Yucatan and Riviera Maya

As we dig ourselves out from the snows of Christmas and the chigger bites fade (more on this later), it is alas time to record our last travels of 2009, a year which began in New Zealand and ends with more--albeit less exotic-- changes yet in store. As such, this will likely be the last installment of SBTA, and I do not know what will follow.

We began our travels in Chichen Itza, the center of the Toltec/Mayan world, and a part of Mexico where the Mayan language is still commonly spoken. We were lucky to be the first on site with an excellent guide on the day we visited. The centerpiece of Chichen Itza is Kukulcan, a remarkable architectural achievement that echoes with the call of the quetzal and reveals the descent of snake/bird god quetzalcoatl at the Spring equinox.

Although the jungle has returned, it is surmised that environmental degradation and drought are what drove the Mayans from the Yucatan southward a full 200 years before the arrival of the Spanish.
Alone with these ruins in the silence of early daylight, their grandeur is quite impressive-- and haunting. As the hawkers, crowds and heat arrive, the atmosphere is more carnival than sacred.
After Chichen Itza and some initial birding excursions, we headed coastward to Tulum, which boasts its own ruins,
stopping along the way to swim in a cenote and visit yet more ruins at Coba (not as impressive as either Tulum or Chichen, but you can climb to the top),
A rather large chunk of our time was devoted to birding, and we saw 57 new species (55 of which we photographed). Our beach bungalow in Tulum was just North of the magnificent and massive Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve, where we saw our first Yucatan Jays--and severely tested the suspension of our little rental car on the muddy, potholed roads. By far, our day of birding in the small village of Muyil was a highlight. This is where was stalked the elusive Trogon among the eerie Muyil ruins, and picked up a nasty case of chiggers in the surrounding jungle. See our birding blog for pics.

On the way back up to Cancun to catch our flight home we stopped at a little private reserve, Achun Chen, where we visited a cave/cenote and ended up seeing both species of Mot-Mots and other birds.