Settling in to life in San C again

After a few days at Posada de La Vista we found a place we could stay til we return to the UK - La Casa Morada. Enrique helped us move the stuff we'd brought with us, along with the stuff we'd left with him last time!



We have been following good parenting practice by putting Daisy in a small pen made from two chairs - she seems happy enough anyway and can watch all that's happening in the kitchen.


Rosie is back studying at Instituto Jovel and still speeding away with her Spanish. Daisy and Pablo make visits there most days too.

We've also got back in contact with the local children's project that we're involved with. It seems to be going really well under the new Director and Daisy remains a hit every time we visit.

www.lachozita.org

Mexico Part 2

La llegada [Ed - apologies that this section of the blog is not written by an award winning national journalist, but by a Geographer - still the pics should be good]


Our first attempt to return to Mexico was thwarted by the baggage dispersal system at Heathrow (cue Monty Python song, "I'm so worried about..."). So we spent a day in the airport at a Yotel and dining at Cafe Rouge. Rosie's parents kindly accommodated us for an extra 2 nights (they even let Daisy stay too).

Finally on Friday 22 February we left Heathrow on BA243 to Mexico City.


We stayed at 'Hotel Aeropuerto' (you'll never guess where that is), then flew south with Aviacsa to Chiapas. It felt both good to be back and odd to be away from the UK while we have no home there and are selling a flat and trying to buy a house.

Daisy was her usual adaptable self in all our traveling - though she was a little thrown by the time change (6 hours), so we got to enjoy some very early morning singing from her. We stopped at Posada de La Vista (which indeed has a wonderful view of the city) while we searched for somewhere to stay for longer.


Rosie booked back into classes at Instituto Jovel and we began the round of catching up with people who we've not seen since 07.

Mexico End of Part 1

Time ran away from us and we didn't blog our final days in Mexico before we returned to the UK for Christmas. So here are a few photos and brief words to give a flavour of it all...

We swam in a Cenote (limestone sink hole - the water was 50m deep) - a truly magical experience..


A cautionary tale - never ever order maize fungus tacos...


Bel & Dave bought a hammock in Merida


The Piña Coladas sustained us on our way


Our dear friend Yareri provided us with an unforgettable Tequila tasting session



Whilst in Taxco we celebrated Carol's birthday - for which Yareri kindly provided a cake


At Mexico City airport we waved goodbye to Carol, Bel & Dave (having wisely chosen 'Wings' over 'Flaps')



We bought some of the beautiful hand embroidered blouses and dresses that they sell in Santo Domingo market and Daisy got her first appearance as a model (shame no-one seemed to want to buy them once we got back home)!


OK, so we might have put Daisy in the manger at Enrique's mum's place - but I promise we'd only been drinking coca cola.


In our final days in Mexico before we returned to the UK for Christmas we went up to Mexico City. We took a day trip to Xochimilco ('SoggyMilko'), remains of the original Aztec floating city - now full of mariachi bands on boats...we thoroughly enjoyed it.


We also saw a house full of fantastic Diego Riviera and Frida Kahlo works and a collection of popular Mexico art, including some very cheery skeletons.



And finally we said goodbye to Mexico - or at least 'hasta luego'...

December Tour Day 8

A slight feeling of bunking of school, when we lounge around in hammocks and go out for fish tacos instead of going to see the Tulum ruins. In my defence I’ve seen them before (and Daisy and Mum don’t seem interested). Daisy enjoys another hammock, and playing with her Grandma. We’ve brought stacking cups with us, which she enjoys watching us building so she can knock them down.


It’s windy on the beach, but beautifully empty, and we see pelicans flying against the breeze, and go for lovely swims in the sea. Daisy is NOT keen on the wind (sand in her eyes), but manages to sleep in her crib all through dinner next door.

December Tour Day 7

We arrive at Tulum early in the morning, feeling like you do when you’ve done an overnight bus trip. Eyes full of grit and slightly dizzy with sleeplessness. Bel and Dave split off to have a romantic time at possibly the poshest hotel in the world (with a pillow menu, choice of room aromas and butler), but we go a little more rustic.


