Mexico

Ake Ruins and Izamal

/ Ed Armstrong
After breakfast in Merida, we drove to see the Ake ruins. These were massive and impressive Mayan ruins. Over time, some trees have started to grow from the ruins.

This shows the number of levels the Mayans used as these structures were built. It also shows the brewing storm clouds that were moving in!

These columns built by the Mayans were very impressive that they were still standing! I was surprised because most ruins do not have columns like these. It also shows the dark clouds becoming more foreboding!

Right after I took this photo of another Mayan ruin in Ake, the clouds opened up and we had a major rainstorm. I brought a rain coat, but it was warmly stored in my hotel room and not available when I needed it. Despite the storm, we gathered under a large tree and continued listening to a lecture about the Mayans and learned more about the site. Everyone was completely soaked. It was sort of refreshing because it had been warm and humid throughout the morning. I protected my camera under my big hat. The Yucatan is quite an interesting and surprising place!

The next agenda was lunch in a nearby town. This was shredded dear meat cooked in yummy spices. I has some wonderful slices of avocado too! The small bowl on the plate was filled with very hot habanero spices! These spices were extremely hot!! I sprinkled only the liquid in the spice bowl onto my food. The spices added a nice zest to the meal.

Next, we drove to Izamal and enjoyed seeing everyone celebrating Our Lady of Guadeloupe. These embroidered dresses were an important local custom of the celebration. I absolutely loved the colors!

All kinds of vendors were setup throughout the community!!

I was not able to identify the role of this woman, but she appears to have been honored as part the celebration. She saw me looking at her and welcomed me to take her photo! She grabbed the purple sash and ran it along her arms so that it would be included in the photo. It was quite fun to take her picture!

This is the top of the church in the town. There is some controversy because it was built on top of one of the main Mayan ruins.

I enjoyed watching these ladies leave the church wearing their beautiful dresses!

Inside the church we saw a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

As we left the church to walk to another famous Mayan ruin, it was fun to see the colors and festivities of the celebration!!

I enjoyed how this horse and carriage were decorated!!

Vendors were setup everywhere throughout the town!!

The locals were relaxing on the curb!

I loved the colors on this lady’s dress! We was walking down the steps from the largest Mayan ruin (by weight) the Yucatan region.

I climbed up one series of steps on this Mayan ruin, reached this plateau, and could then see another series of steps to the top of this pyramid. I decided to forgo the final series of steep steps and instead enjoy watching people climb up and down the ruin.

Merida Market, Xcambo Ruins, and Progreso!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I loved going to the Merida market!! It is huge and so colorful!! It covers more than 10 blocks!! It was amazing all the spices available!!

The fresh fruits and vegetables were everywhere!!

There were beautiful leather crafted shoes as well as every other possible leather product!!

Merida is famous for its embroidery. I loved the colors on these bags!!

Every spice you can imagine is available at the Merida market!! Ajo is garlic and cebolla is onion.

These radishes were massive and so colorful!!

These green chilis are habanero chile and they are extremely hot. In the restaurants were we have eaten our meals, they have always added one habanero chile on our plates. I had one small taste and my tongue still burns!! No more habanero chiles for me!!

Fresh meat was readily available! Our guide told us that everything would be sold today.

The red sacs in these chickens are unlaid eggs!!

There was a whole area for poultry in market. I could not believe the size of these turkeys!!

These tomatoes were so colorful and beautiful!!

I loved all the colors and textures of so many different vegetables!!

The bouquets of flowers were so beautiful!!

One of the main experts from Merida is honey!! I was amazed to learn that it is one of the largest money makers for the city of Merida. It was available to buy in both large and small containers.

Merida is famous for its embroidery and these shoes were so beautiful and colorful!!

There are many religions icons sold in the market.

There are also superstitious icons sold in the market.

Good quality jewelry is available in the market!

There was a large section of fish for sale at the market too.

After the seeing the market, we drove to Xcambo to see these Mayan ruins. They are famous in the area.

The Catholic church built a chapel on the Mayan ruins.

This massive male iguana was enjoying sunning himself on the Xcambo walls. I guide warned us to not get too close as they can bite!!

I really enjoyed seeing this Mayan structure!!

As we left Xcambo and were driving to Progreso, we say wild flamingos in their natural habitat!! I have never before seen flamingos in the wild!!

In Progreso, we ate lunch and had a great view of the beach!! After lunch we changed into swimming suites and enjoyed cooling off in the Gulf of Mexico!!

I loved the colorful sign for Progreso with the water behind it.

Ek Balam Ruins and Cenote

/ Ed Armstrong
Ek Balam Ruins are very old Mayan ruins that were a series of different buildings. This is Juan and we was a superb guide telling us everything about Mayan culture and history that you would ever want to know! I really enjoyed learning from him!!

