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The Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve day trip from Playa del Carmen was our first day trip since moving to our apartment here in Playa.  Though we had other places in mind as well, the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve topped our list.  Up until recently, the comfy buses were great for travel between cities and withing cities, but we knew we would see more if we rented a car.  The car we rented was a Nissan March, a smallish simple 4 door hatchback.  Robert did all the driving.

From Playa del Carmen, we headed south to Tulum.  The main beach road in Tulum, Avenida Coba, is also the highway that heads south into the biosphere reserve.  Robert’s goal for our day trip was to get as far as the Boca Paila bridge. 

The unpaved road was a bit rough.  Since the car was small, Robert drove slowly and very carefully.  That way, he managed to avoid bottoming out in holes, ridges or gullies on the road’s surface.  The road obviously had endured some rainstorms since the last grading, but recent days had been dry, so it was a perfect time to explore.  Although it isn’t that far from Tulum, it took about two hours of driving on the unpaved road to get to the bridge.  The foliage of the reserve is beautifully green, deep and dark.  I would have loved to walk a bit in the forest.  It appeared to me that the plants were bigger there, the fan palms had enormous fans, the pinnate palms were tall with deep green fronds.

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is not exactly as I expected, but lovely nonetheless!

I expected a park where we could get out and walk among the trees along the road and access the beach.  But through most of the zone, at least as far as the Boca Paila bridge, there was fencing near the road.  The fencing demarcated private or off-limit property, so that we could not access the beach on the one side nor the lagoon on the other.  Some of the properties had signs indicating they were lodges or guest houses of some sort.  There is a rustic restaurant in the reserve a few kilometers from the entrance.  We did go there.  At the restaurant, though we didn’t access the beach, it appeared that we could have walked down to it.  The picture below is of the beach from the dining area.

Since we had planned only a day trip, I hadn’t done research on staying in the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve.  We do plan to visit Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve from Playa del Carmen again, but not for a day trip.  We will stay at Punta Allen, the end of the road settlement that offers various levels of lodging to visitors.  Next time, to get there, we will take public transportation, a tour, or rent a much sturdier vehicle.

The Puente Boca Paila was the turnaround point of our day trip. We stood on the bridge and took some photos.  It was a very hot afternoon. Although Robert would have gladly walked to the ocean on the nearby path, it was too hot for me to attempt it and waiting in the car would have even been hotter.  Next time we hope to choose a cooler day for our visit!

Traveling when old has similarities and differences to traveling when young. Two years ago, Robert and I uprooted ourselves to travel in Mexico.  But we didn’t settle in one place. We’ve traveled around. The ease of using the buses, planes, hotel and Airbnb sites made short term stays in different areas fun and affordable.

We have more luggage now!

There’s a big difference between the kind of traveling we do now and the kind that we did in the ’60s ’70 and even the ’80s.  For one thing, we use suitcases now, while we preferred backpacks back then. Everything we need for our everyday lives fits in two suitcases, each, but they aren’t little suitcases.  Dragging them through a bus depot or airport is embarrassing. I used to travel lightly and proudly, without encumbrances other than a small backpack.

Things that we didn’t need before when traveling include things that didn’t exist in the 60s, 70’s and 80’s, like our laptops, cell phones and their associated cables and chargers, keyboards and my 21 inch monitor.

I have a lot of vitamins, a neck massager, a “ma roller”, wraps for knees, wrists and elbows, a heating pad, ice pack and more. Even though I don’t have any aches and pains at this moment, I carry these tools. And though seldom, I have used each and every one at least once on this journey. In reality, it’s a lot easier to pull something out of my suitcase than try to find an open store in some tiny unfamiliar town at ten o’clock at night or 5 in the morning.

Mail

As a grownup and elder, I don’t have a mom or dad to take care of my mail and things back home. Thankfully, with cell phone and laptop, I take care of most of my mail (digital), order supplies that I need and pay taxes online. Infrequently, we order physical mail to be sent from our physical mail center, when we can’t get back to pick it up in person.

When we left for Mexico, I had only clothes for moderate and warm weather. After a few months in the tropical lowlands, we went to Mexico City in mid-January. The cold was impressive and we immediately went shopping for sweaters, jackets and warm pants. These items added to what I carry. I replaced my small suitcase with a larger size. Now, my several changes of clothes include items both for the cool highland climates and tropical lowlands. I only buy clothes that wash and wear easily. Though I wash some things by hand, most often we take our clothes to a nearby lavanderia. Here in Mexico, do-it-yourself coin-op laundromats exist in some cities. We prefer those.

