North Yucatan and Merida

Western and Southern Yucatan

Tulum and the Mayan Riviera

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Related posts:

1. The family trip to Mexico, Part two: Camping with kids in the jungle.
2. Planning the family trip to Mexico, Part 3: Up the ‘Riviera Maya’
3. Mexico travel planning: Can we backpack with kids in the Yucatan over Christmas?

Don’t go with one computer Even though I was the only one on the road  working, we found one computer not enough to handle the live travel blogging.  A netbook, like the one we own, would probably have been enough.

Do store at least one credit card separately. We carry three cards when traveling.  It was a lifesaver that we had put one card (with some cash) separately in our suitcase.  When my wallet got stolen, we still had one that we could use.  In retrospect, I would have kept a spare Visa or Mastercard instead. The American Express wasn’t as useful as we hoped.

Don’t forget to phone your bank and credit cards before you leave. We did this for the Middle East, but forgot to do this for Mexico.  After the great Mexican wallet theft we had to begin taking a lot of money out of ATM’s. Bank of America got worried and shut off the ATM card. It took a few nerve-wracking hours to get it corrected and could have delayed us by three days because of bank holidays.

Do bring Starbucks Via instant on your next trip.  The Italian roast is really good, a thousand times better than Nescafe.  I’ve always felt like the giant jar of Nescafe at the breakfast table was taunting me, laughing at my helplessness and misfortune.   Now I have the last laugh.

Related posts:

1. Ten family travel tips from Mexico – part two.
2. Mexico travel plan part one: Ruins, Cenotes and Flamingos oh my!
3. The family trip to Mexico, Part two: Camping with kids in the jungle.

It’s hard to believe we have only a week left before the family departs cold, wet Washington D.C. for the Yucatan, Mexico.  You can see our planned itinerary here, but we are sure to deviate.

• Part 1: Ruins, Cenotes and Flamingos Oh My!
• Part 2 : Camping with kids in the jungle
• Part 3: The beaches of the Riviera Maya

Follow us along the trip here.  We will be posting as often as we can, but we expect intermittent internet access so it may not be daily.

Some last minute additions to our packing list that you might find useful:

• Dive lights and snorkel equipment for the girls for cenotes and lagoons.  (Christmas gifts.)
• Biodegradable sunblock.  – Many of the cenotes and lagoons demand eco-friendly sunscreen.  We hope it works!
• Ultra-powerful mosquito repellent. :  Dengue fever is a real risk in the jungle.  I get bitten severely by mosquitoes.  We will probably not use this on kids.
• High-absorbency towels. We will be our own towel service for much of the trip.  I hope these are effective and un-smelly.
• Car USB charger: We’ll need lots of power on the road and the should do the trick.
• Mexico GPS road maps:  You didn’t think we’d go without a GPS did you?  I have no idea how well this will work. Reviews are mixed…
• Mexican Spanish Phrasebook. Donde esta el Bano.

And of course we have holiday preparations, including figuring out how Santa will visit our house while we are away.

See you on the road.

-David

Related posts:

1. The family trip to Mexico, Part two: Camping with kids in the jungle.
2. Tinkerhell’s Best and Worst of Mexico, Numero Dos
3. The family adventure in the Yucatan, Mexico: The trip review and itinerary

Chetumal has few redeeming features, but it does have the best museum on the Yucatan: The Museum of Mayan Culture. We will go to the boring Holiday Inn, probably our only internet access of the week.

Day 13:  Tulum — Driving north past the Sian Ka’an reserve, we hit one of the classic Yucatan destinations; Tulum. We’ve called ahead on hotels and few of the recommended ones have avaliability. But they also seemed really expensive. Our first task will be to scout out a hotel on the beach — maybe even one of the ‘hut with hammock’ ones that backpackers frequent. Once that’s done, we have the day and night to play in the ocean.

Day 14: Tulum — Today we do the ruins in the morning. These will feel small by comparison to the gargantuan ruins we saw in Calakmul, but these Mayans sure did understand the value of ocean front real estate. After the dense, mosquito filed jungles, the seaside pyramid hike should be pleasant. In the afternoon there are a few small museums in Tulum worth an hour. We may just hang on the beach again…

Day 15: Xel-Ha — Leaving Tulum for Cancun on our final day, we stop at Xel-Ha for the day.  Xel-Ha and its busier cousin Xcaret, are eco-resort-adventure-amusement-tourist parks that people say they liked, but never as much as expected. We will go with modest expectations, and hope for a better outcome than our experience in Cairo. Both parks are based around beautiful lagoons and have caves for snorkeling. The lagoon is easier to swim than the open ocean, so our littlest may feel more comfortable than she did in Sharm el-Sheik. We will buy the horribly overprices Dolphin experience because, well, it’s cool to play with dolphins.  Supposedly the crowds come in the afternoon, so we’ll be ready to bolt if it gets ugly.  The final drive up the coast will be smelly, sandy and probably, sleepy.  Our final night is in Cancun again as we dress our wounds, feed our bellies and enjoy one last bit of Mexican fun before we depart the next day.

