We got up very early to bird and made it over to the pyramid at Chichen Itza around 6am. We got there so early that we were the only people there. The vendors of local arts and crafts had not yet made it out of bed. Berry and I were standing there, totally by ourselves, in front of this ancient Mayan structure, "el Castillo", the beautiful Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza. No vendors. No crowds. Just us. Amazing. I reached out carefully and touched the pyramid.
During the day, we also visited several cenotes in the area. Cenotes are limestone caverns made by centuries of dripping water which dissolved holes in the limestone, leaving enormous cylindrical caves under the ground. The Mayans used to give mythological significance to some of these holes in the ground. At the Cenote Sagredo, we saw the Yellow Throated Euphonia (Euphonia hirundinacea). These birds could fly down into the cenote and drink fresh water there.
At the Cenote Xtojil, in the trees surrounding it, we found the Collared Trogon (Trogon collaris). The Life Birds on this vacation just kept coming.
At the Cenote Yaxuna, as we drove up, we inadvertantly disturbed a Mexican man eating his lunch in the shade. He left just as soon as we approached in our car. The ruins here were right next to the cenote. Not every ancient thing is tended to correctly in Mexico. Mexico does not have enough money to put a rope around everything and sell tickets. These ruins were next to someone's agricultural field. And next to his very own cenote.
Robert and Berry
photos courtesy of wikipedia, world.mysteries
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