A Trip to Sian Ka'an with Rob Volker

Meet Rob Volker.

We met him two years ago when he was guiding a Thomas More excursion to a Chickleadero camp, a Mayan village, and a  Cenote. You can see my account of that trip in my January, 2011  blog.   Rob is now a private contractor and this year we signed on for his trip to Sian Ka'an.

Tour takes you out on the thin peninsula to the right and to Punta Allen, which is at the red pointer.

Sian Ka'an is a magnificent 1.3 million acre wildlife preserve located about three hours south of Cancun along the so called Mayan Riviera. It was declared a biosphere and protected area by the Mexican government in 1986.  The goal was to limit commercial development and preserve the area's pristine tropical forests, wetlands, coastal inlets, and marine habitats for the future.  There is a lot to preserve as the various ecosystems now support over a hundred species of mammals and fish and some 350 species of birds.  

We started our trip at 7:00 AM from Playa del Carmen.  After a short break in Tulum, it was on to  Hwy 109.  Highway is definitely a misnomer for this track.  After you pass the check-in point, the  road turns into a fearsome potholed monster that was made even more exciting on the day of our trip  by a series of tropical showers.

Check-in was a bit damp

Over the next two hours we met very few vehicles, which was lucky, as our driver had to weave his way back and forth in futile attempts to avoid at least some of the water filled pits in the gravel surface..

    

Sometimes the road was just a sliver throgh the jungle and at other times we were treated to tantalizing views of virgin beaches and waves rolling onto the shore.  It wasn't a comfortable ride, but it was always captivating.

About two bouncy hours later our genial guide told us that we would now "go down to the sea in ships" in order to avoid another hour of  bone jarring road travel.  This would actually get us to our luncheon  destination--a little hamlet called Punta Allen that was orginally founded by Blackbeard the pirate--a little faster.      

Sure enough we could see down at the beach a couple of boats waiting for us.

We piled out of our van,



took a brief facility break (women were across the road but just as primitive),

and waded out to our waiting motor boats. .

Shortly,  we were skimming across the water with our new-found watermen extraordinaire.

I'm not sure what competence looks like, but we felt absolutely secure in hands of our drivers.

On the way to Punta Allen we slowed down at some mangrove islands.  Rob pointed out a 

frigate bird resting on land. 

An American  Coot almost swam right up to our boat

Then a resplendant group of Roseate Spoonbills came into view

And a pair of Snowy Egrets

 

followed by a bunch (I like those technical terms) of Double Crested Cormorants



But the real treat was a huge occupied Osprey nest.

One of the pair (they mate for life) and use the same nest year after year was perchd on the edge.


when number two circled and landed. That was worth the price of the trip right there. We didn't actually see any young ones, but we think there may have been some down inside the nest. 






We also saw frigate birds in flight.  I did not know that they have the longest wingspan vs total body weight of any bird.



as well as some young ones resting in the trees.

There were pelicans roosting too.

and we caught this brown one in flight at the Boca Paila bridge.


Need I say more than this is a bird watchers paradise.  And our day was only half over.  We had a lovely outdoor lunch at a seaside restaurant and then had some time to explore Punta Allen where things seem to move at a slower pace.



but the kids are kids and the puppies are puppies wherever you travel.

 Some houses have great looking doors.

And even the most modest seem to be totally connected.

We could have hunkered down for a nice siesta, but Rob got us moving back down to the dock again. .

 One boat in our group went out to a reef to snorkel while our second boat cruised peacefully around a mangrove lagoon

We rejoined the rest of our group for a final push out into the more open water where we saw a fair number of dolphins and also a sea turtle that swam right up along side.

By late afternoon we made our way back to the beach where we had left our van.

Thank goodness it was dry and sunny now so the long bumpy drive back down Hwy 109  didn't seem quite so long.   


We were back to our hotel by dinner time. All told it was a real adventure and Rob Volker was the glue that held it together.   He is a superlative guide, his English is excellent, and his knowledge of nature and history is broad.  Above all he has a talent for communicating his love for Mexico, its natural habitats, and the people who live there.    Check out his web site  by clicking here
and do consider his services.  We are sold on his work.

Jm and Jan De Young

p.s.  We have discovered that bird indentificatons are really tough three months after you have seen them. Comparing my pics to various poses in other books and internet sites reveals just how tricky naming can be.  Colorations within species and males and females differ widely. Younger birds often look quite different from the adults.  So please let me know if you think we have mis-identified what we saw.

Cancun Still Waiting as Spring Comes Early to Monmouth

I have been getting pressure to post another entry here.  My many regular readers, which actually number about two,  seem to get uneasy if I go silent for too long.  What can I say other than the days have been full.  The time to finish up the Cancun trip seems to evaporate faster than the contents of my checkbook.

If you need some more excuses,  consider the following.  With spring hitting the midwest about a month early I had to clean my golf clubs and go shopping for a new lawn mower (the old one bit the dust last fall)  and I didn't think we would have to worry about a new one until April.

Crocus in our front yard

Dafodils followed

  Then there was a week with both grandchildren at our house.  We did  a lot of building, but playing on the floor is a bit harder on the knees than it used to be. For me, not him.




Then there was our internet service deciding to change how we got e-mail.  That was a week right there with several calls to the "tech" guy at Maplecity.com,  huge gnashing of teeth, and numerous impolite expressions of techno-frustration.  There are no pictures or sounds of this out of consideration to the kinder sensibilities of my readers.  

