Daily Life in Merida

Catedral de San Ildefonso

 During this trip we have shared more about our time outside of Merida in comparison to our time in the city.  That is really too bad as the city has provided us with so much to see and do.  It has been a wonderful host for our three weeks, so I will try to sum up some of the highlights.

We had the opportunity to stay in two different homes in the city center.  They were in two different neighborhoods, so we got to explore multiple local marketplaces, and city parks where the locals shop in the mornings and relax in the cool evenings.  The kids played on the playgrounds with the local children. 

In between explorations to local sites, we also made our Merida home our local “school away from school”, commandeering the dining room table with school workbooks, games, Legos, and so on.

Merida is the cultural hub for the peninsula.  There are churches, museums, and art galleries everywhere! We made it to quite a few of the sites (as all or part of our group), though certainly many remain for a future trip.  They included: 

- The Catedral de San Ildefonso, the cathedral and most prominent building on the main plaza.  This is also one of the oldest cathedrals in the Americas.
- Los Palacios Gobernales, the government offices of the state of Yucatan, which house a series of paintings and murals by the Merida born artist, Fernando Castro Pacheco, and pay homage to important people and events in Yucatan history
- The Zocalo, central plaza and main square, always filled with activity and countless pigeons to chase

- Museo Casa Montejo, the home of the Montejo family which was constructed between 1543 and 1549 by Maya slaves.  The home has now been restored and is a museum, but it was originally owned by Francisco Montejeo (the father) who founded Merida and the Hacienda Sotuta de Peon.  It was later owned by his son of the same name.  It was lived in by 13 generations of the Montejo family before eventually being sold to someone else in the 1800s.

- Museo de Antropologia “Palacio Cantón”, an excellent museum of Mayan anthropology with a strong focus on understanding history and anthropology through the study of ceramics from the times well before Christ to present.
- Museo MACAY, a fantastic museum of contemporary art.  When we visited, it had a wonderful exibit on the role of architecture and design from the 19^th century to present.  There were fantastic photographs, city plans, architectural plans, 3 dimensional models of buildings and neighborhoods (or university campuses), furniture pieces, and so on, showing also how the changes in technology impact architecture and city planning.
- Museo de la Ciudad de Merida, which outlined this history of the city from pre-Hispanic to contemporary times.  It includes the brutal founding and bloody Caste War, the glory days of the henequen (sisal) boom when Merida was one of the wealthiest cities of Mexico.
- Casa Catherwood, which honors the work of the 19^th century architect and artist Frederick Catherwood (of England) and American explorer John Lloyd Stephens, who crisscrossed Mexico and Central America in search of Mayan ruins.  Casa Catherwood houses the only complete collection of the 25 hand colored lithographs made of the Mayan sites as they were discovered, in great artistic and architectural detail.
- Museo de Historia Natural, the natural history museum which had an exhibit hummingbirds during our visit.  The exhibit was put together by local university students who made hummingbird replicas out of wood and painted them to look like the different species of hummingbirds.
- Merida Zoo, which had a really fun bird jungle that the kids enjoyed.
Numerous theaters throughout the city center, of which we entered the Teatro de Peon Contreras, a breathtaking theater built a little over 100 years ago, which was being prepared for its evening performance
- Cultural Nightlife: Merida is famous in that it offers cultural events free to the public every night.  Most evenings they begin around 9 PM and are located in various parks, theaters, and art galleries throughout the city center.  They range from theater productions, to traditional dance performances, all sorts of music, the spoken word, even demonstrations of the traditional Mayan ball games of the region. 

Oh and the food…!  Yucatan has its own cuisine, distinct from other areas of Mexico.  We thoroughly enjoyed exploring local eateries and tried a variety of local dishes.  We had so much fun, we headed to a local bookstore to get a recipe book for the region and will continue experimenting at home (as best we can, given that some ingredients are specific to the region).  It should be a fun way to extend our trip into our home territory.

Valladolid and Cenote Dzinup

To break up the lengthy return drive from Isla Holbox, we stopped in the town of Valladolid and one of the nearby cenotes, Cenotes de Dzinup, which is actually the access point to two cenotes.  We entered Cenote X-keken (pronounced Sh-ke-ken).  It was a great place to take a refreshing tip in the clear cool waters.  We were surprised to find lots of little fish swimming about the underground pool.  Since we arrived shortly after noon, we had the additional treat of benefiting from the rays of sun that came through a hole in the cavern roof and shone into the water below.

After our swim, we headed into the town of Valladolid for a fantastic local lunch and a walk around the main square and a stop in the church, Iglesia San Gervasio.  Valladolid was founded by Francisco de Montejo, cousin of the founder of Merida by the same name.  Due to the brutal nature of his treatment of the original inhabitants, the city played an important role in the beginning of the Caste War and the Mexican Revolution.  

The Franciscan church Iglesia San Gervasio is very simple in style.  There are almost no windows or decorations inside.  The church was originally built in 1545.  In 1705 it was ordered to be demolished but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.  The main change during the reconstruction was to re-orient the altar so that it faced a different direction than the original.  For this reason, it is one of the only colonial era churches where the alter faces north instead of west.  As a side note, the kids will likely remember the church as the place where we were when two of them each lost a tooth on its grounds. 

Isla Holbox: a hidden paradise

On the northeastern tip of the Yucatan peninsula, and part of the state of Quintana Roo, we found Isla Holbox.  This barrier island is located strategically where the Caribbean Sea meets the Gulf of Mexico and is part of the Yum Balam nature preserve.  It is off the beaten track and still a bit of a secret with relatively few tourists in comparison to the nearby Cancun and Riviera Maya.

