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One of the main attractions when it comes to tourism in Mexico are the sites of the Ancient Mayan Ruins (Unless you’re some college kid on spring break theeeeen its probably Fat Tuesdays, Surfing Burrito and the Beach Parties)
But for a family of 5 like us, we want to experience as much of the culture as we can. Having experienced many foreign lands Clay spoke of the importance of taking a genuine interest in the people, their language, and the culture & customs of the countries you travel to. This is, in a way, how you pay your respect to those people.
Uxmal was on the agenda for today. Now Uxmal was about 1.5 hrs south of Merida and it was going to be a scorcher that day, 95 degrees!!! We had a light breakfast (eggs, avocados, fruit and yogurt), we packed up the car, programmed the GPS and hit the highway.
Uxmal was night and day as far as our experience in comparison to Chichen Itza. First off there was not a man waving us over for sketchy parking, there were no people pan handling, and my favorite noooooooo paparazzi.
Uxmal already had a very different feel about it and it would turn out to be an even more spectacular site than the famed Chichen Itza. The one down side was this was definitely NOT a stroller friendly place. I try to always find an upside so I guess the cobble stone paths and huge hills made for a great total body workout.
Uxmal was far more impressive to us than Chichen Itza. There were so many temple ruins and pyramidal structures, we also had a little more free reign to explore in and around the ruins. We had a chance to capture some great pics. Uxmal was much larger and we literally spent like 4 hours walking around and taking in all the sites.
The boys got a kick out of the ‘cat-sized’ lizards that were literally all over the place.
There were so many things to see and pictures to take but the heat was taking its toll on all of us. After sending Clay out a few times to buy us some cold water and Hoooooorchata Slushes we were making our final rounds of pictures.
It was time to go, and after our explorations we had a big decision to make… get food now or go to the chocolate museum. The boys were getting tired so we decided to go to the Chocolate Museum.
This was NOT your average museum! As soon as we got our tickets we realized the museum was all outside and the exhibits were set up inside these huts along a garden path with these huge indigenous plants growing. The different huts contained a great deal of information about the history of chocolate in Mexico and Central America and it’s use in trade and culture.
We even had the great privilege of seeing a reenactment of an Ancient Mayan Ceremonial Chocolate Ritual. Afterwards we were escorted to an area where we could taste an authentic cacao drink. We had the options of adding anise, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and sugar.
Amoor loved it, LaPharaoh nooooot so much but it was great to see the grueling process in creating a small cup of cacao.
On our way to the gift shop we stopped at a wildlife reserve they had on site that had jaguars, monkeys and deers. The boys even had a chance to feed the deer and the monkeys.
The last stop was the gift shop to pick up some chocolate and souvenirs. What can I say another great family outing in Mexico. We hit the road headed back to Merida and got some dinner at this amazing Thai Restaurant.
The Chef and the Owner came over to greet us, it was a enjoyable experience and a perfect end to yet another awesome day.
This is not your average vacation, but then again we are not your average family 😉
We Trip ⧫ We Tribe ⧫ We Vibe
What do you think?