Springbreak in Yucatan

Springbreak in Mexico was an absolut blast!! We spent slightly more than a week wandering around the states of Quintana Roo and Yucatan in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

From sub-tropical landscapes to pristine coral beaches, from the quest for a meteorite that supposedly impacted the Earth in a humongous blast sixty milions years ago to orange and pink flamingoes and from the outrageously wild parties at Cancun to the legacies left by past civilizations, Yucatan has a lot to offer.

Blue waters and fishermen boats on the Caribbean Coast of Quintana Roo

Our flights led us from Atlanta to Miami and finally Cancun. However it was not our intent to stay for a long time in Cancun as the place in crowded during Springbreak by partyongoers of all kinds. Upon arrival we therefore headed South to reach a quieter resort of the Riviera Maya: Playa del Carmen close to the island of Cozumel.

Maya ruins on the edge...

After spending a whole day relaxing on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea, we headed West towards Tulum and Coba. Tulum is pretty famous for it is the only Maya archeological site close to the sea. In fact, it is actually standing on a beach. It is relatively crowded unless the traveler elects to visit the place early in the morning before the tours from Cancun litteraly invade the place.

Nohoch Mul is a the tallest pyramid of the Maya civilization

Coba is home to the Nohoch Mul temple, the tallest pyramid of the Maya civilization reaching slightly more than forty meters high. Its skewed architecture is very close to the one of Tikal in Guatemala.

After Coba, we headed North to reach Chichen Itza, one of the most famous archeological site of Yucatan. Northern Yucatan is quite an arid place and the sink holes called Cenotes close to Chichen Itza that could provide water all year round might have played an important role in the selection of the site.

El Templo de Kukulcan, the Maya name for Quetzalcoatl, the Plummed Serpent

Chichen Itza rose to prominence around 600AD and soon became a major regional capital centralizing and dominating political, economic and ideological life in the northern Maya lowlands. Around 987AD, the brutal Toltecs invaded the area and brough with them rituals involving human sacrifices to please the rain god Chaac. The blood from victims would also flow and fertilize the Earth.

We later proceeded due-West to Merida and Celestun to visit a wildlife reserve. The Celestun reserve is made of hundred of square miles of mangrove along the Gulf of Mexico coastline and is home to a colony of orange flamingos. Ubiquitous in the Yucatan peninsula are large lizards and iguanas that roam over the Maya ruins, probably chasing ancient ghosts and feeling the scent of blood that used to flow during sacrifices thousands years ago.

Two iguanas probably fighting for the remains of a skull...

Following this trip to Celestun, we headed South along the Ruta Puuc to visit other major archeological sites. Uxmal, Kabah, and Labna were amongst the ones visited. The largest one is the pre-Colombian complex of Uxmal that encompasses several squares miles of land and features pyramids, palacios and ball courts. Uxmal was founded around 500AD and was the most powerful city in Western Yucatan. Most of the monuments seen today were built between 700AD and 1100AD after which the city started a slow decline. This decline is most certainly linked to the fall of Chichen Itza around the thirteen century.

El Adivino in Uxmal

The next day we drove East for a couple of hours towards the archeological site of Ek Balam and finally towards the city of Cancun where we spent a whole day relaxing on the beach and in the crystal-blue warm waters before getting back home. This was an absolutely flabbergasting trip deep inside the Maya world and my trip video is available here. Enjoy!