I've been 'out of service' for a week now. I came down with bronchitus, started with a dry cough and got to the point where I couldn't take a deep breath and the coughing spasms were pretty bad too. I finally went to the doctor and he gave me some grief that I was a step away from pnuemonia and I should have come sooner. Got a shot of cortisone, scripts for more cortisone, antibiotics and some kind of lung liquid. He said the liquid could have the side effect of making my hands shake and if that happened to back off on it. So, Mimi has me hold out my hands at night and so far I'm not shaking. All the stuff has actually helped a lot, the cortisone shot got me the biggest relief as the lung spasm stopped and I could get a full breath again. I haven't had a lot of energy but I'm feeling a lot better. One more day on the antibiotics and a few more on the cortisone. I'm looking forward to that first rum and coke when all this is done.

Unfortunately, Bobby and Mimi seem to have picked up the cough but they are not too bad and seem to be getting better on their own. When we were in San Cristóbal we went to an herbalist that our friend here Roberto told us about to get him 2 kilos of this lung tea. It's weird looking stuff, twigs and roots and bark. We got some of it back from him and we've all been drinking it. It does seem to help but it dawned on me the first time I had a cup that I had no idea what was in it and it might not be the smartest thing in the world to just drink a bunch of unknown roots and twigs. I didn't get high and my lungs felt better although the stuff tastes worse than dirt even with huge gobs of honey and a couple limes in it.

We did go into Cancun the other day to look for material to recover a chair and to just poke around. You can still see the damage, that area was hit so much harder by Wilma and there is still a lot of work being done and a lot more to do. We stopped on the way to visit our friends Scott and Karen at their place in Puerto Aventuras. Karen says she has been cleaning mulch off the walls but they really didn't have too much damage even from water.

Karen told us about a great restuarant on the way out of Cancun, Fonda Argentina, and we had dinner there. Fantastic! Everything is a la carte but the amount of food is huge and the meat is delicious. Mimi and I split their smallest rib eye steak, 400 grams, and we brought a huge piece home with us. The chimichurra sauce was to die for and I brought some of that home too. This is my second Argentine restaurant, we ate at one in Guadalajara before the Lila Downs concert too. I think this one was even better but it's sure become my new favorite regional food. I really hope I can get to Argentina someday.

Somewhere in this last week of coughing and laying around, I went into Playa to go grocery shopping and get my hair cut. I've always said that with hair as short as mine there are only 3 days between a bad haircut and a good one. Well, it's been about 5 days since this haircut and it still looks like a short mohawk. Really bad. I've gotten my hair cut here before, it is a shop in the grocery store Chedraui, but I guess it was a better day. Between being sick, looking like a pointy head freak and not allowed a cold beer, I've not been the happiest camper around. Things are looking up even if the hair isn't growing as fast as I think it should.

Mimi is going to Cozumel tomorrow with Bobby and Patti to meet her friend Shann who is going to be there for the afternoon on a cruise. I'm going back to Playa to take the chair to the upholsterer - I found some fabric in Cancun - and perhaps see about getting the hair evened up a bit. I may not have the nerve for that although I'd really like to get rid of this weird ridge that runs from my forehead to the back of my head.

Wow! We are so high tech down here I can't stand it. We got the TV dish working and Mimi is unhappily watching her Broncos lose to the Steelers. Still, it's working. We've got a dish garden going on our deck.


Here's a bad pic of something I never thought I'd see, someone out on a surfboard in the Caribbean and catching waves! He isn't up in this shot, I didn't time it right, but he did get up and got a long ride. It's been stormy and rainy here the last few days and probably more so out in the sea and these waves are the result.

We're back in Akumal. We stopped for lunch at Cenote Azul on the way up, enjoyed eating at the edge of the huge circular pool even though it was overcast and the depth and colors weren't clear. It rained while we were there and again as we were coming into Tulum just after dark. We got parked in the lot outside the arches of Akumal and walked over to Lol Ha for our usual arrival dinner. It was too dark to drive in and park our LD so we spent the night there. In the morning, we moved Bob and Patti's 5th wheel to a spot easily viewed by the guards at the arches and everyone on the road, moved our Tortuga in to our spot next to the condo and started hauling everything up 2 flights of stairs. Oh the joy!

We've got the internet dish set up on the patio, today Mimi and Bob are going to put up the TV dish. Mimi needs to watch her Broncos in the playoffs. I still love the colors, it was great to open the door and be shocked by color instead of the old white paint.

We took all 3 dogs to the vet in Playa the day after we got here. Hombre was clearly not feeling well, droopy and lethargic and not eating or drinking. He had a high white cell count and was dehydrated but tested neg for the erlichea he had before as well as heart worm and lyme. Paco, our vet, said he had probably eaten something that was not doing well in his stomach, he said he could hear the cramps. He gave him a shot for pain, I love this vet because he thinks of these things, antibiotics and a script for flagyl for a week. Hombre acted a lot happier right away, probably the pain shot, and has improved steadily in the last few days.

