Marble's Mayan & Aztec Lawn HOLA!

I was initiated into a love of Mexico not long after I could walk.  My parents relocated from the East to Southern Arizona (Scottsdale) and loved all things Southwestern.  They instilled within their children that same love.

I must have been about 5 when we made our 1st trip to Mexico. This foray was not in deep; just to Nogales.  The ventures into the heart of Old May-hee-co came later and continued into and after college, sans parental guidance, of course.  The most extensive tour I made was when we travelled through Mexico as I moved to Jamaica the first time, in 1978.

I have a great interest in the ancient cultures of the Mayans, Aztecs, Toltecs, and South America's Incas.  My first novel, which is nearly finished, takes place in Peru and Incan history is key to the story line.  I did much research on the subject and the more I learned the more there was to know.  It's a fascinating topic, and an interesting history; full of danger, betrayal, and intrigue, violence, sacrifice, and heroism.

On this page I would like to show just a brief overview of Mexico Travel on the basis of my upbringing travelling to Mexico several times a year.  On other Mexico travel pages I will go more in-depth with specific areas of Mexico, their attractions, and suggestions, as well as Mexico's history.  I also plan to create a current events section for Mexico as well.

So . . . What's to love in Mexico?

If you are a frequent visitor to this website and have read much of my writing, you'll have figured out by now that I am a xenomaniac.  No, that doesn't mean I like the corny and horribly inaccurate Lucy Lawless television program.  That means I am crazy in love with foreign cultures and most anything exotic and new.  I'll say again, this gets back to being hyperactive I think.  I bore easily.  A constant stream of new sights, sounds, and learning new cultures is essential for someone like me. Mexico is a wonderful place for fulfilling these needs and below are visuals on the reasons why I, personally, love the place: (not necessarily in order of priority)

COLOR- I like my life to be full of color.  As you know I am soon relocating to Naples, Florida from Colorado.  One thing I have hated here was the grayness of winter, with the sky overcast all day every day month after month.  I like every day of every month to be ablaze with color.  So much so that my own bedroom, done in an African Savanna theme has a colorwash of orange on the walls!  Don't cringe-it actually looks good. Mexico is a fiesta of color!  Color fills Mexico from the narrow streets with the businesses and homes painted in vibrant colors, to the lovely flowers and plants everywhere, in every hue you can imagine.

Oaxaca

HISTORY- I like to be surrounded with it.  As the past holds much more interest for me than the present, I love to be in "Old World" places with long histories and much wonderful old architecture and art, and the old styles of fashioning homes and towns.  I love wandering narrow lanes and the craftsmanship and detail that went into the architecture of 200 and more years ago.  I love courtyards and verandahs, town squares, and I always visit old cemetaries when I travel.  My favorites are in New Orleans, but I'll save those for another page.

Town Square in Guadalaja

Cathedral in Jalpan

CULTURE- It's important for me to have a lively culture in the places I travel to.  There's nothing worse than going to the expense and trouble of going to another country to find it is so westernized you might as well have stayed home.  If I wanted to listen to Rock and Roll and eat hamburgers, why go to a foreign country? Mexico's music, art, architecture, customs, festivals, and other elements of its culture are a wonderful array of gaiety, superstition, energy, religion, and passion.  Mexicans are proud of their heritage and their history, and even in the most developed areas, the art, music, and culture of Mexico is intensely exhibited.

a cemetary on the Day of the Dead

Mariachis in Mexico City

Monument to Benito Juarez

< < < Diego Rivera mural at the National Palace in Mexico City

THE DAY OF THE DEAD: The festival of the Day of the Dead is a combination of native Central American Indian and Catholic traditions. The annual celebration occurs on November 1 and 2. Mexicans believe that the souls of the children who have passed away return on the 1st of November, and then are joined by the adults on the 2nd.   This is a very special occasion for family and close friends. Graves that may be forgotten the rest of the year are adorned with fresh flowers, food and candles.  Here you'll find the wives, children, and grandchildren sitting  throughout the night eating, drinking, and singing.  It is a time to pay respect to their ancestors and celevbrate the importance of family

SHOPPING!- Hey! Don't expect me to apologize for being a woman.  What is a vacation without somewhere to buy wonderful handmade items to remember your trip forever with, as you wear them, or look at them on your wall or coffee table?  There is no finer place to find a very wide variety of hand-crafted items from indigenous materials.  Craftsmanship is alive and well in Mexico!