This huge iguana created us as we arrive at Ek Balam. As soon as he heard my camara click, he quickly ran under the sidewalk.

The was a gateway into a series of Ek Balam buildings.

This shows the huge size of the Mayan ruins.

This shows the number of layers as the structures were built.

These stairs were well constructed and I climbed to the top!! Climbing down is much more difficult than climbing up! No one in our group fell as they climbed down!

The Mayan craftmanship was amazing. This photo was taken from the top after I climbed the stairs.

This is a ball stadium were participants used a rubber ball made from the rubber plants that grow in the Yucatan region.

This is an enormous staircase at another Ek Balam building. It is very steep and our leader did not want our group to climb up because of the risk of falling. Most people that tried climbing needed to either use their hands when climbing down, or to sit on their bottom and slowly scoot down. It was amazing to see everything that the Mayas built here!!

This is a photo of the cenote at the Ek Balam ruins. It is basically a very deep sink hole down into the limestone. The water is a deep turquoise and there is fresh water that continually flows into it. At the surface, the water was refreshing, but it quickly became much colder the deeper you go. The catfish in the cenote are blind because they swim in the caves associated with the cenote.

Cabo Sunrise!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I got up extra early today to walk down to the beach to watch the sunrise!! It was spectacularly beautiful!! I moved around and used different settings as the sun slowly rose and worked its way through the various clouds. It was a wonderful experience!!

I loved the shifting colors of orange and blue as the sun was about to peek over the horizon!!

As the sun became visible, the orange colors filled the sky and reflected off the wet sand on the beach!!

The colors intensified as the sun rose higher in the horizon!!

I love the orange and blue colors masked with the clouds in the sky. Cabo is a very beautiful place!!

Masterclass Tequila Tasting Experience with Jorge Cuervo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We had a wonderful experience attending an amazing and sophisticated tequila tasting experience with Jorge Cuervo, Jose Cuervo’s great grandson!! Charlene, John and myself had a fantastic evening completing the tasting, learning about the history of tequila, and learning how to correctly drink tequila!! Jorge is a ninth generation in the Cuervo family!!

We had the tequila tasting and we also ordered dinner afterwards. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening!!

There are so many tequilas in Mexico!! Some have very elaborate bottles and many people like to take them back to the U.S.!!

I liked tasting the tequilas, but I also enjoyed looking at all the elaborate packaging!!

These were the three tequilas we tasted. The far left was water to use between tastings. The first tequila was a blanco tequila. The second was a reposado tequila, and the third was an anejo. The blanco is the tequila right out of the distillery, the reposado was aged for at least two months in an oak barrel, and the anejo was aged in a wooden barrel for at least one year.

This was an example of a quality blanco tequila that we discussed.

Jorge taught us the three key attributes that we should check for when buying tequila: 1) the tequila bottle should say “tequila.” This describes the designated geographic tequila region (Jalisco) as regulated by Mexican law. 2) the tequila should state “100% agave” was used to make the tequila. And 3) the tequila should have the “CRT” certification by the Tequila Regulatory Council. Unfortunately, some well known tequilas, e.g., the common Jose Cuervo available in the U.S. are only 51% agave, and 49% are non-agave sugars. Jorge suggested that since the common Jose Cuervo we see in the U.S. is not 100% agave, we may prefer drinking tequilas that meet these 3 important criteria. Other higher-end Jose Cuervo products may be made with100% agave and it was suggested we may prefer drinking those. If a tequila bottle does not state the proportion of agave used, we should check the company’s website.

This is an example of tequila where it is clearly seen on the label that 100% agave was used to make it.

These are the two tequilas that Jorge has made. The front label clearly indicates the name “tequila” and this label states 100% agave was used to make the tequila. The label on the back of the bottle clearly has the “CRT” certification. The small bottle on the right is the blanco tequila that could be brought into the US in carry-on luggage. The larger bottles can be brought into the US in checked luggage. We bought the reposado bottle and Jorge signed the back label for us!!

It was very fun talking with Jorge Cuervo. He told us about his three kids. He said that in his home, it is “required” that they only speak English. He wants his kids to be fluent in English and comfortable with talking with people from many different countries. One of Jorge’s boys was at the restaurant and we enjoyed talking with him. Jorge is often flown to cities in the U.S. to provide tequila tasting demonstrations at various business conventions.

This display is in the restaurant and summarizes his family history. Jorge named his tequila “Malaco” after one of his relatives. Malaco means Malachi in Spanish.

After completing the tequila tasting upstairs, we went downstairs to the restaurant and had an amazing meal of Mexican food. It is difficult to see under all the cheese, but we had chicken enchiladas, tamales, flank steak beef, chili rellenos, tostadas, taquitos, and guacamole. There was so much food, the three of us could not finish it all!! Everything was so delicious!!

