Ah Chiapas. A place to go for monkeys of different sorts, alligators lurking in rivers, Maya ruins, waterfalls, and trees trying to fall on your heads.

We began our exploration with the zoo in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. It had the native animals, endangered or not, from parts of Mexico, most of them from Chiapas. Some even greeted us from outside their caged homes. One creature in particular that ran around interested us the most. We call it nalguisparadis. In English: butt-sticker-uppers. This wasn’t really all that creative of a name since that’s exactly what the nalguisparadis did: stuck up their pleasant little behinds at us.

A nalguis paradis sniffing around. Photo by Benjamin

A nalguis paradis sniffing around

Afterward we drove to San Cristóbal de las Casas. In town, mom and I browsed at several different art stores. The two of us ended up going to one of the stores frequently. It had art, photos, jewelry, and gemstones. I bought a type of ruby called the zafiro estrella ruby (don’t worry; it’s real).

The next morning mom had a brilliant idea: fix the park that we passed every time we went to town. It had two broken play structures and the paint was chipped. One of the swings was missing a seat. We bought three paint jugs, sand paper, and brushes. Then, we got to work with the kids that were there. We sanded the remaining destroyed paint so it would be smooth and easy to paint over. More and more kids kept coming to help. Then it was time to paint. They all crowded around mom as she opened the paint jugs. One kid almost covered himself with paint because he was trying to pick it up. It was overwhelming so I herded them far from her and gave each kid a number. The ones would go first then the twos and so on. And the painting started. The swing set was a bright red. One of the slides was painted half green and half blue. The other was painted orange.

The park after we painted it. Photo: Victoria

The park after we painted it. Photo: Victoria

That night we went to dinner with Kerstin and Aten, two fellow overlanders that had met recently. We ate quesadillas and chocolate pastries. We began a close friendship that day. The next day I was invited to explore with the two of them. We ate vegetarian omelets (they’re both vegetarians) and traveled the city. We tried straight up chocolate, both hot and solid, which I found very bitter, and didn’t like all that much. We met up with mom and Nate for a second but then left them again to go to the market. There, we saw tons of little tienditas selling amber. Whether it was false or not I didn’t buy any… I wasn’t going to take any chances. I bought some gifts for mom though, a bag of guayabas, another bag of colorful beans, and an alebrije since mom wasn’t able to get one in Oaxaca. She named it Joaquín.

The next morning, we said our good byes to our new friends and drove by the park. To our surprise, one of the structures that had been broken was now fixed and working great. Some kids were on both swings and others were playing on the great looking slides. We waved and left San Cristóbal. The plan was to go to El Chiflón but as we were leaving town, the road was blocked by a protest.

So we decided to go to Palenque instead. On the way, we stopped at San Juan Chamula and went to the church in town. I think it was one of my favorite churches we have gone into because of its uniqueness. When we entered, darkness surrounded us except for the -literally- millions of candles on the floor, tables, and chairs. And people just kept on lighting them one after another. When we got closer, it was suddenly slightly squishy and we noticed that the floors were covered in pine needles. The walls had different saints on them and mom realized that each saint had a mirror on him. As we walked around, we saw families with bottles of Coca-Cola, water, and chickens, all of them offerings for their saint or god. It was really beautiful. I learned that the Coca-Cola was used to burp away the bad spirits. At a stand outside, I bought a marquitos, a cute doll caring a pile of wood. I learned later what the marquitos were: replica dolls of Sub Comandante Marcos, a revolutionary of the Zapatistas. Oh well… I still like my doll. As mom said: Amelia the revolutionary… without even knowing.

Nate drove while the rest of us clung to our seats because of the windy road that had potholes practically everywhere. About eight hours later and an overnight stop at Tapilula, we were finally in Palenque. The heat hit us almost immediately. It was almost as bad as Baja California. Almost. The super market disappointed Benjamin for the lack of cheddar cheese. We got to our campsite, Maya Bell, and jumped into the pool. Kerstin ended up coming too and joined us in the pool. A flock of toucans flew above us. They were beautiful. We fell asleep to the scary yet relaxing sounds of the howler monkeys around us.

