Pyramids and Monkeys!

Maya Bell Hotel and campground in Palenque, MX.

I'm just sitting here watching toucans and monkeys because, well, it's Wednesday. And, I'm in the jungle. We've arrived in Palenque, in the state of Chiapas, and are spending the last of our days in Mexico at the Maya Bell campground.

In the way a lot of places around here are, Maya Bell is much more than a campground. It is actually a hotel which has cabanas scattered all around, a restaurant, a bar (with nightly live music--even on a Wednesday night during low season) and areas for RV camping and tent camping. We found it on iOverlander, and at approximately $5/person/night, we may wind up staying longer than the two nights we had planned.

The sites are hike in--like a number we have stayed at in Mexico--so we grabbed stuff from the bikes and headed to the palapa of our choice(You know, there farthest one away...). As we began to pull gear out and get settled, we decided lunch and a beverage were the first requirements. Our first stop coming into town was a giant store similar to a Super Target where we picked up the essentials such as fruits, vegetables, cheese, a bottle of rum, and some limes.

Limeade, rum, and fresh lime make a remarkably refreshing drink, even without ice.

Because we had a short day of riding, we were at camp early, with no other plans for the day. After we had eaten, we began pulling out the tent to set it up on the pad under the palapa, and suddenly remembered--when the odor hit my nose--we had packed it in the rain three mornings before. In the serious heat we've been riding in, the damp tent, footprint, and fly sat breeding mold in its little bag, staying the night in there when we hoteled it in Villahermosa and Acayucan. We strung up lines and hung everything, hoping the slight breeze available would dry everything out quickly. While that stuff dried, there was nothing more we needed to do.

Airing out the tent and listening to the monkeys.

It was so nice to relax, lean back in my chair, and stare out at the jungle with a rum and limeade drink in my hand. The jungle is ridiculously noisy with its multitude of insects, birds who all seem to be yelling at each other, and the screams from the howler monkeys. But even with all the noise assaulting my ears, staring off into the thick, deep jungle with the heat and humidity pressing on me made me feel so relaxed.

Then suddenly, from out of what seemed like nowhere, there was a small explosion of foliage, and an animal zipped across my peripheral vision to stop and sit about ten feet away. Later, I would look and realize his burrow/den is under our campsite.

But, for the moment, he sat staring at me. "Hey lady, you're stomping on my roof!"

And, I stared at him. "What the crap even are you!?!"

The hidey-hole entrance to our house rodent's den.

The agouti. So cute, and remarkably agile.

He appears to be a rodent, somewhere in the 12-15 pound range maybe, resembling either a seriously overgrown hamster, or a miniature capybara. They are not elegant in appearance. In fact, their pear shaped bodies and large noggins look as though they will snap their delicate little legs at any moment. But they walk, trot, and run through the lush vegetation with the delicacy of a prima ballerina--think dancing hippos from Fantasia. Throughout the rest of the day, many of them would hunt for food, and run after each other, squeaking like marmots, while we played games, made dinner, and just chilled out under our palapa.

The steps of the Mayan temples are ENORMOUS!

The main reason for visiting Palenque, of course, are the ruins. They are fascinating--the architecture, the use of materials, the layout, and the civilization which caused them to exist in the first place. Of course, as I read about the burial site of the Red Queen, where three levels down they found a chamber containing more than 200 pieces of Jade, I thoght, "I could totally be in an Indiana Jones movie!"

Sometimes I pretend I'm Indiana Jones, and sometimes I pretend I'm Tarzan!

But, what fascinated me the most, was where had that civilization gone? It just up and vanished. And nothing would be in that area again for a long time. We visited the museum when we were done running amok in the ruins, and there were no hypotheses put forth as to why the civilization just up and disappeared.

Also interesting to me is the fact that a number of structures had steam baths in them. They would heat rocks in the fire and arrange them, then pour water over them to add humidity and heat to the rooms--just like my favorite sauna at the gym in Santa Maria. As I stood there, sweating my eyeballs out, I couldn't figure out WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY WANT MORE HUMIDITY AND HEAT!?! It was in the mid to upper 80s, with 99% humidity, and it wasn't even the HOT season.

Anyway, here I sit, thinking on these things, listening to the music of the jungle, and wondering what the storm will be like tonight. Around 10;00 last night, lightning and thunder started up. It went on for a bit, and then the skies opened up. Sheets of rain poured down, while thunder and lightening continued for the next couple of hours. The thunder absolutely roared, claps of it so loud and sharp, that sometimes I jumped.

Nature + humidity create amazing things, like these mushrooms. I chose not to add them to dinner...

Eventually the thunder and lightning stopped, but the rain continued until morning. I fell asleep and slept brilliantly until the morning calls of the Howler Monkeys woke me. They were loud. And whatever you think a Howler Monkey sounds like, you're probably wrong. Unless you think they sound like multiple dinosaurs waging a battle in the far off distance. They're not terribly big, and I really expected their "howling" to sound more like, well, howling. It doesn't. It's deep, low, and full-throated sounding--completely unexpected, like the rest of Mexico.

If your screen does not show this little spider as bright, fluorescent green, it is not displaying colors properly. He was beautiful. You know, for a spider.

Tweeker, the grandma cat. She and the baby all-black kitten came running over every time they saw me.i think they know I miss my Sofi.

I really do love this country, even though I'm pretty sure my hair will never dry with this humidity...

Update: It took eight hours for my hair to dry, and that is only because I finally went to bed and I'm pretty sure my pillow absorbed the moisture. I'm guessing it will be four days before my pillow is dry...

 

 

 

 

 

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