Related posts:

1. The family trip to Mexico, Part two: Camping with kids in the jungle.
2. Tinkerhell’s Best and Worst of Mexico, Numero Quattro
3. Family Travel Moment: Club Med, Ixtapa, Mexico

Day 6 – Merida: The capital of the Yucatan and its largest city is supposed to be a lively and enjoyable place. We arranged to be there on Saturday night and Sunday, during which festivals, dancing, markets and town-square activities abound. At least, we hope that’s true on the days after Christmas. The oldest church on the North American Continent is here, as well as a decent museum and a lot of beautiful turn-of-the-century architecture.

We’ll most likely be at the Hyatt, because they have a reliable pool and internet access but the day will be mostly outdoors with no driving. Everyone will want a break by this point. Merida has some good Yucatan cuisine – a little different than traditional Mexican.

Day 7 – Cuzama and Uxmal: We leave Merida rested (hopefully) and begin the strenuous part of our trip. Driving south, we go to the Cuzama Cenotes, a series of cave lagoons across a six mile stretch of an old sisal and hemp plantation. One is driven to each of three cenotes along a single track with a horse drawn buggy. Aside from the horseflies and some reports of unhealthy animals, this should be an adventure. Trip advisor reports rickety wooden ladders and carts toppling off the tracks. This should be an adventure!

We head West to Uxmal that afternoon, in time for the light show. The major ruins of Chichen Itza and Uxmal both have evening light shows included in the ticket price, and travellers report you can attend the light show the evening before your daytime visit. We’ll emply that tactic here. We hope for a better light show than Temple Karnak in Luxor, but we won’t get our hopes up.

Day 8 – Uxmal: The ruins of Uxmal are reported to be particularly beautiful, but that could be hype. Nonetheless, it’s a well excavated site, and the Pyramid of the Magician (left) is stunning. Unfortunately, like Chichen Itza, travellers report that one can no longer climb up the tallest pyramids. (We’ll do that in Calkmul in a few days.)

In the evening, we drive to the gulf coast city of Campeche and spend the night.

Day 9: Campeche: We are undecided about this day. Campeche is reported to be a lovely city, but it’s not particularly tourist friendly and there are not many attractions. It could be a dud. But it has enough to do that we can probably fill a day. We might need the ‘spare’ day to catch up if our itinerary doesn’t go as planned (or we find something else awesome to do.) Plus, the next day is a long drive folowwed by our jungle excursion.

Highlights of Campeche are few, except that it is the oldest walled city in North America. It was a major port and had two seaside forts for it’s defense. Both are now museums. There is a period-decorated home inconspicuously called Casa No. 6. There are promising references to a Pirate ship tour and a cave.

This is the longest drive of the trip, 4-5 hours south and back east toward the cost.  But we won’t see any beach for days as we head deeper and deeper into the jungle that covers the state of Campeche and extends south through Guatemala.  40 minutes from the nearest town, and 3 hours from the closest ATM we will turn the car left at the snarling dog,  right before the felled palm tree to our campsite on the grounds of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.   The campsite has no website or phone, just an email address (servidoresturisticos@yahoo.com.mx).  But they are briefly mentioned in both guidebooks and some web research turns up good stories about the experience.  The cost is about $40/night including tents and sleeping bags.  No staying up for New Year’s Eve – we start early in the morning.

If we slept comfortably enough, this will be a memorable day.  At 5:30 am, we get up and head toward the ruins of Calakmul.  The ruins don’t open till 8am, but guards can be bribed.  The real attraction is the wildlife, most active early in the AM.  The ruins themselves, are huge and barely excavated.  Far from the manicured Disney of Chichen Itza, our day in Calakmul will be unforgettable.  If we can’t handle a second night in tents, we might be able to stay in the nearby ‘eco-lodge‘.

Next:  The final leg of the trip, crawling up the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan.

Related posts:

1. Planning the family trip to Mexico, Part 3: Up the ‘Riviera Maya’
2. Tinkerhell’s Best and Worst of Mexico, Numero Quattro
3. The 2009 family trip to the Middle East