Cruising The Seven Seas: To The Mayan Ruins

To The Mayan Ruins

27^th March 2012

Meeting up in the Crew Mess Jose-Chavez, Ani and I quickly had some breakfast while waiting for the ship to dock. Maryna was there but didn’t want to come with us because she’d arranged to call her parents at 11am. Carolee couldn’t come because she had to visit the dentist. However, she was a real star and lent me her Nikon lens, so I could take out my Nikon D90.

Going into the lab so I could finish up the odd bits and pieces of set up, and grab my camera, Kate was there doing reprints. She asked where we were going, instantly wanting to join us. A little while later, Diva was walking through the door, ready to go and armed with a Canon 5D Mark II, the camera I want. Maryna came walking into the lab to declare that she’d changed her mind and now wanted to come with us.

Now there were six of us: Diva, Ani, Jose-Chavez, Kate, Maryna and myself. There was no way we were squeezing in one Jeep, we’d have to rent two. Out of all six of us, only Kate and I had driving licences. I was amazed and more so by Jose-Chavez’s ignorant comment “why do you need to learn how to drive when you live on a ship?” “Maybe because we don’t spend our entire lives on ships and for occasions like these?”

Once docked, we headed out into the Mexican sun. This was the first time Ani had seen sunlight since Castaway Cay – four days ago! Our eyes had become accustomed to the artificial light of the ship and the dimly lit crew areas, that even with sunglasses on we were squinting and struggling to see.

After what seemed an age, we managed to get the Jeeps sorted. Jose-Chavez had a few complaints though. He wanted to rent the Cherokee’s with air-conditioning. Kate and I didn’t for the simple reason that they were automatics. We preferred to drive manuals. Jose-Chavez didn’t understand why we were so stubbornly requesting the manual Jeeps, even if it cost us $5 more.

Kate has never driven on the opposite side of the road. In England they drive on the left, so if she felt more comfortable driving a manual than that’s fine by me. Driving on the opposite side of the road isn’t easy, I did it myself when I moved to Kent, England to study photography, so I understood why she wanted a car that she was more familiar with. Jose-Chavez really couldn’t understand what the difference was, after all, to him, it was just driving on the opposite side of the road… but it’s not really that simple if you’ve never experienced it before, let alone don’t know how to drive!

Kate and I, each driving a car, went against Jose-Chavez’s option of opting out for the extra insurance. If we were in charge of driving the cars and carrying two passengers, plus ourselves, we wanted as much insurance we could get. We were the ones responsible for the passengers!

Once the bill was sorted, we climbed into our Jeeps and hit the road. Ani and Jose-Chavez were in my Jeep. Kate was following me, carrying Diva and Maryna. Once we were out of the built up area we were on the straight empty roads.

After about 30 minutes of driving, I pulled over into a layby. Getting out the car, I went over to speak to Kate. A line of cars had piled up behind her as she was being cautious and driving relatively slowly. Checking she was okay, Kate was actually doing a great job. Kate wanted to take things slowly, get to grips with the gear stick being on the opposite side etc.

Talking to Diva, she missed breakfast and wanted to pull over somewhere to get some lunch. A place further along the coast, Alberto’s was recommended to us by the car hire place. We thought it’d be a good idea to have a look and maybe stop off there.

In the meantime, while talking to the guys in the other car, Jose-Chavez and Aniko were trying to fix the roof on our Jeep. Jose-Chavez had complained that the Jeep’s soft-top had been rolled back and he didn’t want to be in the sun. The only problem was that the soft top was broken! The car rental workers had tried to pin it down, but the wind won the battle and the material started to detach itself from the car, flapping around uncontrollably.