Mexican-crafted fabrics, ceramics, onyx statuary, silver jewelry, and furniture are some of the best hand-made items produced anywhere with brilliant use of color and texture incorporating Mexican history and culture

ADVENTURE- The perfect vacation for me includes some adrenaline. It offsets the rum, or in Mexico's case, the Tequila, nicely, and counteracts too many lazy days spent on the beach under the warm Mexican sun. Off-road trips to ruins are a nice way to get this rush, as is snorkeling in a cenote (very deep natural cavern).  A hike in a Mexican jungle, with the proper preparations, can be a painless way to get a rush, as can, climbing a volcano or pyramid in Mexico.  Be sure to adequately prepare for things that might occur on these side trips, so that you can get that adrenaline rush without paying any long-term consequences.

For information on cenotes, see below

A cenote (say no tay) is the mexican version of a Florida sinkhole. They are usually limestone and were formed when sea levels decreased and rain later filled the empty caverns with fresh water, forming caves, passageways and large dome-like underground structures. Cenotes often include underground rivers and form the largest interconnected cave and cavern systems in the world. Mayans called the sinkholes "Dzonot" (sacred well), thus the Spanish word cenote. They were used for religious ceremonies as well as for water supply in ancient times.

NOTE: In the adventure category I feel obliged to mention bullfights.  My father drug us to them many, many times when I was growing up.  I hated them.  My first was at a mere 6 or 7 and I felt traumatized by it.  It is cruel, disgusting, brutal and barbaric but it would definitely fall into the adventure category for those inclined to such animalistic pleasures.  Gee, I didn't give it much of a boost there, did I?

NATURE: I don't mind, even prefer, LIVING in fairly large cities, although I always live on the outskirts of them and fairly near to nature activites.  But when I want to get away, nature is foremost on my mind, and must be incorporated into the trip as vitally as museums, cathedrals, shopping, and other urban activities.  As you will see on my snorkeling page, watersports are crucial, but the land activities of hiking and exploring are just as important to me.  I love photography and am getting a bit better at it with each passing year and better equipment. Flora and fauna are in abundance and of wide variety in Mexico, and with all the exotica you'll know you're sure not in Kansas anymore, Toto.  Whether desert or jungle, there's MUCH to see.

Plumeria starts life as a bush and eventually becomes a full-size tree

Agave Cactus in Mexico, aloe vera elsewhere.  I have never seen one so big in the U.S., or even in Jamaica!

Mexican-style iguana

Puerto Vallarta

Playa del Carmen

Mexican beaches are fabulous, both on the Caribbean and Western sides.  The beaches of northwestern Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez, are fairly deserted and wonderfully clean and there are many nice places to stay there like Kino Bay and San Carlos.  The Northwest is for those who like to avoid crowds and also save money. Farther south, Vallarta and Mazatlan are more developed and more expensive but throughout all of Mexico the government offers "paradors" which have the real Mexican feel and are less expensive.  Both Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta have wonderful restaurants and snorkeling, as well as nearby historical attractions. Unless you are a very luxury and commercially-oriented person, I recommend avoiding Cancun directly and head for Cozumel or one of the other less-developed areas in the Yucatan.  The beaches are cleaner and less crowded and the snorkeling is MUCH better too.

near Puerto Penasco

near San Carlos

As a final general suggestion, I highly recommend avoiding the big hotels and Americanized resorts and staying in the government paradors or Mexican family-run guest houses, like those shown below.  You'll save money, meet more interesting people, and get more cultural background.  The guesthouses almost always have lovely courtyards and gardens to relax in and who needs a pool with the ocean nearby?  (Although some of the guesthouses do have pools.) If you want a true Mexican feel for your Mexico visit, stay in the smaller accommodations, plus you'll be spending directly with Mexicans, not some internationally-owned hotel chain corporation.

If you miss out on getting to know a few Mexicans personally, you've missed out on one of the best attractions Mexico offers!

"For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while; in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvel of it."                                          Don Juan "Journey to Ixtlan"