A Resource For Expat Lifestyles in Mexico
by Layna Segall de Velez, Feature Writer When you drive through Xico Viejo, Veracruz, a small town 25 miles from Xalapa, you would swear you had stepped back in time and into an “John Wayne western. The narrow streets are tough to navigate with horses and burros tied to hitching posts along both sides. The trucks you see [...]
Overgrown with tropical forest, Coba (pronounced coh-ba), the great city that once dominated ancient Mayan society in northern Yucatan is almost forgotten, aside from a gentle stream of explorers flowing through each year. Some, expecting a restored metropolis on par with neighboring Chichen Itza are disappointed by its eroded temples with fading facades. Others, however, [...]
Breaking the tide of the Gulf of Mexico, Campeche (Com pay CHAY) is one of the oldest colonial cities in Yucatán Peninsula, founded in 1540. In golden years, it thrived as the major port; trading timber, dyewood, silver and gold. An elegant city soon emerged behind the harbour, patterned with baroque style townhouses and ornamental [...]
Known as the “Yellow City,” Izamal may be the oldest colonial settlement in Yucatán state, located only 45 minutes from the capital, Mérida. It was founded in early 16th century, atop the pre-existing Mayan city of Izamal. As was the strategy of Spanish conquest, temples and buildings were destroyed, and a colonial township constructed from [...]
In peaceful slumber, on the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, is the Sian Ka’an (see-an CAAN) Biosphere Reserve. Over 500,000 hectares of tropical forest, wetlands and coastal dunes, its remarkable biodiversity includes jaguar, howler monkey, and even the American flamingo. Its eastern region expands across the Caribbean Sea, where it shelters a section of [...]
Almost 80 km south of Mérida, the present-day capital of the Yucatán state, is the ruin of Uxmal (OOSH mal), an influential Mayan metropolis of the late classic period (AD 600 to 900). In its heyday, Uxmal’s influence spread across northern Yucatán and included subjugating the neighboring settlements of Labná and Sayil. Today, it is [...]
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