Back on the road and we made it to Alberto’s within about 15 minutes. It was a quiet place, situated on the beach. Ordering drinks and food, Kate spotted a pole dancing pole. Time to have a laugh! Kate, Ani and I were straight up there and messing around. Kate and I didn’t have the strength to pull ourselves up the way Ani did. Ani, having such long legs, could wrap them around the pole, lift herself up and dangle her upper body backwards. Kate and I gave it another go. Ani made it look easy… unfortunately for us, Kate and my stubby, little legs wouldn’t wrap themselves the way Ani’s did! Let me tell you something though, Ani, is a dark horse and one to be watched!

Dark Horse Ani

Showing me how it's done

Kate's Attempt!

Jumping down to get some food, we had a big plate of Nachos and cheese. Jose-Chavez said we shouldn’t have ordered food, just the free nachos and hit the road. Why can’t this lad take a chill pill and calm down? Enjoy the day! We’ll get to the Mayan ruins… just enjoy the day, the company, Cozumel!

The Photogs: Aniko, Kate, Diva, Me and Maryna

We’d decided to take the long route to the Mayan Ruins. Why? So we could circle the island of Cozumel and see the rest of the island. Ani and I only made it half way around and the place looked beautiful. Plus it was a chance for the others to see what else Cozumel had to offer, other than the over-commercialised port. Thirdly, it gave Kate time to adjust a bit more to driving on the opposite side of the road. Having said that, she was thoroughly enjoying herself, behind the wheel again. Even though she was being cautious, like everyone would be, she was doing a fantastic job.

Coming off the new road, we started driving along the old, snaking around its many corners. After the Bob Marley place (the furthest point Ani and I got) the seascape completely changed. Unlike last week, the sea was so calm and the colour of the water was unbelievable! Mixes of deep, royal blues, light greens and blues and crystal clear waters. It sounds unbelievable that sea water can have such a mix of colours to it, but believe me, it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It was so pretty! Kate later told me she just wanted to park up, run across the white sand beaches and jump into the sea. Ani had the same idea! However, we weren’t about to lose sight of the objective: the Mayan Ruins.

Twenty minutes later and we made it to the entrance of the Mayan Ruins. Little did we know, but there was a 5km, pot-hole infested track we needed to make our way down. After a slow, bumpy drive we were met by large, colourful banners advertising the Mayans ruins and other attractions on the island. The difference between the ancient grey and black rockery surrounding us and overly bright coloured advertisement banners made me smile to myself. Coach buses from Disney Magic had already arrived. A bit of a downer as it’d probably be packed.

Walking inside, we had to pay two entrance fees of $4. Also, if you’d like to use your video camera, you had to pay an extra fee of $4 for the copyright. Walking in, past the souvenir shops, we were in a different world. Very much like when we (my old team) visited the Acropolis in Athens while I was working on Mariner of the Seas. It wasn’t long until Ani, Kate, Diva and myself were armed with cameras and shooting everything. And I mean everything!

The wildlife in Cozumel is amazing. My parents would love it here! Just on the drive down, we had a large eagle flying low over our Jeep and swooping into the grasslands on the opposite side of the road. Again it’d fly up, swoop around before darting back down.

Just at the entrance of the Mayan ruins we saw a third, large reptile. This one looked more like an iguana. It was massive! The poor thing must have felt like a real celebrity with four or five of us standing around it snapping off photo after photo!

Walking around the Mayan Ruins, the place is amazing. Many of the places were only a metre or so high and had been eroded away. Others however hadn’t collapsed. You could imagine what the place must have been like, walking along the jagged pathways.

At the end of the stone walkway we arrived at an opening. It resembled a town square. On the left hand side of the opening were the remains of Los Nichos. According to the plaque situated by the remains “The structure is so named because of the miniature shrines that were built on the sides of the stairways, which must have been used for placing offerings. The upper part had a stone vaulted roof and the interior was predominantly decorated in blue. It was built during the Post Classic Period (1,200-1,650 A.D.)”.