 

The next morning we went to the Mayan ruins. The buildings were more restored than the Aztec buildings in DF. They didn’t have any color and were more square-like than the Aztec ruins. They were in the middle of the jungle and required a good amount of walking. I learned that the Mayans were one of the first people that used the number zero and learned to use it faster than the Europeans. At the museum, there was a replica of the tomb of Pakal, the Mayan king of Palenque. The real one is still in the temple but visitors aren’t allowed to see it. That was really cool even though it was a replica.

A Mayan temple in Palenque. Photo by Amelia

A Mayan temple in Palenque. Photo by Amelia

Mom giving Benjamin a bear-hug. Photo by Nate

Mom giving Benjamin a bear-hug. Photo by Nate

We walked back and went swimming. After a while everyone left the pool except Benjamin and I. All of a sudden we heard a loud moan. Everyone looked around but went back to doing what they were doing. And then a tree was falling. Directly at Benjamin and me! Then I am running, Benjamin is swimming, and we both get out of the line of fire just in time before… CRASH! The tree falls in the pool! We later realized that it was because of the storm the night before. The jungle almost killed me!

The next morning we checked out a family of howler monkeys by the campsite, then drove to Frontera Corozal. We got our Internet fix there and then ate and slept. After breakfast we got ready to go on the boat ride on a river to see the Mayan ruins of Yaxchilan. On the way we looked at both Mexico and Guatemala since the river divides the two countries. We saw alligators basking in the sun and spider and howler monkeys swinging in the trees.

The Monkeys of Yaxchilan from Nate Brown on Vimeo.

The front of the lancha while going to Yaxchilan. Photo by Amelia

The front of the lancha while going to Yaxchilan Photo by Amelia

An alligator basking in the sun as we pass. Photo by Amelia

An alligator basking in the sun as we pass. Photo by Amelia

We got to some stairs and climbed off the boat. We went through the main temple, which had bats the size of my fist and were pretty adorable. Here we saw more colorful Mayan artwork than in Palenque, but the temples in Palenque were taller and there were more of them. The hike in Yaxchilan was long and tiresome. On the way back we ate snacks on the boat and enjoyed the cool wind.

As we enter the ruins, Benjamin is pondering whether to go in. Photo by  Victoria

As we enter the ruins, Benjamin is pondering whether to go in. Photo by Victoria

We drove around the jungle and went to Chiflón. It was a hike with several waterfalls. They were all very pretty. But the ending was the best. It was a waterfall four times the size as the others. It sprayed water in all directions and felt wonderful. It was so huge and incredible. I think it was the tallest waterfall I have ever seen.

Mom and Amelia getting sprayed from the waterfall. Photo by Nate

Mom and Amelia getting sprayed from the waterfall. Photo by Nate

On Nate’s birthday, we got a room in a hotel in Comitán. Nate wanted a haircut, a nice hotel room, and dinner at a restaurant. But he got so much more! Mom and I took him to a salon and chose a haircut from a book. Then we left and took a walk. To a piñata store. And a coffee store to buy fresh coffee grounds. And the rain started. Mom and I had to run, run, run, to get back to the hotel. We told Nate we had to get ready. We hung up the piñata (which had been freshly stuffed full of two types of candies) and papel picado. We wrapped up our gifts and made a pyramid with little cupcakes. We changed and met Benjamin and Nate at the restaurant . I opened the door when we finished eating and sprayed confetti everywhere. Happy Birthday, Nate! Tomorrow we enter Guatemala!

Nate getting ready to whack the piñata. Photo by Benjamin

Nate getting ready to whack the piñata. Photo by Benjamin

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Showing 4 comments
  • Tracy
    Reply

    Sounds like such an amazing time Amelia! So fun to read all the cool and amazing things you are doing. I loved that you all painted the swings and slide. It will be something the children enjoy and remember.

  • Nancy
    Reply

    Love your post!! Pictures/videos wonderful!!

  • Tia Tere
    Reply

    Que relatos tan emocionantes… Ansiosa por leer el próximo!!

  • Kristin
    Reply

    You’re so amazing to fix the play area. Not surprised!! Feliz cumpleanos Nate! and nice haircut! 😉 xo

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