Good health is vital when traveling!

Since my first serious encounter with tropical illness in 1965, I don’t take good health for granted.. Therefore, I have vitamins and herb supplements that I would have never dreamed of carrying in my youth. Supplements that are reputed to build the immune system are part of my daily regimen. For my mental and physical well being, I think this two year journey has been very beneficial.

We pay attention to the body’s need for exercise and fresh air, so we travel slower.

A big change between now and when we were young is that our bodies rebel when confined to a bus or airplane seat for hours.  While we used to cover lots of ground by traveling long distances at night, we avoid overnight rides now. We plan our trips so that we are on a bus or plane for no more than four to six hours, preferably two or three. We then stay no less than two days at the destination. This gives us a chance to stretch out, walk, rest, and see a bit of of a new place. Even if not a preferred destination, we have found there is going to be something interesting to see or do everywhere.

Photos are easier to take and store now!

In the past, photos taken by my camera required developing into prints before I could see them. It seemed costly to take too many and I was never sure if they would turn out right. Some of the places we have visited lately are places we visited 30, 40 or even 60 years before. I wish I had more of my old pictures to use as comparison photos, but I only have a few of each place, some not in focus or with good lighting.

Of course, my cell phone takes great photos. I can take as many as I want and discard the failures! And keep them in the cloud for future viewing. It’s great to not have to lug slide projectors and slide trays around. Fortunately, I scanned all my old slides, converting them into digital jpgs in 2006. All my old slides are in the cloud now, too.

Selfies are not very flattering!

Daily in social media I see photos of young beautiful women who pose so gracefully in front of every monument, beach or festive crowd. That is not us at this time of our lives. I wish I had more photos of a photogenic me, but, alas, the photos reveal me as I really am.

Language Fluency

I’ve traveled in Mexico since the 1960s. In the 60s, I had just come out of high school and college where I spent four years studying Spanish. In subsequent trips, I never was at a loss for words. But when we came to Mexico in 2021, I would open my mouth, rapidly speak a few words and then a deafening silence. Somehow, in the past twenty years, I had forgotten most all the Spanish I used to know. Limited to only remembering some words and phrases and verbs only in the present tense. I would have feared for my memory, in general, but in the past twenty years, I had no problems with remembering other things that seemed important. Passing the real estate exam, substitute teaching, running a small online business, mastering the art of horoscope interpretation, and more occupied the past two decades, so it must have been just a matter of attention and practice.

Language Apps to the Rescue

Language apps are wonderful for filling in the memory gaps. Google Translate helps when I read articles or even a menu in Spanish. I downloaded the Language Transfer app and use it sometimes. It helps with understanding the structure and origins of Spanish.

I use Duolingo daily. I love how the lessons are short and easy to do at various times during the day. At first Duolingo was frustrating, because it took me through beginner’s, present tense lessons, for almost a year before “introducing” me the past tenses. But obviously, I needed the review, or the app would have moved me on faster. I’m still not fluent, but I am heading there. And in addition to learning the language, it feels like there are other learning benefits. All in all, travel has been good for my brain!

Besides that we love the beaches, we chose Playa del Carmen for a long stay because of the warm, year-round ocean temperatures, familiar stores and services, good restaurants, and the Cancun airport, which is less than an hour away.

My first visit to Playa was in 1992, when Playa had sand  streets and a few one story guest houses or small hotels.   At that time, Playa’s claim to fame was its ferry service to Cozumel. Since then, the city has elevated its position into a destination in its own right. When we visited in 2021, we decided it would be a good choice for a longer term stay. At the time, though, we opted to continue our journey through Mexico.

I found the comparison photo, below, on the web.  The top photo shows Playa as it was in 1974 while the photo below it is from 2010. When we visited in 1992, it’s size was still similar to the 1974 view

We visited many places in Mexico between 2021 and 2023.

Between 2021 and 2023, we visited Merida, Mazatlan, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Tlacapaque, Mexicali, Tijuana, La Paz, Progreso, Ajijic, Campeche, Tulum, Orizaba, Cordoba, Villahermosa, Coatzalcoalcos, Palenque, Chetumal, Bacalar, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico City, and more. We stayed from a few days to several weeks in each locale, returning to Playa del Carmen this past June.

