Hello from Cancun

We had a wonderful day yesterday as most of the family went to see the Mayan Ruins at Ek-Balam. Ek-Balam is ear the colonial city of Valladolid is one of the newest sites to open to the public, Ek-Balam, home to remarkably well-preserved Mayan ruins.

This little gem of a Mayan city is rarely visited and you may very well end up strolling around all by yourself among temples and jungle. It's a bit off the beaten path since it's located about 20 minutes north of Valladolid, and is best handled by car. It is not difficult to find. Go to Valladolid, go through the main square (El Zócalo) and then follow the signs to Tizimin. The exit to Ek-Balam is well marked.

It was a wonderful set of ruins and unlike the other ruins in the area, I'll be there wasn't 200 people there when we were there. It is a little farther out (about 2 1/2 hours) but well worth the visit.

We then went to the village of Rio Lagartos and had lunch which was platters of various fresh fish prepared in about 10 ways. There had to be something you liked at this meal. We then went into the Rio Lagartos Natural Park and viewed many types of wild birds including the highlight of Flamingos. I have some pictures but you see the horizon and then pink specks so I was too far away to get good shots with my little camera. We also saw a crocodile which our guide Gaspar got to come closer with a fish on a string. While he wasn't huge, I didn't need to see him that closely.

Most of the group then took a mud bath from the brine pools from the salt mining plant there. It was like washing with borax or Lava soap.

All in all it was a great day and we had a good time. Our group of 5 of the seven siblings with spouses and some children have been getting along famously. We found it is really, really great to have a sister living here who works in the tourist industry and is married to a Mexican citizen. We have access to people that they work with all the time and they are excited to see our group arrive as Lisa and Jesus are very gregarious people and everyone likes them. They have worked very hard to make sure we have a good time and kept busy. Jesus is on the phone bargaining all the time and I'm amazed at the price differences we get. I'll put there business address in here at the end of the trip.

Tomorrow we are going to Xcaret for the day. I will brief you on the day as well as describe the fishing trip we took today.

Jerry