The really good news is that the new one, we're calling her Rojita, also tested neg for all 3 diseases, did not have ear mites as suspected and is in very good health. Paco says she is a year and a half to two years old, no more, has had one litter and is not pregnant. He says she is about to start coming into heat but that won't happen as she has an appt on Monday to forever fix that problem. She is a trim 16+ lbs (8 kilos) and has no health problems. Yippee! She got her implant for heartworm, Chica got hers too but Hombre will wait until he feels better. All 3 will get their vaccinations and health passports updated before we head south into C.A. The owners downstairs are here but feel that it would be too difficult to take Rojita back with them on the plane and that she is smaller than they want. That's fine, we'll find her a good home. she is really smart, playful and is learning boundaries quickly. Most of the time she will come when called, has learned not to jump right out the door but wait until we tell her OK and walks great on a leash. She's a good little guard dog, sounding the alarm if anyone walks near our rig. She's even gotten our dogs to start paying more attention, we had discouraged them from barking when we got them as all they barked at were other dogs and taxis. Now Chica is growling at men who walk by along with Rojita.

Last night we met an online friend and his wife at their gorgeous house on the beach about 5 miles from here, and all went into Tulum for pizza. It's great to meet someone face to face and enjoy them as much as you do online, I've had many experiences of that and find that all of the people I like online turn out to be people I like even more in person. The only problem came from our jeep, Sapo, who doesn't want to start anymore. Mimi is undecided if it is the battery or the kill switch shorting out but after jumping it twice to get started last night she knows she has been ignoring Sapo and needs to do some work on it.

As I unpack the stuff I got in Chiapas, I'm going to take some pics for the blog. This is a jaguar I got in Amatenango del Valle. I love her belly. I also got these beautiful tall candles in the market there, I figured they were perfect for the candle holders I had, and happily put them in last night. By this morning, they were bending in the middle and reaching for the floor. It's just too hot here for candles to keep their shape. I had 3 of them in holders and they are all doing the same thing, bummer. The shiny crown on the lamp is Patti's Queen of Dominoes crown.

We took a fantastic boat trip today, up into the mangrove lagoons at the north end of Chetumal Bay. We were supposedly looking for manatees but really we were just exploring, looking at birds, enjoying the sun and the water and oh yea, looking for manatees. It's a manatee reserve up there, Mimi and I decided that if we found some in the wild we wouldn't ever have to go to Florida. Unfortunately, the only one we saw had been abandoned as a baby, raised by humans and was in a pen out in the water to get him adjusted to life on his own. It didn't count so we still may have to go to Florida one of these days.

Here's a shot from the water of our parking place at Yax Ha outside of Chetumal, a spectacular location.

We went through a maze of waterways, it would be really easy to get lost but our boatman obviously knew the area really well.

We ended up having lunch at a small town way back in, it doesn't even appear on our maps but there is a road in and a place to camp. We're thinking it would be a great place to spend a week or so one of these trips.

Our table under the trees, we had brought some food, bought some beer from them and a really good shrimp ceviche.




After that, we went by an observation tower in the manatee sanctuary, apparently the manatees are mostly here in May and June. The view from the top was great, the water is so clear that looking down at Colleen swimming it is like she is on top of the water.




We found Daniel, the baby manatee, in his pen out in open water. I kind of felt sorry for him all alone out there. He came right over to the net and kind of pawed at it like a dog would.




We stopped at an island in the bay, it is a long island but has a narrow spot in the middle where it is only about 15' across, very Robinson Crusoe.


A perfect day!

The next morning we set out for Calakmul. This was one of the most powerful city states in the classic period, controlled most of the area between Tikal and Palenque and was their rival and contemporary. It is estimated that the city contains many hundreds of major buildings and covers more than 100 sq km.



The main plaza has been reconstructed and uncovered and there are half a dozen extremely tall pyramids there as well as palaces and long administrative buildings. It was a long 60km drive to the site from the main highway, the road was paved and pretty good and they are clearly preparing for a major influx of tourists in the near future. I'm glad we got to see it now. Once at the site, it is still over a mile walk from the parking area through dense high jungle with lots of monkeys and birds. The buildings are really impressive, this is a site equal to Tikal and Palenque even now and well worth visiting if you are in the area.


Back at Demetria's, her 3 sons were out mowing the lawn with really sharp machetes. I flinched when I saw them swinging those blades so close to each other and with such force. Even the smallest one had a short machete and was swinging away as well. She mentioned to me that in the US they would be using a machine, I didn't tell her that it wasn't the way they were doing it but that kids that age would be doing it at all. It's a different world.

