Leap Notes

A wonderful time was had by all on our first trip with the Gloriamaris.

We sailed from Progreso, Mexico out to one of their national parks - Arrecife Alacranes Nacional Parque - located approximately 65 nautical miles north of Progreso.

Casting off from the dock at 2:30am arriving in the park around 9am.

L to R- Gregg, one of the owners, Karen, Charlie and Gregg's friend Paul

We had lines out during the crossing and in the early morning hours a dorado/Mahi mahi/dolphin hit the lure that Paul had brought and he reeled in a beauty. We ate well for several meals, grilled fish for dinner and fish tacos for lunch.

Gregg caught a Black Fin Tuna during another day of sailing....

...and again, we ate well for several meals. I am preparing the tuna for grilling.

Charlie vs The Grill - we do not like charcoal at sea. Gregg has approved a new LP grill for us which will be shipped in along with a new radar unit.

We had several visitors drop in. Alacranes is in the migratory flight path and several birds stopped for a rest. We also had several fall from the sky. Dead from exhaustion. Very sad.

This one spent the night with us in the main salon, taking off in the early morning hours.

Other visitors

We put out shallow bowls of water

One evening we went out to get ready for the night dive to find flying fish here and there in the cockpit, and unfortunately deceased.

Wrecks on the eastern side of the park

The birds love it

The ever changing sky

Gregg (L) and Paul (R) preparing for a night dive

Gregg is an avid photographer. One of the joys of night diving is captured in the photo he took of this

3 inch octopus that was hanging out under the Gloriamaris.

To see more of Gregg's photography visit the blog we write for the Gloriamaris at:

www.thegloriamaris.blogspot.com

and view the post - Arrecife Alacranes Nacional Parque

Gregg also took these pictures of Charlie free diving.

At 25ft

At 40ft

Photo also by Gregg - the Gloriamaris anchored offshore

We had a great trip and look forward to sailing off into more adventures

Celebration Time

Time to take a day and go exploring with our Mayan dear friend Russel, a tour guide, our Spanish teacher and interpreter and all around hard worker with us on the catamaran, GM. We had our choice of several options, certainly more than we could accomplish in one day. We are off to celebrate our 34th Wedding Anniversary and Russel set out to spoil us with a day of swimming, exploring, education and eating.

First stop, a Cenote for a swim. Cenote: a freshwater spring in a limestone sinkhole or sometimes, a swimming hole inside a limestone cave. We visited a cenote that is "open to the sky" in Mayan terminology.

This one, located in a remote Mayan village, not accessible to tourists and can only be found with a guide such as Russel. We had the place to ourselves for an hour or so, then cautiously a few locals arrived quizzing Russel about the gringos and his connection to us. Russel explained we were his friends from the United States cruising on a sailboat that was docked in Progreso. They asked if we were like the people on Gilligan's Island. Russel started laughing and translating at the same time and we all then had a good laugh replying, "We have cruised for more than three hours."

Charlie and Russel opted to dive from the platform.

I chose the stairs

Russel visitng with the locals.

Russel

Mayan Ruins at Uxmal in the Yucatan Region of Mexico

Here is a link to the Site Map
http://mayaruins.com/uxmal/uxsite.html

This site has photos that were taken at key spots. Select a green arrow and the photo and description will come up.

The tallest pyramid on the site - Pyramid of the Magician

Can you see the face at the top? The mouth is an entrance.

Zoom view of the face. The nose is missing. Visitors are not allowed to climb this pyramid.

The patterns in this stonework are used in just about all the buildings at this site.

The iguana was hanging out quite a way up the pyramid.....

The iguana is in the lower right corner of the picture below.

All the facets of this pyramid make an intriguing study in architecture and the manpower for such construction. Russel says the pyramid is round on the ends to mirror the planet. Mayan homes are also built with round ends.

Exterior walls are curved outward at the top to make it difficult for intruders to scale.

An arch just about fully restored

Several columns of stone carved to resemble bamboo is another reoccurring motif

Strolling around inside the quadrangle, a set of four buildings used for assorted purposes. An education wing, town hall, science and observatory wing and the Chief's residence. The buildings are placed just so, for tracking the solstices and equinoxes as well as the daily tracking of the sun and any change in the winds.

Close up of the snake face

Pillar remains - Located in the center of the quadrangle, it was used to track the sun.

A powerful creature for the Maya. Name went right out of our heads. More questions for Russell.

Russell taking a picture of us taking a picture of him at the top of one of the Grand Pyramid

Long way down. We failed to count the steps.

Grand view of the site. You can see the top of the pyramid we first visited in the center of this photo

Another snake face in the room at the top of the pyramid we climbed

An Ancestor in the mouth of a snake symbolizes a message brought from that ancestor

Close up details of the carved patterns

We received a great deal of information from Russell, more than we can remember. As I sit here now and write I realize I have several more questions for Russell. However he did recommend a book which we now have, titled:

A Forest Of Kings - The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya

By Linda Schele and David Freidel

We have some reading to do.

Next stop the hacienda for a late lunch