When we chose Playa del Carmen for a six month stay, we rented an apartment in an eclectic gated community called Tohoku. The location is about a half mile walk from the beach. There are supermarkets close by and a Walmart, a bit further away.

Within walking distance in every direction, there are restaurants.  The mariscos restaurants have all manner of fish and seafood dishes. We like Nativo Restaurant and the natural food store nearby, where we get freshly made blender drinks and juices to go with our meal. There is a lot more we want to explore here.  Playa del Carmen is big and spread out.

One of the reasons for the spread of Playa del Carmen is that, by law, no building can be more than five stories of living quarters with a sixth floor deck. So there are no high rises.  I think this five-story rule is a good rule for a town, although it does add to the width and length of housing developments.

Something that we have enjoyed on previous visits is Playa’s proximity to the archaeological sites in the Yucatan. We haven’t visited any yet on this leg of our journey. That will be the subject of another post.

Palenque is a beautiful archaeological site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, which we visited last week.

It’s been over 30 years, but last week we visited Palenque, a beautiful Mayan archaeological site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, for the second time.  The slippery steps of the pyramids and the tree and vine covered mounds which are un-excavated structures were fun to climb years ago.  The  falls I’ve taken in recent years, just walking on dry sidewalks, gave me doubt that I would be agile enough to do much more than take a photo from below. Using the zigzag method that Robert showed me, I did slowly make it to the top,  as you can see in the photo.

We hired a guide to show us the pyramids and to walk us through the forest.

Ricardo, pictured below, guided us at the site for the official two hour pyramid and selva (woods) tour.  The selva tour takes the path through the forest behind the temple complex of Pacal and the Red Queen. The path weaves among structures which appear to be tall mounds, much larger than the restored pyramids.  Lianas and gigantic trees whose roots penetrate the mounds conceal most of the walls and ceilings.

Ricardo showed us one of Palenque’s many springs.

In the selva, he guided us to a natural spring. Our guide claimed that fifty-six springs provided life-giving water to Palenque’s inhabitants.  As we stood in the forest at the spring, we could easily imagine the sacred energy that the ancient Maya perceived there.

He also showed us the canals  and explained how the Maya of Palenque made straight sided canals, lined them with a type of smooth stucco coating and roofed them with stone.  In places, the roofed part is still intact and we walked on top of it.

We were quite impressed with the size of the freshwater canal. In ancient times, it had smooth plastered sides and a stone roof covering . Can you see, in the photo below, the remains of the solid top in the distance?

After our visit to the ruins and woods, we visited the site museum.  The displays showcase the artifacts found in the pyramids. The large incense burners have faces of gods or a  shaman.  There are also the delicately modeled reliefs which were carefully removed from the pyramids’ walls.

Orizaba is a Pueblo Magico southeast of Mexico City.

Visiting Orizaba  was the highlight of our journey. Orizaba is southeast of  Mexico City and is a designated Pueblo Mágico in the state of Veracruz. The city boasts a tram, a river walk alongside a river-flanking zoo, a planetarium, a Palacio de Hierro (Iron Palace) designed by Eiffel, the architect who designed the Eiffel Tower, good food (which to me is seafood), friendly people, lovely vistas of hills in all sides, fresh air, lots of green plants everywhere, graceful arches and ancient walls that have weathered for hundreds of years, and a botanical garden with tropical plants and various species of orchids, many of which are native to the area.

The city park, with beautiful trees, flanks one of the main streets

Walking to our Airbnb from the Palacio de Hierro we passed the park above.  The variety and lushness of the foliage amazed me.   We walked into the park, then through it, we admired the plants while children played nearby and families and couples strolled past.

The zoo in Orizaba flanks the river.

The river that runs through Orizaba is flanked by a zoo that extends along the sides of the river.  The weathered arches from bygone days create animal enclosures by the clever use of chain link fencing across the face of each arch.  There are jaguars, parrots, and other animals, most indigenous to the area.

There is a Planetarium in Orizaba

We went to the Planetarium, but it wasn’t open when we were there and it wasn’t clear to us when the next planetarium viewing would be. But it was worth the attempt, anyway, as the planetarium dome and its surroundings are picturesque. In the same complex as the planetarium there is Disneyesque medieval castle which, when we were there, seemed to be the destination for young people, perhaps a school field trip.