From Palenque we headed back across the base of the Yucatan to Conhuas. We had decided to use Demetria's restaurant, La Selva, as a base for seeing some of the Mayan ruins in the area. Instead of our usual spot out in front, we pulled into the grassy area next to the restaurant and in front of some cabins rented to visitors. No one else was there and it was a nice spot.

Our biggest problem is that we forgot to get gas when we were going through Escarcega and there aren't any Pemex stations before Xpujil. From Demetria we learned that the station in Xpujil was out of gas so even making the 50km run there wouldn't help. She arranged for us to buy some gas from a local man but he wouldn't be back with it until the next day. Bobby and Patti were low and would need some to get to Chetumal and the next gas station and we needed some for the jeep so we could get to the ruins. We waited around most of the day but they did appear with 4 containers of 20 liters each. We paid a premium for it but it wasn't that much more and anyway we really needed it.

With gas in the jeep we took a short run up the road next to our camp to see the ruins of Balamkú. They are small but very nice and have a 17' frieze with the original paint still on it. They have rebuilt the pyramid it is in and closed it off to protect it from the elements.

The caretaker went up with us and unlocked it so we could go in. It's dark inside and no flash allowed so no pictures.

Outside he pointed out a family of howler monkeys and we watched them for awhile. After I told him we were interested in birds he pointed out a gorgeous woodpecker, huge with a bright red crest.

He also batted away this huge bug that was flying around us, he said that it bites. It had brillant red underwings when flying but once it landed on a stone wall you couldn't see any red at all. I had to take a picture of it.

We ended up spending 5 days at Maya Bell, we enjoyed the ambience, the people watching, the music from the restaurant and the many birds. I have read about a type of music from Veracruz recently and had been thinking that we needed to spend some time there so I could hear it. It's called Son Jarocho and I didn't know from reading whether I had ever heard it or not. The first night we were there, a band started up and I loved the music. I walked over to the restaurant in time to hear them introduce themselves as from Veracruz and the music as Son Jarocho! Odd that something I'd been thinking about going to hear had come to me. I like it, it is kind of a call and response singing with a strong Caribbean beat. If you remember the Richie Valens song 'La Bamba', that is an old Son Jarocho song.

There was a little red dog that appeared when we arrived, she seemed to really like Hombre and followed him around. Every night she slept curled up on the mat in front of our door. We didn't feed her (well maybe one or two treats) or let her in or really pay much attention to her but she attached herself. She was in pretty good shape for a street dog, clearly young still and as sweet as could be. The man that worked there threw rocks at her and chased her off whenever he saw her but she would come back. I asked and he said she had a house across the street but the only thing across the street was a funky mexican rancho that allowed tent camping in some really minimal conditions, I didn't believe him.

When Patty and I were up at the museum on the day we left she appeared there, about a mile or so up the road, scrounging under tables at the cafe for food. An hour or so later back at the Maya Bell when we were ready to leave she was back sitting at our door. After a discussion, we opened the door and she eagerly leaped inside.

OK, we dognapped her! I knew that healthy though she appeared now, in a year she would be skinny and sick from too little food and too many puppies and we wanted to give her a chance at a better life. The people who own the condo underneath us in Akumal lost their dog recently and the wife really likes Chica and has said she wants another dog. Our hope is that she will fall in love with this sweet little girl and give her a home in Canada.

The drive from San Cristóbal to Palenque is one of the most beautiful in all of Mexico. It starts at almost 8000' in open pine forests with dry, cool air. It winds and twists and goes up and down a series of beautiful pointed mountains. Mountain streams fall thousands of feet in incredible waterfalls. The valleys are fertile with small farms set along the creeks and steams. There were lots of wildflowers blooming including a lot of purple tree dahlias, I remember paying $30 each for those plants in San Anselmo, here they grow wild.

I talked about the different towns you go through before, each with the women in a different outfit. At one of them all traffic stopped and we could see a mob scene up ahead. When we finally got closer we saw that the police had driven across the road blocking it as a decorated truck with men dressed as the 3 Kings in back made its stately way through the town throwing candy and small gifts to the kids. Most children here get their xmas gifts on 3 Kings day or Jan 6th. Apparently it was being celebrated on the Sunday after as well. As we got farther along in town I saw an Evangelical church with a group of women in front holding their kids and not looking happy. Their kids really looked unhappy and were probably the only kids in town that didn't get to run after the truck and get presents.

Interesting sight is the banana trees interspersed with pines, not something often seen up north. As you drop farther down, the tropical trees begin to replace the pines, with everything getting thicker and higher. Pretty soon anything not cleared is a solid mass of green with Ceiba, Mulato, wild papaya and other jungle trees. The creeks become small rivers and the waterfalls more powerful, one that we saw from the road was so wide it fell around numerous huge rocks and spread across a wide section of the cliff before falling between rocks and trees to the canyon several hundred feet below.

