Charting Unknown Territory in Villahermosa
We had breakfast at a restaurant on the city square in Campeche a gorgeous Colonial town on the Gulf of Mexico unknown to many tourists. Because I’m making a Yucatan travel movie, I put the camcorder on its little 12 inch tripod on the breakfast table and pointed it toward the city center square through the open windows of the restaurant. Then, I sat in front of camcorder and started to talk with the camera recording the view looking over my shoulder at the cathedral and the cars cruising on the cobblestone streets.
Unbeknownst to me, a street vendor hat salesman sauntered up and peeked into the restaurant from behind me through the open window. All this was going on without me knowing he was there. He started holding up hats for John to consider buying. Eventually, I noticed him. It made an entertaining tableau.
As it turned out, John had lost the hatband from the hat he bought in Campeche´s square in January. This guy had a bandanna for only 10 pesos for a replacement, a satisfying encounter for all. The guy got his money, John got his bandanna, and I got an entertaining video clip.
We´re charting new territory in Villahermosa. This is our first time in Tabasco. In contrast to the Yucatan, which is almost totally devoid of surface water – they get their water from underground rivers and sinkholes – in Villahermosa, we are surrounded by lakes and swamps. We drove on a causeway that felt reminiscent of the Florida Keys, a natural habitat of saw palmetto and palmtrees. There was water, water everywhere. The land is barely two feet above sea level on the causeway.
Tomorrow we go to see Olmec heads, those six-foot tall stone sculptures of Mexico’s first civilization, the Omecs. They have facial features similar to Egyptians or Polynesians. What are they doing in Central America! Very interesting. The Egyptian influence in the Yucatan according to Edgar Cayce? Or descendants from the lost continent of Lemuria Mu?
Tonight we´re going to make a spiritual pilgrimmage. In this land of supermercados, roadside stands and street vendors, it is a delight to find a place to shop that is similar to home. There´s a Wal-Mart across a busy road from our hotel. John needs safety pins to hold his new hatband on his straw hat. I need insect repellent because the Olmec heads are in a jungle and tropical plant setting with possibly howler monkeys and likely many mosquitoes.
Also, our hotel is on a lagoon. Very picturesque but we had to come in from the outdoor patio during dinner because of mosquitoes. I´m glad I´m taking chloroquinine.
Carol Chapman
