We have a slow morning, eating as much as we can from what’s left in our fridge: pineapple, water melon, papaya and cheese rolls that the landlord brought yesterday night to thank us for our stay. We jump in the pool, read a book, and pack our bags. We’re sad to leave this beautiful home, but more adventures wait for us in other parts of Yucatan.
It’s a 2 hour drive to Edzna, we take the highway and some smaller roads. We pass some small villages, but mainly we see grass lands or some trees. We see one mango plantation, but in general not much agriculture. Some burned land, especially next to the road, maybe because they burn their trash? Moreover, Mexicans love making steep speed bumps in the road, which force us to drive 15 km per hour to cross them.
Edzna is the first Maya site we visit that starts with a museum. It has some statutes and tablets on display. Just like the explanation signs at the sites we’ve seen so far, the museum focuses on measurable facts such as years, heights, architecture, and not so much on the explanation of the Maya culture. It just states that they had a rich political, religous and astronomical culture, but not what it was about and how the buildings relate to their culture.
When we enter the site, we see that the Toucan lives here. We give Zeno the assignment to look out for the Toucan. The Toucan is part of many of his children books at home, so he should be able to spot it.
The most remarkable building at the site is the main pyramid located at the plaza. Built on a platform 40 m high, it provides a wide overview of the surroundings and has 5 tiers. Unfortunately, we cannot climb this temple, luckily many others we’re allowed to climb. Another significant building located in the plaza is the ball court.
The highlight is two red painted sculptures of Maya masks. Even their black eyes are clearly visible. We also see many yellow, blue and black birds, but we do not see a Toekan.
It’s 1 more hour to Campeche, closer to Campeche, we see more agriculture: trees, palms, fruits… The traffic is busy, but at 15 we arrive at our apartment. It’s hot, dark and not exactly what we hoped for, but the children are happy with snacks that were on the table, and the peppa pig plates, cups and bowls.
We leave straight away to explore the colourful city center of Campeche. It’s a nice 26 degrees, cloudy and windy. Campeche lies at the sea side, the Gulf of Mexico, there are many references to its history with pirates. All the pirate statutes we see excite the children. The houses are painted in all the colours of the rainbow, which gives the city a very happy atmosphere, contrasting nicely with todays dark clouds.
We also visit another Mayan museum with more sculptures and information about the Maya’s love for jade, and a stunning jade mask from Calakmul.
We climb the city walls, enjoy the breeze and the view. We explore the sea side, the church and we buy a new headband for Cleo as she lost the first one.
At 17, we treat ourselves with a nice dinner in Campeche’s dining street: the whole street is blocked for tables and chairs. We sit inside as we’re afraid for new mosquito bites on Cleo. We already spotted two new ones that must have happened in the new apartment.
We enjoy ourselves so much that we continue strolling through the streets of Campeche also after dinner. The streets are now lightened as it’s already turning dark. We buy new shoes for Zeno as his old ones, which are old ones of Cleo, have holes in the soles.
Our good mood turns when we arrive in our musty apartment. Tim installes the musquito net at Cleo’s bed, to avoid more bites. We decide to leave this apartment tomorrow, and book an impromptu night at Villahermosa, as we’ve seen and enjoyed Campeche a lot today, there is only one more museum on our list, and we don’t feel like lounging at the place we booked. It’s hot, dark and full of musquito’s. Things you don’t always notice when you book your trip months in advance on the other side of the world. The good thing is that we found Cleo’s headband. Now she has two. Cleo was very happy with it;-)