It was very difficult to decide what to drink with our dinner. We could have picked a straight tequila, a margarita, or a range of different tequila cocktails. We all picked a different flavor of margarita. This was a fantastic mango margarita that I selected. The flavors on the rim and the top were quite spicy!

After our tequila tasting and fantastic meal, we walked a few blocks to the weekly “art walk” that is held in the main plaza in San Jose del Cabo. All kinds of artists had their work on display. Here Charlene and John are looking at all the paintings one woman created. It was fun to see such a range of artistic talent!!

I am not sure about this gentleman’s costume, but I think he is dressed up as an Aztec.

Next to the plaza is a well-known church in San Jose del Cabo. I liked the silhouette of church with the setting sun!!

The art walk had many truly amazing paintings!!

All the colors and designs were amazing to see!!

A black lighted highlighted the vivid colors with these designs!!

I think my favorite aspect about all the artwork was the vivid colors that were used!! Mexican art is so beautiful!!

ATV Riding in Beautiful Cabo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Today, John and I had an incredible amount of fun!! It was like we were in 6th grade again! We rented all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and rode them with a tour group. It was so much fun!! We bought face gaiters to protect our breathing from all the dust on the trails. It was so much fun to explore the desert trails and roads around Cabo!

Before we started riding, John and I were testing our helmets. It was great to have a clear front cover so we could wear sunglasses and had extra protection from the dust. This worked far better than goggles!!

This friendly guy gave us suggestions for what gear to use while riding. Third gear usually worked best!

It was vey exciting to get on our ATVs and prepare to start riding!!

Once on the trail, we paused for a bit so John could bring up the rear of our parade of ATVs. It was so much fun!!

After riding for a while, we ended up riding along the beach. The Pacific Ocean is in the background. It was spectacularly beautiful!!

I loved the color of the water here, on the west side of the peninsula!!

As we were laughing at how much fun we were having, our tour guide took our photo. Look at those two dusty and happy men!!

Our tour company also provided camel rides. We thought that could be fun and unique, but we were much more interested in riding the ATVs!!

I have picked up a theme in completing various activities in Mexico!! Everyone seems to have a tequila tasting as part of their tour. Yes, we tasted all these different tequilas after we finished riding ATVs. Their white tequila and their reposado tequila were especially good.

Not only did our tour company provide ATV tours and camel tours, the also provided horse riding tours. My amigo here was very friendly and I enjoyed talking with him.

The tequila we ended up buying was the cappuccino flavored tequila. This was quite sweet and flavorful and we thought Charlene and Jan would especially enjoy it too!!

Beautiful Full Moon in San Jose del Cabo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Sitting on our porch, we enjoyed a spectacular full moon!! This photo is from our room, looking over the pool and spa. It was a wonderful view!!

John and I walked down to the beach to see the reflection of the moon across the Gulf of California!! It was so beautiful!!

Looking to the south, we enjoyed all the lights from the resorts and houses!! What a gorgeous evening!!

This was the view of our resort from the beach! It was amazing!!

We Love Seeing el Archo A Second Time!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We could not stay away from having another trip to see El Archo!! This time we were on a tour using a completely clear boat!! It was great to see all the fish as well as visit the arch!! Charlene was not too excited to be leaning over the edge of a boat that was moving up and down with all the waves from nearby boats!! We had a great time!!

This is Pedro!! He basically lives in the marina in Cabo San Lucas and the boats go by and say hello to him!

Two cruise ships joined us in Cabo San Lucas this morning! They were so huge!!

Every type of boat imaginable was near the arch for scuba diving, snorkeling, or sightseeing!!

This was a very popular location for snorkeling!!

We loved being on a boat that was completely clear!! We could see so many fish!!

This is another beautiful view of lovers beach!! Divorce beach is just on the other side with the rougher Pacific Ocean waves,

This is the “Ventana a la Pacifica” It is the window view from the Gulf of California to the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Today our boat was a bit closer, for a nicer view than a few days ago.

I love this view of El Archo!! It is so beautiful!!

This lady was the first in our group to volunteer to go to the front of the boat for a photo, sit on the narrow edge of the boat, and enjoy the boat moving up and down with the waves!!

Charlene did not enjoy the movement of the boat. Her smile is a little forced! But we had so much fun!! I love my wild and crazy socks from participating in the Turkey Trot a couple of years ago!!

Hold on to the boat for dear life!!

On the way back we saw the cruise ship giving people rides in this crane that went up into the air! What an amazing experience they were having!!

There is some serious money in some of the boats in Cabo San Lucas!!

We saw this sign as we were walking around the marina. I thought it was cute!!

Cabo San Lucas has great food!!

This famous Cabo sign is everywhere!! From t-shirts, to mugs, to artwork. We had to have our photo taken with this landmark!!

These ladies knew how to have a great time with customers!! They thoroughly enjoyed trying to get customers to buy a series of tequila shots. We laughed with them, but bypassed the shots.