Then there was last Saturday's moving day of some final materials at the Warren County History Museum.  This could not have been accomplished without the muscular assistance of several frat boys from Monmouth College. 

This past week started with an attack on the taxes.  Polished those off early and took off for Chicago to see Tennessee Williams'  Camino Real at the Goodman theatre. It was a directorial and design tour de force, but a despairing message delivered with great panache and acted with uncommon dedication is still a downer.  Talk about crapola.  Pay your taxes and then see a play where all of humanity ends up beaten to a pulp or dead in a dumpster, or both.  It was a good thing that the Warren County Historical Museum's Trivia team (including Jan and me) took the coveted 1st prize at the United Way Trivia Contest on Friday night.  Some good things can still happen in this world.

So here we are at another Saturday.  It looks pretty free, but that new lawnmover does need a workout.
Cancun is still perched on top of the "To do" list. 

  And the tulips are out.

Going Anti-Postal | The Humanist

A former student put me on to this article about the United States Postal Service. It should be a must read for any serious student of communication as it emphasizes some little known history about the service and gives you some insight into the problems it is currently facing. 


Going Anti-Postal The Humanist

Come to Coba Just off the Mayan Riviera in Quintana Roo, Mexico

The ancient Mayan city of Coba was home to over 50,000 people and flourished between 500 and 900 AD.  Conflicts with Chichen Itza contributed to its demise after that time and it was abandoned to the jungle around 1550 just as the Spanish were arriving on the scene.  Coba was left alone and hard to get to until modern roads began to penetrate the area in the 1970's and even today it remains less than 10% excavated.

There is little surface water in the rocky grount of the Yucatan so we were surprised as we approached Coba to see some lakes. The explanation was astounding.  They were formed by the quarrying of the stone to build the city. Below is one of the five lakes around the city.



Once at the Coba site entrance you can walk or take what our guide called a Mayan Limo.  Two people jump on a front seat of an adapted bicycle and a young strong Mayan fellow pedals from behind. 

Here's our power supply,  Manuel.   



You can just see our tour guide, who jumped on a regular bicycle,  and led us off rolling through the jungle.   Visitors can also hire a regular bike or walk, but the excavated sites are some distance apart and if you are in a standard tour and have a time limit, the Mayan Limo is a good choice. It also makes a fairly nice slowmoving platform from which to snap photos.


We soon were able to see one of the two ball courts on the site.  The scoring ring is shown here. The courts here are much smaller than those at Chichen Itza, but the result was the same. The captain of the winning team earned the honor of being sacrificed to the Gods.

Jus below is our guide, Oscar,  off his bike and giving us a lesson in jungle smarts.  He showed us a bad tree with black stuff on it that you should not touch because it would give you a nasty and painful rash. He also showed us that usually somewhere nearby would be a good tree and some secretions on its bark  would help heal the rash if you got it. 



Oscar was an interesting fellow.  He was superbly bi-lingual.  He was born in the states. His father was an American Marine who was killed in Viet Nam and his mother was Mexican.

Off we go again.


Many of the temples, like this one, show the definite signs of being built in three stages. 



Oscar volunteered to take our picture at the entrance.





A number of stelae have been found at Coba. Many are in poor shape as they were carved into extremely soft limestone.  Some of the largest ones are now semi-protected by shelters.



The major sight at Coba is 140 foot tall pyramid called Nohoch Mul. It is one of the tallest in the region and also one of the few in the area that you can still climb.  Below we have dismounted from our bikes and are walking up toward the open plaza at the base of the pyramid.



There is a huge rope running up to the top and less intrepid climbers can use it for added support. 

 

We didn't sign up for the summit push, but we did manage to get up far enough to take some pictures.

 

The true bravehearts were justly celebratory when they did reach the top.



Given our age, the heat, the humidity, and the dire warnings scattered about the grounds we did not feel too guilty about choosing to be groundlings. 

Our Mayan limos then took us back to the entrance where our van was waiting to take us to lunch in a pleasant little open air restaurant on the shores of one of the lagoons..

 Mayan Lime Soup was a featured element of our meal and  it was delicious.

 Stay tuned for Tulum.  Coming next.

And Then There was Mexico

My oh my! What are they looking at?


It is the view from the balcony of our old college friend's Playa del Carmen time-share and it has to be one of the most delightful sights this side of paradise. 




We have just returned from ten days of bonny beaches, delectable cuisine, and monumental Mayan archaeology.  It is hard to know where to start, but let's first give due to the unsurpassed hospitality of our hosts, Dave and Irene Spaetzel who honored us with an invitation to spend a week with them on the  Cancun Riviera at the Royal Resort's Royal Haciendas.  



We were in the lap of luxury from the first greetings by the well spoken and friendly folks at reception.  It doesn't take long after that to join the active group fun.



You can also belly up to happy hour service right next to and even in the pool.




Or how about taking over a palapa and just watching the Carribean lap gently on the shore.



If even that is too, strenuous grab a hammock and snooze the day away.




Nature lover?   There is no need to leave the reservation.

You don't even have to go off site for Mayan architecture when there's a Bob the Builder on the beach.

I know it's tough to leave the pool, but there are as many delights in the countryside as there are within the resort.  Join me tomorrow as we visit the ancient Mayan Cities of Coba and Tulum.