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The Yucatán peninsula is a land rich with history and natural resources, including freshwater pools known as “cenotes” and underground rivers. Limestone deposits filter rainwater over millennia to create these crystal-clear pools of cool water, the finest anecdote to the region’s relentless heat and powerful sun’s rays. This particular cenote is located about an hour from a local highway, down a bumpy dirt road, and part of a 12km long cave system that has been used for ritua

The golden hour in Valladolid: A sleepy town with a lot of heat. Yo: “Buenas noches.” Una señora mayor: “Buenas noches mamita chela.” Chela is usually a word for beer in Mexico but it also means “light-skinned person” in some places. Haven’t been called that since Nicaragua nine years ago. The more common Mexican word for a person of my physical features would be “güera/o.” But that may be used for anyone who is obviously not from the place where they are currently at, regard

That one time I was interviewed by a Mayan language radio station .... and got a basic lesson. This is Teresa Pool Ix, a retired teacher and volunteer at Radio Yuuyum which broadcasts live from a school building in Mérida’s centro every Monday night. The station manager sends regionally relevant news stories to a local translator who in turn translates them into an hour of news. The station plays Mayan music, like rapper @patboy_rap_mayaoficial and talks about different theme

Mérida was recently ranked the large city with the highest quality of life in Mexico, and from my experience here and elsewhere in this massive country, I’d tend to agree. It’s safe, relaxed (even with a metro area population that topples 1 million), abounds with schools and universities and it has quick access to some of the most beautiful places in the Yucatán peninsula. The food is exquisite. It also happens to be hot as a habanero most of the year. I’m not sure I’d ever g

Preparando flores para los difuntos. // Preparing flowers for the departed. On the road with @vanbalammx. #mexico #yucatan #quintanaroo #bacalar #hanalpixan #dayofthedead #diademuertos

The Soothsayer's Temple at the Mayan Uxmal Archaeological Zone in Yucatán. 900 AD. #mexico #uxmal #mayanruins #yucatan #ruinasmayas #archaeology #arqueologia #pyramids #piramides #culturamaya #mayancuolture #bbctravel #mexicoandando #mexicolindoyquerido

Doña Mari at her home in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Her son, Don Manuel, runs an animal sanctuary on their land full of animals native to the Yucatan peninsula, but which are in danger of extinction in the region, such as ocellated turkeys, deer, species of bees and the occasional jaguar. Doña Mari, sentada en su casa en el estado mexicano de Quintana Roo. Su hijo, Don Manuel, tiene un santuario de animales nativos de la península de Yucatán, que ahora está en peligro

Hanal Pixan is the Mayan celebration that means “food of the living” This tradition takes place in people’s homes, thus it’s considerably intimate. It includes regional foods such as pib, cochinita pibil, fruit and sweets. Here is the path to an altar, with copal incense lit in the foreground. The marigold leaves help the spirits find their way to the altar. In Mayan cosmology, when a person passes on from this world, they pass through various levels before finding their rest