Chiapas

Further south, we ended up in Tuxtla Gutierrez, which is the capital of Chiapas. Chiapas, is the state with the most natural resources but also has the most poverty!

We went first to visit my aunt who lives down there and then we went to Cañon del Sumidero:

We were both relieved to finally see something in nature, as most of our adventure had been tourist shops and markets, and even malls.

About twenty minutes away from Tuxla there is another town called San Cristobal. It is very quaint and there is lots of things that you can walk to from the center of town. We walked to the Jade Museum and watched the jade workers. There is also a neat jade tour you can walk through and see how Mesoamericans used jade.

We also ate the traditional hamburgers at a stand. If you look closely you can see how big those things are. They get cut up into four pieces and I only ate half. The burgers have hamburger, mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, jam, American cheese, and bacon on them. I have to admit they are very tasty!

We spent the night in San Cristobal for 10$ a night and then got picked up in the morning for the first part of our three day tour. We drove northeast on a small windy road towards Palanque. First we stopped at Aguas Azules. The funny thing is that the waters were not that blue, but the guide said it was because the rain had started to make everything muddy. I went to Aguas Azules when I was 6 years old and I remember it being very blue and cold, cold water.

Later, we went to Misol Ha, which is a tall waterfall. I braved the waters and tried to get as close to the fall as possible. The water had a very strong current, so shortly after I got in, I got back out.


The center human dot is me!

After a short time at Misol Ha we went to Palenque. This Mayan city is breathtaking, although I was sad that we did not get to go into Pakal’s tomb. (When I was little I remember going down into the tomb.) The larger green mountain in the back of this picture is another pyramid. There are many of these scattered around, covered by years of jungle growth. Unfortunately there is not enough funds to excavate these mysteries.

Christiaan took this picture trying to also get the tree into the shot because the Maya believed these ceiba trees had mythological origins. According to the Maya these trees had their top leaves in heaven, their trunk on earth, and their roots in the underworld.

We slept the night in Palanque. It started to rain a lot that day. I love the smell of the ground after it’s started pouring down rain.

The next morning we started out for Yaxchitlan. This site was deep in dense jungle and getting there was an adventure in itself because the only way to get there is by boat and the boats we were on were rickety and scary.

The site was not as big as Palenque, but there were howler monkeys near by which was the highlight of the site. These incredible monkeys sound like dinosaurs! Their howl is so loud and gut wrenching.

Later, we traveled to a site called Bonampak.

That evening six of us were dropped off at a camp. We got quaint little rooms inside a large, wide house for the night. A family who still spoke Mayan ran it.

We met a Spanish couple, and a Dutch couple. The cabins had a small bed, a net and light. The camping area was very nice. There was a small river, a small lake and a dinning area.

Christiaan and I enjoyed reading and relaxing by the river.

The next morning a jungle guide picked us up. He was no older than 19 and was wearing plastic, clear sandals. He had a machete. The hike lasted five hours, one of which we spent swimming at a waterfall.


We had to take our shoes off to cross some parts of the hike.

We saw three waterfalls and two Mayan sites that belong to the people who own the camp.

On the way back, we ran into the father of the family who owns the camp and his son, trying to fix a broken bridge.

We saw a mantis and another strange bug that was bright, blue color and made a crazy, loud sound around our ears.

Our tour guide was funny. He tried to be serious, but like I said, he was only 19 or 20. Maybe even younger. At one point, when everyone was swimming in the waterfall, he took Christiaan and I across the river to a bat cave. He was so innocent and full of adventure when he started to throw pieces of wood into the cave to make the bats fly out. When we came back across the river I asked if I could take a picture with him. You can see the machete in this picture.

The jungle walk was truly wonderful. Other than all the mosquitoes bites we got, Chiapas was alive with culture and natural wonders