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 […]
Truckin’ to Tulum!
by Ron Burdine After five days of driving from Denver, Colorado to Tulum, Mexico, I have arrived! What follows is a recap of the high and low-lights of an interesting drive through a beautiful country. DAY 1: We (my brother-in-law, Rich, and I) left Denver at about 6 pm, and nearly made it to Amarillo, […]
Palenque
The ancient city of Palenque (pa-lenn-KAY) is like no place on earth. Clutching the foothills of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, where the sultry tropical air gently reverberates sounds of the jungle like a slow-beating ceremonial drum, Palenque’s elegant structures have allured visitors from across the ages. One such figure was Count Jean-Frédérick Waldeck, an […]
Candice Carboo-Ofulue, aka "Trifling Travel"
Our Mexico Trip/Tour expert Candice Carboo-Ofulue is a cultural journalist from London. Even in her early years as a twitchy toddler, Candice lived to travel. By day, she and her gremlin, Fluffy, adventured into the exotic world that was her Grandmother’s garden, overturning rocks in search of fossils and discovering wonderful species of bird. At […]
Coba Ruins
Overgrown with tropical forest, the Coba ruins (pronounced coh-ba), the once great city that for a time, dominated ancient Mayan society in northern Yucatan is almost forgotten. Aside from a gentle stream of explorers flowing through each year the ancient city is one of the few visited ruins that has been left relatively untouched. Some, expecting a […]
Visit Campeche
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 […]
Izamal
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 […]
Sian Ka’an Biosphere
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 […]
Uxmal
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 […]