Tren Maya Episode 18 - Isla Aguada and Edzna
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- In this series we explore the entire Tren Maya route.
WE SAW DOLPHINS!!
Come with us to explore the Pueblo Mágico of Isla Aguada, which is known for their dolphins. We take a boat tour and get up close and personal with them. Later we visit the impressive archaeological zone of Edzna.
Incredible dolphin boat tour and the Temple of the Masks and Sun God were something else! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for watching. The dolphin tour is a day I'll never forget.
[** adds Isla Aguada to Mexico list **] I'm 70 years old, I gotta get busy. Great stuff, y'all!
The dolphin tour was definitely an unforgettable experience. Thanks!
Hola Georgia and David. No such thing as too many dolphins. They're great fun to watch. Isla Aguada has grown. In 1974 it wasn't much more than a tiny settlement, although it did have a couple of places that catered to fishermen and hunters. The only thing that I found interesting enough to photograph was an old lighthouse. I wonder if the museum you visited is the lighthouse I saw. It was a rectangular, two story building, white, raised several feet above the sand and weeds. A veranda wrapped around two or more sides of the first floor and three sides of the second floor. The round, white lighthouse itself was adjacent to the house, and had a railed walkway at the level of the light and another lower down. The house was framed by coral trees and backed by a palm grove. Isla Aguada was mostly a place to get a cold drink or maybe a fish dinner while waiting for the ferry to Isla del Carmen. The ferry was slower than a bridge but more fun. Ferries are sort of romantic. The shells looked really worn and sun bleached, about right for some crafts but not collectible as specimens. Most people are thrilled to find any shell on the beach, of course, so it is probably best that the shells on the island are protected.
I have a feeling you didn't have an opportunity to visit the Hacienda Yaxcopoil. Really interesting place, and restored since I was there 50 years ago. Now you get an hour tour for $150 pesos. I just wandered onto the site, had to fight off more than a dozen persistent little boys who wanted pesos, and eventually paid the three I couldn't shake off a peso apiece to act as guides. The Moorish double arch gateway is striking, the best on the peninsula. I'm also sure you didn't visit the grutas de Xtacumbilxunan near Belonchen. 15 years ago the caves were apparently still abandoned, but I think they are now open and ready for tourists. Frederick Catherwood's illustration of a monumental ladder descending down to the water appeared in John Stephen's Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Catherwood's brilliant illustrations of Mayan ruins drawn 180 years ago are still used to guide restoration in some cases, and unfortunately some of the stucco reliefs he drew have long since melted away under the tropical rains. Centuries ago water carriers with large jars on their backs used the ladder to access the water from several pools lying deep underground. Today concrete steps serve the same purpose, but I think the ladder still exists.
Edzna has really changed. 50 years ago there was the Pyramid of the Five Stories and two, maybe three other restored buildings around the main plaza. One of the buildings had a thatched roof (now removed, I think). Piles of rubble rather than landscaping. Not much of the sides or back of the Pyramid of the Five Stories was restored. Everything else was brush covered mounds, so I really enjoyed watching your video to see the recent restorations. It was a rainy day when I was in Edzna so I didn't stay long.
Has the rain caught up with you? I see predictions of 6-10 inches in some areas in the coming days. Can you hibernate? Or maybe it is still hot and dry in some areas. Most of the rainy season involves a reliable afternoon shower, but this rain may be from some tropical storms, and those can create round the clock showers. Good luck, have fun, safe travels.
The dolphin tour was definitely a highlight for us. I think the museum was the same lighthouse you saw. Unfortunately we didn't make it to hacienda Yaxcopoil we were too distracted by all of the archeological sites. They are still working on opening up even more at the Edzna site.
It has been raining about every third day or so here in Mazatlan. It is giving us a chance to take a break from the sun and catch up on editing our videos.
Oh man, we didn't see any dolphins when we were there!
How sad, our guide made it sound like it was a sure thing year round.