We enjoyed a great camp at Sima de las Cotarras. We were the only ones there and we had a campfire and a fantastic, cool, quiet night’s sleep. The next morning we headed for Aguacero, which involved 742 stairs down into the Sumidero River canyon. We bathed in a waterfall plunging into the canyon from the rim high above and Quinn had a great time playing in the water. There were several other local families picnicking there as well.

We enjoyed our first campfire since the Baja Peninsula

After lunch at the restaurant on the rim, we hit the road planning to stop in Tuxtla for the night before heading to San Cristobal the next morning. The motel/campsite advertised in our guidebook was closed, so we decided to push on. The drive to San Cristobal involved climbing 5000 feet in about 30 miles. I think we can safely say that our power problems are solved!

As we arrived in town we were greeted by cool weather, a welcome change from the heat of the lowlands. We found our campsite and settled in for the night next to a Canadian family that we had met in Oaxaca.

We spent 3 days in San Cristobal, visiting a couple of museums and enjoying the mountains, the cool climate, and good food. We spent a lot of time trying to decide whether to visit the Yucatan Peninsula, as was our plan. May is the hottest month throughout most of Mexico, and we’re not sure we want to spent a couple of extra weeks in the hot and humid lowlands. However, when we talk to people who have been we’re reminded of amazing beaches, cenotes, and great Mayan ruins. Decisions, decisions.

San Cristobal is set at 7000 feet and we enjoyed the cool climate.

The town is home to lots of nice colonial architecture and great pedestrian malls.

Q gets another haircut.

Mango Lady! Mango Lady!

Mmmm Mango

We left San Cristobal on Tuesday heading toward Palenque. We stopped first at Tonina, our first jungle ruins. We camped that night at a small hotel / campground run by a local family. We had a great time and met some French expats from Mexico City. Quinn got to play with their kids as well as the host family’s son.

The ruins at Tonina were uncrowded and very impressive.

This being Easter week, a somewhat important Catholic holiday, there are lots of people on holiday (here it is called Semanta Santa). We stopped at two waterfalls on our way to Palenque, and although they were very beautiful, the crowds kept us from staying long.

The falls were beautiful…

… But the transportation was a little sketchy.

We arrived at the Maya Bell campground near Palenque that afternoon. Now that we had descended from the highlands to near sea level in the jungle we expected to find heat and humidity in abundance. We were pleasantly surprised to find it nice and cool. We learned that a heavy rain the previous night had cooled things off, but it wouldn’t last.

The next day we hired a guide and toured the amazing ruins of Palenque. The site covers a large area, but only 10% of the site has been excavated, leaving thousands of structures still covered by jungle. Part of our tour included a walk through the jungle and we could see the walls of un-excavated buildings in the jungle. With more time to explore you could almost feel like Indiana Jones here.

One of the excavated temples at the site.

That afternoon the heat and humidity returned in full force and we spent the afternoon in swimming pool of the campground. Quinn found a friend to play with, and they had a great time together. Their family has been travelling for 12 years, and includes two boys ages 5 and 7, a 10 year old girl and a dog. The 7 year old suffers from cerebral palsy. The next day, the family, including Spirit the dog, set off on bikes to visit Bonampak, a 2 day ride away. It’s absolutely amazing what some people are able to accomplish.

We got to see some beautiful birds and howler monkeys right in the campground.

We already feel like we’re going to melt into the jungle, so we decided to skip the Yucatan Peninsula. We’re planning to traverse the Carraterra Frontera, a 300km section of highway that runs south, then back to the west along the Guatemal border. We hope to see another set of ruins, then climb back into the highlands where hopefully we will enjoy cool weather once again!