Dos Ceibas is right on the beach, with electricity only at night, and cabanas with beds hanging from the ceiling by ropes (seasick inducing). It’s right on the end of the Tulum development, and far more like the Tulum we remember from visiting seven years ago. Now, Tulum is all glitzy restaurants and hotels, but at Dos Ceibas it is still possible to be totally alone.


So alone, in fact, that we’re the only people for dinner and the receptionist has to call in the cook and waiter specially. They produce a thoroughly disappointing meal lit by candles, while Daisy sleeps in a shaded corner. It’s only made up for by the wonderful stars, brighter than I have ever seen them.

December Tour Day 6

Travelling with a baby seems to need slightly more equipment than the average space flight, and we spend an inordinate amount of time packing and unpacking. Daisy needs her bouncy chair, her collapsible cot, and a whole array of flasks, bottles and sterilising equipment. It’s amazing how much space it takes up.

Still, we finally manage to pack up and travel to Palenque on an even more twisty and turny road, with Daisy travelling far better than Mum does. The buses we travel on always have films to watch, and they never get switched off, which makes life interesting. Since they’re always in Spanish and I end up drifting in and out of sleep anyway, I have to guess large chunks of the plot.

I’m bemused by a talking dog with sunglasses that appears to foil an evil man running a puppy factory where he keeps the puppies in bottles, but I may be wrong. The dog may be an evil puppy stealer.


Anyhow, when we reach Palenque, it’s as impressive as ever. The pyramids are incredible, and must have been even more fearsome when painted red and blue to scare off invaders. However, the whole impression is slightly ruined by the overly manicured lawns, which makes it seem like the Mayans were too busy playing cricket to conquer anywhere.


It’s boiling hot, and while we rest in the shade we meet some children selling Mayan birthstones, and buy Daisy’s birth symbol. It’s always hard knowing whether or not to buy from children, since although it is part of the family’s livelihood, the children are obviously out selling instead of being in school.

Leydi, who sells us the stone, says she doesn’t go to school and can’t read. Mum starts to teach her to play Cat’s Cradle, and we’re quickly joined by a small flock of birthstone-selling girls who are eager to play. I wonder if they will get in trouble later for not selling anything.


We eat in Palenque’s ‘premier restaurant’, or so it says on the sign. The Margaritas are good, but the atmosphere is thoroughly morgue-like. Every couple in there looks like they have had a huge row, and are not speaking. Daisy makes up for it by shouting away.

We take the night bus to Tulum, on the Caribbean Coast, with Daisy slumbering in her sling nearly the whole way, and just waking for the odd feed.

December Tour Days 4 & 5

On the first stage of our road trip we travel by coach to Ocosingo, two and a quarter hours away. The journey may be short, but it is incredibly twisty, and we’re all pleased to arrive at Hospedaje Esmeralda, where we are the only guests.

The guest-house is owned by an American couple. We stayed on their ranch here seven years ago, but it has since been seized by a community allied to the Zapatista cause (which is particularly strong in this region and brings with it a dislike both of tourism and of any non-indigenous land ownership).

Ocosingo is not very touristy, and is real cowboy country, with boots and hats in all of the stores and lush green grazing land all around.


In the morning we visit the local Tianguis (market) where Paul and Daisy become the major attractions. The market is for women only, who squat in the dust in their traditional costumes selling the produce from their land. Any fears that anything here is put on for the tourists is soon quelled by Ocosingo, where there are no tourists and the Tianguis appears not to have changed for centuries.

We later travel to the Tonina ruins, the major reason for being in Ocosingo at all. They are some of the least touristy ruins in Mexico, beautifully preserved but not very famous. Tonina was a warlike city which conquered nearby Palenque, and is full of crazy murals of people having their heads chopped off and visiting an Underworld ruled by a large rodent.


We pass Rancho Esmeralda and other ranches seized by the Zapatistas on the way back. They are right opposite a large army barracks. Ocosingo was the scene of the bloodiest fighting in 1994 and the organisation is still strong here, but no longer martial. Our taxi driver says gloomily that the problem is that the ranches seized by Zapatistas are now not being used for anything at all. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, this seems a shame.

Leaving Ocosingo we travel to Palenque, in the depths of the jungle, packing everything up yet again. It isn’t easy travelling light with a baby, which isn’t helped by the fact that I smash a thermos flask we use for keeping water warm for Daisy’s bottles. Luckily they sell more in Ocosingo.