This is a relatively obscure little island with basically no cars.  The roads are unpaved rutted sand roads.  Transportation on the island is on foot, via bicycle, moped, or golf cart with wide sand tires.  There are no major hotel chains on the island, only very small privately held establishments.  We established ourselves in the Hotel Zomay, and headed to the beach for lunch and relaxation.  North winds had recently deposited some sea grass on our beach, but the water was warm, the sand was white, and covered with shells.  We watched were serenaded by a variety of sea birds and enjoyed watching the brown pelicans fish for lunch.  Walking up and down the beach, you could see the local fishermen mending their nets and preparing for their next trip out onto the water.

In our search for shells, we found one large conch shell that was still occupied.  When we picked it up and flipped it over, we found two eyes staring back at us while the little guy tried to retreat further into his shell.  After getting a good look at each other, we returned him to the water and wished him good luck.

While we didn’t have the opportunity to see any, Isla Holbox is known as a place to see whale sharks in the late spring and early summer on their migration path.  During this time of year, you can sometimes see crocodiles, flamingos, and many other species of birds.  During the rainy season (May-November), mosquitoes are also incredibly abundant.  At this time of year, they are supposed to be few in number.  However, due to some recent rains, and a mysterious decline in bats and frogs, the mosquito population had boomed in time for our stay.  We found ourselves seeking shelter from the bloodsuckers as dusk arrived each evening.  However, mosquitoes aside, we found ourselves enjoying the change of pace and relaxation offered by the island.

Campeche: the walled city

Campeche is the capital city of the state by the same name and another colonial city on the Yucatan peninsula.  It was originally a Mayan port city by the name of “Ah Kim Pech” and was used to connect Mayan trade routes from the Yucatan peninsula to those leading to the center of Mexico.

The Spanish recognized its strategic location in the early 1500’s and many battles ensued between the Spanish and Maya before Francisco de Montejo was able to lead his men to victory and established the City of Campeche.  

The takeover from the Mayan peoples didn’t mean that the inhabitants of Campeche could live in peace however.  As an important trading port, now for the Spanish, it became the target of pirates supported by Spain’s enemies, the British and French.  After several particularly gruesome pirate attacks on the city in the mid to late 1600’s, the Spanish crown supported the construction of fortifications around the city.  Walls 26 feet high and 10 feet wide were erected around the city, with several bastions placed in strategic locations.  A sea gate was created as an entry point for merchants to enter the walled city, with a gate that could be closed quickly if needed.  A land gate was later added as well.  Both of these gates are still visible today.

We went to see two of these fortifications; starting with Baluarte Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, named for the patron saint of seafarers.  This is the city’s largest bastion and now also houses a museum of Mayan Architecture where you can see examples of Mayan artifacts from the region of Campeche.  On the top of the bastion, you have a clear view of Campeche’s sea gate, and can ring the bell that was used to alert the local citizens of an impending problem.

On the edge of the city, we also stopped to see the Fuerte de San Miguel, a fort located high on a hill and providing clear visibility over the city and the bay.  The fort is surrounded by walls, a moat, and is accessed via a drawbridge.  Inside the fort is the Museum of Archeology of Campeche, which houses a small but fantastic collection of artifacts, including several Jade funeral masks used by Maya.  On the roof of the fort, the kids enjoyed exploring the various nooks and crannies of the fortification.

In the city center, we also stopped to see the Catedreal de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción, one of the oldest cathedrals on the Yucatan peninsula.  It faces the central plaza, as is often the case with the prominent city cathedral (or church). Construction was begun in 1540 under Francisco de Montejo and it was finally completed in 1760, over 200 years later.  Inside, the altar is covered with silver, and quite an impressive site.

What makes Campeche another lovely place to visit, are the quite streets and color facades in the city center.  Part of Calle 59 has been turned into a pedestrian street , providing outside seating to numerous restaurants and cafés along the way, and adorned by various sculptures and outside artwork.  We enjoyed finding a little café and sitting in their garden for some end of the day, traditional hot chocolate before the long ride home to Merida.

Celestún: It’s all for the birds!

About an hour west of Merida, is the conservation area of Celestún.  It is an area where fresh water meets with salt water and forms a brackish water environment that is home to countless species of birds and other animals.  Mangrove forests give shelter to many animals and birds, as well as protecting the coastline during tropical storms and hurricanes.  Because the water is full of tannins and reddish in color, it is a popular feeding ground of flamingos in the winter.  

We boarded two little boats with local guides and took to the water in search of wildlife.  We saw countless herons, egrets, white and brown pelicans, spoonbills, ibis, frigate birds, coots, and a type of stork.  

Finally we got to the flamingo feeding ground.  The water was very shallow and allowed the flamingos walk around in search of their food.  They were grouped in packs and would occasionally fly from group to group.  We got to see a group of males court a group of females with necks outstretched as tall as they could, and spreading their wings, while making quite a racket!

We rode through a tunnel within a mangrove forest and saw many birds sitting in the thickets, as well as giant termite hills up in the treas.  Finally we arrived at a set of natural springs which feed fresh water into the surrounding area.  We had the opportunity to swim in the spring, but declined as we found an adult and baby crocodile already there.  Maybe next time… 

Instead, we headed to a nearby beach area to end our day with seafood, fresh coconuts, and a chance to search for shells.