An Excellent Adventure
 

I started out last week in search of tiny fish near a tiny island off the coast of Cuba. The State Dept and US Consul in Merida managed to nix those plans. Had this happened in July I could have called the Consul, Karen, and likely resolved the issue. Karen and her husband, BJ, accepted a new assignment in DC and I no longer have a connection to resolve such issues. Anyway with bags packed plus someone watching my house and dogs I decided a road trip was in order.

My first stop was a small island in the Gulf of Mexico...

Nice clean beaches with soft sand and calm waters... plus a friendly dog-

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Decent little family run hotel with rooms around $35-$40 a night-

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Interesting fixtures in the bathroom, sink and shower both made out of seashells-

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After a couple days soaking up the sun and fishing, you catch it they grill it and help you eat it. I headed to Campeche. Campeche is an old Spanish city founded in 1547. It has many features similar to most Mexican towns in this area- clean, peaceful and laid back.

There's always a central square/park-

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Several (five in this case) old churches-

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But this city is unique in that it was originally completely walled in and protected by two hill top forts on either end of town.

The entrance to the forts are intentionally curved to keep invaders from ramming the gates-

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Then there's the draw bridges-

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The roofs are lined with canons-

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Capt. Henry Morgan wasn't told about these fortifications when he decided to sack the city. Apparently it didn't go well for him. There's a display showing the axe they used to behead a few of his men, guess he made out better then other.

Locals tell me he left his gun behind as he fled inland-

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And his crossbow-

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The fort on the east end of town has items post Hispanic and the west contains Mayan artifacts-

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After a couple nights in Campeche I headed south eventually ending up in Guatemala. After one night I turned north and headed home. Along the way I stopped at several ruin sites-

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I have several other photos of sites I visited but there fairly blurry as I was running from mosquitoes roughly the size of small planes. I tried bug spray but that only seemed to attract them and or make them angry. I swear upon returning to my truck at one site I caught a few of them picking up my truck and moving it several feet.

So that was my week. I didn't end up in Cuba and never used any of the dive gear I packed but I'd call the week a success none the less.

I hope to post an "excellent adventure" thread in October!

I do, however, hope that my adventure does not include mosquitoes the size of small planes.

Looks like you had a pretty good time, and I love those shell water fixtures. :)

I never seen mosquitoes like this before, hope to never again.

Sure as hell looks like a success. Thanks for sharing, Tully. Maybe I'll head out there for Christmas.

If you do definitely try to make it to some lesser known towns. I won't be here over the holidays, fact I'll be gone most of Dec. and Jan. But let me know if you need any thing checked out. And of course if you're able to make down while I'm here I'd be glad to have house guests or meet ups anytime.

What a great adventure! The beach in your first picture seems like a delight.

I'm always amazed to find these little gulf islands that I've never heard of before. Somehow the only people there not Mexican are European. There must be some German or Swiss magazine/newspaper that advertises these places. Either that or Europeans are just more adventurous, i.e less scared, then Americans. This hotel had three other rooms occupied- a couple of 20 something Swiss girls and two German families. The Swiss girls were hitchhiking across Mexico and this was the first non-hostel they stayed. I caught a couple fish from the beach the first day and we all had a nice cook out. The hotel owners wife cooked the fish and her husband insisted I share his personal tequila (yuk.) Most of the conversations were in German and I understood every 6-7 word. The second night a storm rolled in and we all hid out in our rooms.

Overall a great little place to stay.

too bad about the little fishies

glad that you took another swing at enjoying life, and had a successful week accomplishing that goal :)

Yeah, the real bummer there is I may never be invited to another research project by the guy who ran this one. He told me from the beginning that I NEEDED a visa. I told him I can get on a plane and be there without one no problem. "No, everyone involved needs the paperwork." So I jumped through the hoops only to find the government isn't good at talking with itself. I sent his wife a message the minute I knew I couldn't get mine to Merida in time. Then Sat I called him. He didn't sound happy said "You should have just come without." Um, OK WTF?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Oh, well there's a lady doing a dig down by Belize looking for volunteers. I won't need a visa to get there.

great shots, Tully. good to see you having fun with your camera. :)

Thanks, I think some of these were taken with my phone. I'm on my third camera here and this one's working about 50% of the time. I assume it's the humidity. But??? at any rate the phone does a decent job and they give me a new when it goes out so I think I'm done buying cameras. Sometimes you just have to know when to say "fuck it."

Great shots! Love the blue sky, makes me want to move there.

pure magic.

looks like paradise. good post

Wow, beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Gorgeous pictures, and that hotel looks exquisite.

About the mosquitoes, the worst I've seen, not in size, but in overall pain-causing and ferociousness, was in La Venta.
In the 15 seconds it took me to get from the pool to inside, I had more than 40 bites on my back, and could barely breathe without being in pain.
Of course, everyone else had a good time laughing at the only guy stupid enough to venture out in a bathing suit.
Good times.

---------- Post added at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:39 PM ----------

Tully, which ruins are those?