Our trip to Mérida started with an “extra” airport security search. No stone was left unturned! We had a beautiful AirBnb reserved but it had lots of mosquitoes! After a night trying to make it work, we decided to switch to a place that was all indoors and we are so glad we did. Our new place was so wonderful that we spent a lot of time there enjoying the pool, lounging in hammocks, and relaxing.
We did leave the house sometimes though, especially to explore the city and eat delicious food common in the Yucatan peninsula. On one of our first nights at the Museo de la Gastronomio Yucateca, Mira got pretty confident about her growing tolerance to spice and ate a Habanero pepper, including seeds. The pepper is 100,000 to 350,000 on the Scoville scale. If you watch the show “Hot Ones” you will know this is very spicy!
A highlight of our time in Merida was a day trip to the surrounding area with a tour guide. The first stop was Uxmal, one of the most important archaeological sites of Mayan culture. There were several enormous pyramids and one, in particular, that was rounded (very rare). We got there nice and early so there were few tourists but it was very hot so we were excited that our next two stops were at beautiful cenotes. Cenotes are essentially sinkholes filled with groundwater and there are about 10,000 all over the Yucatán peninsula. They are either “open” to the sky or “closed” and cave-like. The closed ones we visited were filled with stalactites and stalagmites (Mira taught us that stalactites hold “tight” to the ceilings and stalagmites “might” reach them.). At one, we were the only ones there and it was amazing to swim from dark to lightness. At the second one, there were just a few local tourists. The water was beautiful and clear at both cenotes and Dev particularly enjoyed jumping off a platform 15 above the water.
(Click on the photos below to see the full size.)
This Is Not Brooklyn. 