This is the restaurant where we ate. Their food was wonderful!!

This was my carne asada burrito!! I do not think I have every had fries with a burrito, but I enjoyed them both!

These were the carne asada tacos!! The flavors were wonderful!!

This woman was not too excited to have a live iguana sitting on her shoulder!!

This guy was much happier to hold the iguana!! However, his mother was much more skeptical about the creature!!

Cabo San Lucas is a vivid and fun place to visit!!

El Archo de Cabo San Lucas!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We have seen photos of the famous Arch of Cabo San Lucas and today we had a great tour to see it ourselves!! It is at the southern tip of the of the Baja California Peninsula! It is beautiful, and where the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California (formerly Sea of Cortez).

Everyone has a great time in Cabo!! These guys had their music loud and everyone was swaying to the beat! Alcohol might be involved.

As we left the harbor, our guide showed us several caves into the rock along the coast.

At this angle, the top of the rock is in the profile of a lion’s head!!

Going farther down the coast from the marina is lovers beach. The is a popular beach for swimming that is only accessible by boat. It is beautiful and great for swimming.

From the Gulf of California is a small opening there the Pacific Ocean can be seen!! The water is much calmer in the Gulf of California than the Pacific Ocean.

This is the famous El Archo de Cabo San Lucas!! I loved looking at the ruggedness of the rock with the rich blue-green color of the water!!

As we backed away from the arch, kayakers were paddling in to see such a gorgeous site!!

Next to the arch, these sea lions were relaxing on a big rock!

This is lands end!! It is the very tip of the rock at the end of the Baja California Peninsula!! As our boat went passed this point, we moved from the Gulf of California into the Pacific Ocean!!

As we moved into the Pacific Ocean, we reached divorce beach. It has much rougher waves. It is opposite of lovers beach on the other side of the peninsula.

As we headed back down to Lands End, we could see the back side of the arch and all the boats gathered on the gulf side to view such a beautiful scene.

As we moved slightly farther south, we could see through the main arch and see the smaller opening that lead to the Gulf of California!!

Our boat driver called this cave Pirates cove!!

As we were on our way back to the marina, we passed this boat. Everyone on top was excited to have their photo taken!!

After our boat tour, we visited a glass factory in Cabo San Lucas!! It was amazing see see all the things these guys created!!

From a glob of molten glass, we watched this guy create a beautiful dolphin!!

I liked this humming bird that was for sale in their shop!!

I absolutely love the colors of Mexico!! It is such a beautiful place with so many wonderful people!!

Our next stop was a tequila shop for a tasting of a broad range of tequilas! Here, the mango flavored tequila was my favorite!!

Back in San Jose del Cabo, we ate at a wonderful restaurant. Next door was Eddies restaurant. The owner thought it was fun that my name was the same as his restaurant!! He encouraged me to take photos of several of his signs.

When traveling to other countries, I often enjoy seeing the colors of other flags. I have always loved the colors of the Mexican flag!

San Jose del Cabo, Mexico!!

/ Ed Armstrong
San Jose del Cabo is a very fun place!! Our resort is beautiful, the beaches are gorgeous, the people are wonderful, and the colors are amazing!!

John and I spent most of the afternoon with this friendly guy. Yes, we had samples of all 10 tequilas!! Most were great, but a couple were too strong for me. I bought an almond flavored tequila and John bought a chocolate flavored tequila!

I absolutely love the colors of Mexico!!

This sign highlights a common them in Mexico!! They love their tequilas!!

Mexico has so many vibrant colors on so many different items!!

This is a very wildly painted snake!!

Turtles are a common theme in Mexico!!

This guy looks quite surprised!!

These bright colors seemed to be everywhere in San Jose del Cabo!! I loved them!!

Cabo is a beautiful place to visit!! It is only a two hour plane flight from Phoenix!

The plants around our resort were carved into different animal shapes!!

Our resort had a massive pool area complete with huge spas and bridges that linked different pool sections. There was a bar where you can stay in the pool and swim up and order a drink. We loved the happy hour with their wonderful margaritas!!

The beauty of the beach next to our resort is a bit deceiving. The waves are very rough here, so swimming in the water is not allowed. Other beaches nearby allow swimming.

John, Jan, Charlene, and myself have enjoyed some great meals at this restaurant!

Last night, there was a special program of Mexican dancing!! It was very fun to watch!!

These dancers were very talented and we thoroughly enjoyed watching them!!

I never quite figured out the dancers with the large head costumes that joined the dances near the end of the program. It was fun to watch them dance!!

After the dances, local artists had some of their products available to buy!! I absolutely love the vivid colors of Mexico!!

We watched this very talented artist make this picture right before our eyes!! The arch is very famous in this part of Mexico!!

I simply love the colors used in Mexico!!