Los Nichos

Opposite was a large building that we were joking was used for human sacrifices, we weren’t far off the truth either! Los Murales whichs translates into The Murals got its name by the “fragmented murals discovered within it, which were painted with vivid colours of red, blue, ochre and negro (black), and covered with geometric motifs, stepped lines and Grecian frets and spirals.” “… The building had vaulted roofs for ceremonial purposes… In the interior there were altars and benches used for placing offerings (sacrifices) and holding ceremonies. Los Murales has only one construction period which dates to the Post Classic period of 1,200-1,650 A.D.”

Los Murales

At one point we spent a good ten minutes wandering around looking for Jose-Chavez, who’d conveniently gone missing. Kate piped up and announced he’d been taken by the Mayans hidden in the woods surrounding us. No doubt he’d be taken as a human sacrifice then! Finally, we decided to have a look around and find him later, we didn’t have long until we’d have to head back to the ship.

Maryna, Kate, Me and Ani

Walking to the main Mayan ruin, we followed a bumpy little dirt path. Half way to the site, we found Jose-Chavez walking towards us. He’d decided to go looking around the place on his own, without telling any of us. A few people were miffed, after all, we’d just spent ten minutes looking for him, which was wasting our time… and believe me, ten minutes is a long time in “ship’s time”.

Kana Nah

Reaching the Kana Nah, it wasn’t as big as I’d expected it to be, having said that, it was still an impressive ruin which has stood for thousands of years. Jose-Chavez, let us know that he wasn’t too impressed as he had bigger and better ruins in his home country of Honduras. Why be so negative? I don’t know! Having a look around, we all stood together for a group photo.

According to the plaque located at the base of the Kana Nah, “The base and stairway are decorated with small human faces sculptured in the stone”. Walking around the vast pyramid like ruin, we were all trying to spot any hidden faces.

Suddenly we were distracted by another large iguana like lizard. It was the same grey as the rocks and camouflaged perfectly. I didn’t realize lizards bobbed their heads up and down as a sign that they are getting scared/angry. Seeing this one bobbing its head made a us all take a step back and move along!

Out of nowhere, the quiet one of the group, Maryna, shouted “Look, there’s a Hidden Mickey”. Looking up to where she was pointed to, she was right. It could have been a face but with years of erosion, it now looked like one of the Disney Magic’s Hidden Mickeys (the ship has Mickey’s face and ears hidden within the architecture and guests can spent an entire day looking for them all.)

Hidden Mickey - Can you see it?

By this time, Kate was getting bitten by ants and time was ticking. We needed to get a move on and start the short journey back to the ship. Walking along the dirt track, it wasn’t long until Ani had ants biting her feet…. And they weren’t just having a nip. It was teeth in, bums in the air and you had to pick them off! Nasty buggers!

While walking down to the car, we heard loud rustles coming from within the bushes. “It’s the Mayans… they want us for sacrifices…” the jokes continued.

Back at the car, we had our photos taken. You can’t rent a Jeep with your friends and not get another group shot! Then it was time to get back to the ship. Bumping around the track, Kate was still doing a good job in the car behind.

Back on the main road, we whizzed along the straights. Soon arriving back in the built up area, the opposite side we’d departed from, there was a shock contrast between here and the port. The people here didn’t live far off abject poverty! We were getting a few glares from the residences and for the first time in Cozumel, I started to feel slightly nervous and eager to get back to the ship. I understood their glares though… in the same position, I’d do the same!

Once we’d finally reached the port, my engine had cut out for the fifth or sixth time. Climbing out, we had to sort out the petrol with the guy who rented us the cars. To cut a long story short, we waited and waited. In the end, I had to leave Jose-Chavez the money to pay the petrol bill ($15) for each Jeep and run back to the ship or else arrive late for set up.

The others had already ran off to get showered and changed. I had 15 minutes to get back to the ship and change for set up. This was going to be a challenge. Walking as fast as my stubble legs would carry me, I managed to get on board, shower super-fast, climb into my uniform and get to the lab before some of the others did!

So, after a great day out and about, driving through Cozumel and seeing more than just the port, it was back to work as usual. One thing was for sure, we were all shattered but at the same time full of renewed energy and refreshed.