Stepping off our luxurious, air-conditioned bus into the oppressive heat and humidity of the jungle city of Palenque, we were not prepared to be constantly wet and sticky. We had just arrived from the City of San Cristobal where, at 7200 feet, the air was crisp and cool. Our jungle enveloped cabana was among an enclave catering to vacationing Europeans. Early evening would bring about the haunting yowls of the Howler Monkeys. Although we couldn’t see them, they seemed to surround us.

Our tour of this national park included the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque where work to uncover the city began around 1950. Less than 10 percent of these pre-classic period (226 BC to 799 AD) stone structures have been reclaimed from the voracious jungle. More than a thousand temples, tombs and homes are still covered by tropical vegetation. Palenque is a medium-sized site that contains some of the best Mayan architecture, sculptures and carvings. This archeological dis

covery is unique because so much of the history has been reconstructed by reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque and extensive knowledge of the city-state’s rivalries. I won’t say more about the site since you can always look it up. Hopefully the pictures will give you an idea of how awesome it truly is.

As we descended the steps from the ruins two little girls called to Michael, “Senor, mira cascada” (sir, see the water falls). Mike fell for it and went to see what they wanted to show him. It was a ploy to get us to stop and look at the trinkets they planned to sell us. There are people selling souvenirs all over the area and we must have said, “no, gracias” 500 times as vendors approached us but Mike is a pushover with kids and we now own Mayan calendar necklaces

for our birthday months, April and December. The deal he made with the girls was that we would buy if we could also have a picture with them. After I had paid them ten pesos (about $.60) each I had a few one peso coins left in my hand and the littlest girl said, “propina por favor” (tip please). She was so cute… what could I do but give them two more pesos each. Michael has been calling them the jungle banditas.

Another stop on this tour day included the majestic and roaring waterfalls of Agua Azul. We endured the bumpy three hour mini bus ride because of the opportunity to swim in the blue water pools as we saw were promised in the brochure. We neglected to read the fine print that cautioned that in the rainy season, the falls and the pools are mud brown because of the rain water run-off. We saw lots of people in swimsuits but no one was swimming so we decided it was best to stay out of the water. The first picture is what we expected to see. The other is what we actually found. Day tours in Mexico can be long and grueling but you certainly get your moneys worth.

Actual View

Brochure View