On Saturday, I went to Progreso with Yves, a guy who works at TNC with me. Progreso is the nearest beach town; it faces onto the Gulf of Mexico, and is fairly developed. There are restaurants all along the coast, so you can eat or order a beer as you sit there. I, for one, plan to come back with a good book to read on a future weekend! We had lunch with some friends of Yves' and their kids who were these adorable little girls. Their father was French and their mother was Mexican, so I had a rough time listening to the stories of 2-year-olds in two languages I don't know too well. The place we ate was right on the beach in these cute little straw hut areas... you can see similar construction in the photos below. I ordered ceviche (my #1 favorite raw meat dish, followed by sushi), and it was delicious. One of the great things about being in the Yucatan is how fresh all the seafood is... even California isn't as good!
The wind at Progreso was crazy fast, so instead of swimming there, we went to a cenote nearby. Cenote translates to "sinkhole" in English, but they're much more than that. The Yucatan doesn't have any rivers at all; the porous limestone that underlies the surface allows all the water to sink belowground. This means that there are extensive networks of underground river-caves, many of which are unexplored, and most of which flow out to the ocean. In some places, the ground has sunk down enough that you can go swimming in the underground caves - this is a cenote. We went to the cenote in Noc-Ac, a small Mayan town about 30 minutes drive from Merida. It was a bit awkward; in a bikini, and being white, I was DEFINITELY the odd man out and I felt very conspicuous. There were a lot of families there swimming to beat the heat, and a group of teenage boys trying to show off by diving in the water. But the cenote was very cool. I've been to one before near Playa del Carmen, but this one was very different. You can see the picture below, but the opening was just the beginning. The water was about 10 feet or so underground, and the opening led into a cave that was 70 to 80 feet wide and 20 to 30 feet long. The effect was that you were swimming in underground, with a cave over your head, and unknowable depths below you. The water was so clear that even in the shallowest part, I tried to dive down, but couldn't reach the bottom. In the far corners you could see that the underwater cave extended far below - most of the underwater caves in the Yucatan are unexplored, even today. I would not be brave enough to go scuba diving there!
Here is a link to the path we took, showing Progreso and the town of Noc-Ac. The tiny towns we drove through were very poor. It's amazing how things change as soon as you get a few miles from big cities like Merida, which are very modern and urban.
After going to the cenote, we drove to the house of my boss, Marie-Claire, who is the older sister to Yves, who has been showing me around the town. Marie-Claire has 2 young children, and it was great fun to see the kids running around playing together. Afterward, we went to a small taco stand that Yves' friends recommended; I bought sopes and tacos there for 9 pesos (that's about 9 cents!). I also got to try a delicious drink that I cannot find the name of... it was something like "machacador," but since that gives me no Google result, I don't think it's right. It was essentially a snow cone - shaved ice, but with fresh fruit of your choice, and condensed milk to make it more creamy. I ordered one in guanabana (soursap in English, not a fruit you find in the US normally), and it was super delicious.
On Sunday, I decided to explore Merida a little bit. A little history: Merida is called "the white city" because many of the buildings are painted white (stucco), and also because the streets and buildings are kept very clean. I saw a woman sweeping a dirt road, which I found hilarious until I realized that it was actually a paved road she was trying to sweep clean! One guide I read said that Merida has the lowest per capita crime rate in all of Mexico... hopefully some of you find that reassuring. Most of the buildings in Merida are of the Spanish colonial style; for many years, Merida was the rich city in the Yucatan where all the Spanish owners of haciendas had their huge palaces. The main crop was the fibers from the agave, which were used to make various things... I'm not totally sure what. However, owning the plantations for these fibers was extremely profitable, and many of the rich owners had huge mansions along Merida's main street, el Paseo Montejo. This a a beautiful street; when I drove by at night, all the trees were lit up with lights. I read in a tourist guide that there are open-air markets on weekends in the downtown area, so I set off in the afternoon on Sunday. Here's a picture of the Paseo Montejo, followe by a couple of the huge mansions along it. They all look like they're still in use, but they're in varying states of disrepair. Very cool.
Unfortunately, the afternoon on a Sunday turns out to not be the best time to visit downtown Merida; most of the shops were closed, and rightly so, as it was way too hot. After walking round for a while, I happened upon Santa Ana Park (note to Texans: I could not tell if this was a park in honor of THE Santa Ana... the only statue there was to another guy, who was a governor of the Yucatan). All over Merida are these amazing trees that are blooming now in solid orange. The locals tell me they are "flamboyens" which translates to, you guessed it, "flamboyant trees." The picture below doesn't do them justice; some of the ones I saw were solid orange flowers. I am in love with these trees... if they will grow in the US, I want some in my future yard.
Since I was unbearably hot after a 20 minute walk in the sun, I decided to stop at the first open restaurant I could find. This turned out to be an Irish pub on el Paseo Montejo. The bartenders there were super nice (I guess being a young girl in a nice dress doesn't hurt), and I was able to cool off before heading back to my apartment. I drove through downtown Merida on Saturday night and the place was bustling... many of the streets were blocked off to cars; people were eating and shopping and listening to music everywhere. I guess I need to go back in the evening, as the afternoon seems to be time for un siesta! All in all, it was a pleasant and exciting weekend. I'm sure the work week that follows will be far less exciting.
No comments:
Post a Comment