 minute hike just to get to the site |
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| Mayan Observatory |
So here’s the short explanation (forgive any inaccuracies due to brevity ). The Mayans developed their calendar from exacting observation of the sun and planets rotation and earth’s position relative to all. The Mayan calendar consisted of 18 months of 20 days (4 weeks of 5 days each) and one “holy week” of 5 days each year. Quick math tells you this is exactly 365 days. Buildings in Mayan Cities allowed the ancient astronomers to observe the sun through the annual phases. This calendar is much more accurate than the Roman calendar we use today. On the Mayan calendar, we are in year 5124! That’s right, the Mayan’s had an accurate calendar over three thousand years before Christ and recognized the rotation of the earth around the sun over 4,000 years before Galileo was born ( or put under house arrest for blasphemy).
Pat just kicked me….enough trivia. Our excursion during our visit was to the ancient city of Coba which is about 90 minutes by bus from Playa Del Carmen. There are better known ruins like Tulum and Chichen nitza but Coba is considered the “library” of the Mayans and was where the first Mayan calendar was unearthed. It is also the site of the tallest Mayan Pyramid. We had a terrific guide named Angel (contact information at the end) who gave us some great background on the Mayans. Angel, who is half Mayan, is clearly passionate on the subject….he lectured much of the time we were on the bus. Not sure that Pat and I could take it all in. We highly recommend Angel should you visit the area. Angel has a degree in Mayan archaeology and is very entertaining as well.
Progresso – Merida
Pat and I did not have any formal excursions planned for the day….we wanted to improvise. Progresso is a sleepy port town that primarily was a terminus for petroleum shippers. An effort was made to extend the current wharf. Consequently, Cruise ships started coming here about 10 years ago. What makes it attractive is its close proximity to Merida. Once we got off the ship (on time for a change) we took the shuttle into Progresso and booked a bus tour of Merida. Merida is considered the capital of the Yucatan and has a population of about 1MM people. It’s a favorite of Americans. As Yucatan resort areas developed during the 70’s, it was recognized that insular American tourists would feel more comfortable with spoken English. Merida became the center of this effort. Many Mexican citizens have learned English here and Merida continues to be a favorite for American expatriates. Driving through town, you can see why. It is beautiful! Much of the older architecture has been preserved. Like many other cities, Merida is built on the foundation of the previous regime’s (Mayan) city and has been here since the 1500’s.
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| Merida - Cathedral on Central Square |
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| Monument to the Mayan culture in Merida |
Another point that our guides were quick to make was the difference between the Yucatan and the rest of Mexico. That is with the current war with the Cartels. Federales (soldiers) were everywhere. The Mayan’s take understandable pride in the low crime environment. We saw this as well. We always felt comfortable walking down side streets and felt that everyone was very friendly.
Anyway, I sit here on New Year ’s Eve. I’m on deck, the rednecks are deep into their second buckets of beer. The band is playing some Bob Marley (not too bad by the way….). I forgot to mention the last thing..
The Mayan’s believed in the cycle of life as it pertains to all things. Birth and Death, life cycle of crops, the changes of season are all described by their observation of the earth’s rotation around the sun. The Mayan’s did not believe the world will end (although Hollywood would have you believe otherwise) when their calendar ends….only that this particularly long cycle will end and the next one begins. Who knows what that means? It’s an interesting metaphor for all of us.
Goodbye for now!
Pat and Chris