There are hundreds of brutal topes along this road, some marked and some not. We go slow because of them and because of the steep, 2 lane, switchback road. It's nice because there is plenty of time to gawk at the scenery. The total miles are only 131 from San Cris to Palenque but it took us 5.5 hours! At the end you are in lush jungle with wide rivers and enormous falls. It is 85' above sea level and the humidity and temp is higher. We pulled into the Maya Bell campground just outside the archeological park of Palenque. It's a great place, very lush and shaded with palapas and hammock space for rent as well as small rv or tent camping. It has a restaurant and is full of international backpackers and more old VW buses than we have seen in years.

This is the church in Amatenango del Valle a town famous for its pottery, particularly a type of clay chicken. Be very afraid Marlene! Mimi keeps telling me you don't want any more chickens but... these are famous chickens!

We are leaving San Cristóbal this morning, we've been here for 10 days. It was 37°F this morning at 8am, there is frost on the grass here behind the Hotel Bonampak where we are parked.

This is a view towards the pueblo of Aguacatenango across the lake.

In the past week we've spent our time driving out to outlying villages to look and buy indigenous weaving and pottery, wandering the markets of San Cristóbal, eating at some wonderful and some not so wonderful restaurants, and soaking up the beauty and diversity of this area. I found some soft and succulent vanilla beans at an herbal store, kilos of my favorite incense, Copal, which is the gum of a highland tree. We tasted lots of coffee and bought some beans we like. Everywhere on the drive up here there are coffee beans laid out on the road to dry. It is an area famous for its coffee and yet it is very difficult to find beans that are up to our standards. Most of the good beans are exported and until recently there wasn't a market within Mexico for really good coffee. I'm glad to hear that is changing and this trip I enjoyed coffee drinks at several places that were as good as any in Seattle or San Francisco.

This is the church in Aguacatenango, I wish I could have taken more pictures with people in them but the Maya are touchy about having their pictures taken and I'm too respectful of their wishes to get the sneak shot. I do have some postcards I will scan later and put up, I assume the photographers paid to take the pictures.

Having Sub Commandante Marcos, who now wishes to be called Delegate Zero, march into town with thousands of Zapatistas was a unique experience. I'm not a fan of his, I think he had good intentions in the beginning but has wandered off into ideology and communist lingo. I did enjoy this story. He apparently has a pet chicken with mutilated feet that is unable to walk well and is named Penguin. He has had a special box built on his motorcycle for Penguin, which he intends to ride throughout Mexico on his 6 month trip to achieve solidarity or whatever. He told a story about Penguin in the rally at the centro that involved Penguins attempts to mate with the other chickens and how he would fall over each time. Somehow he related this to Mexican politics, I didn't get it exactly but I like the idea.

This is one of the most intriguing, unique, beautiful and diverse areas in Mexico. It is difficult to describe and sometimes the images are almost surreal. Women in traditional outfits walking their young sons to school who are in the latest hip hop gear and are already in pre-adolesence taller than their mothers. A man in a traditional long haired black wool jacket with a ribboned hat sitting in an internet cafe online. There are a lot of images that stick in your mind.

We are off to Palenque today, Bobby and Patti left yesterday and we will meet them there. I'll post when we have internet access again, probably in Chetumal.

Late afternoon on New Years Day, Patti and Bobby came back from Chedraui and told us that the Zapatistas were forming up for a march a few blocks from us. We got in the jeep and went down to take some pictures. We hung around for awhile but when it looked like they might move out we left, we didn't want to get stuck not being able to go home and they were clearly going to head down the main road into San Cris which would go right by us.

As it turned out, we didn't hear the loudspeakers start on the trucks until later in the evening, way after dark. We went out and sat on a wall in front of the hotel and watched the whole parade. There were thousands of people, marching and in trucks and the trucks all had loudspeakers that were leading chants by the people behind them. It was impressive.

I was struck by the number of people who appeared to be foreigners and by the huge red communist flags. I had heard that much of the movement had been co-opted by foreign communists, I don't know that this is true as a great majority of the marchers appeared to be indigenous but there is certainly a large foreign component.

Apparently this was the first day of a 6 month tour of Mexico that the Zapatistas are doing to influence the elections in June. I'm not at all clear on what they mean in their 6th Directive or how they are going to go about changing elections that they don't intend to participate in. From reading quotes of Sub Comandante Marcos's speech later in the centro, it sounds like he thinks he will be assasinated.

It was an impressive demonstration, we counted 150 people per minute passing us and it lasted for an hour. Later we heard that Marcos - who is now supposed to be called Delegate Zero - was in the white truck near the beginning. We missed him.