Akumal: Quieter than Cancun

If you’re heading to Cancun, with a view to enjoying the Maya Riviera, the following travel blog post suggests you head south to Akumal. The Yucatan Travel Movie includes footage of visits to both Cancun and the turquoise waters of Akumal.

For your next vacation, imagine flying into Cancun airport. After gathering your bags and taking your first few breaths of fresh Caribbean air, hail a taxi and, with a hint of pride in your voice, tell him to take you to Akumal. That’s right, instead of heading to the mother of all Mexican tourist destinations, you’ll be heading south to a quieter but no less lovely locale. You’ve decided to things differently, and that’s a very good thing.

Vacation Rentals in Akumal

Sculpture from Atlantis in West Africa?

Take a look at this article about magnificent ancient sculptures judged on a level with ancient Italian and Greek artwork. I love how, so often, explorers attribute their finds to having come from the lost continent of Atlantis, especially when they don’t know who created the works of art.

When the German explorer Leo Frobenius went on an expedition to West Africa 100 years ago and discovered beautiful terracotta sculptures and brass heads from Ife, he thought he had found Plato’s lost city of Atlantis.
Majesty, Serenity and Suffering from Ife’s Golden Age

Working on the Yucatan Travel Movie

Still. Coming along nicely.

Five Recommended Yucatan Destination

An online article, Insider Travel Trips for Mexico: Beyond Cancun, suggests five destations after flying into Cancun.

“Here are five favorite destinations that offer memorable Mexico vacations. Each of these spots can be reached by flying into Cancun. So if you would like to get a taste of the big city resort and then set out on the less traveled path, you will have the best of both worlds.”
Business – Commercial – Trade

The five destinations are: Isla Mujeres, Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Xel-Ha, and Tulum.

I am happy to say that three of the five destinations are covered in the Yucatan Travel Movie; namely, the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Cenotes and the Chixculub Asteroid

In the Yucatan Travel Movie, we visit a cenote that few tourists go to because it is not a tourist bus destination. The following excerpt from a blog for students visiting the Yucatan Peninsula describes the probably association between cenotes or sinkholes and an ancient asteroid that hit earth.

The peninsula is largely an irregular limestone formation, comprised of cenotes, underground streams, and caverns. Cenotes, or sinkholes, are widespread in the northern lowlands and served as the main water source for many ancient and contemporary Mayans. A now famous ring of cenotes outlines what is thought to be the site where an ancient asteroid crashed. Located off the north coast near the town of Chicxulub, the site is believed to outline the shock wave of the event which dropped the surface limestone into the underground Yucatan aquifer.
Holy Ghost Temple Missions

Dallas News Warns Against Mexico Travel

With Spring Break in the offing, the Dallas News issued a warning to students asking them to stay away from tourist hotspots in Mexico, including Cancun and Cozumel in Yucatan, especially at the U.S./Mexico border because of drug cartel wars.

Criminals are known to target foreign visitors in vacation towns, especially in neighborhoods around nightclubs. Authorities urge Americans to travel in groups, be aware of their surroundings, avoid obvious displays of intoxication and, in general, use common sense.

Best to Visit Tulum by Watching a Video

After disembarking from a cruise ship docked at Isla Cozumel, a passenger describes seasickness on the ferry to the mainland, interminable lines of hordes of people waiting for transportation to the ruin at Tulum, then waiting in an endless to get into the ruin, followed by a visit to the ruin in 90 degree heat with little shade. Her conclusion?

I can come to only one conclusion: Despite my love of travel and exploration-based education, I feel that what would really bring Tulum alive is a well-made HD documentary with engaging narration…and a front row seat on your own couch.

— Doin’ Time at the Ruins in Tulum

Reading about “TravelWitihTwo.com’s” adventure in Tulum, I feel happy and grateful that I am making the Yucatan Travel Movie to help people like her out. I am also very grateful that we traveled in a rental car and arrived before the hordes of tourists dependent upon tour buses.

Coba, a Great Place to Climb a Pyramid

The Yucatan Travel Movie includes a visit to Coba, including a climb up Nohoch Mull, a very steep, 12-story tall pyramid. Coba is described in the following blog:

Another famous Mayan city is Cobá, located 40km west of Tulum. Cobá is especially fun because it has one of the few pyramids that can still be climbed. In total, the grand pyramid has over 120 steep steps that require careful footing and lots of sunscreen. The view, however, is breathtaking, as you see the surrounding jungle and peaks of smaller temples sitting between tree tops. The remainder of this ancient Mayan city is great for walking as all the temples are connected via well-maintained walking and biking paths under shady trees.

– My Trip Guru

Chile Earthquake – Not a Harbinger of 2012?

On the other hand, the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are likely simply Planet Earth as usual rather than the earth gearing up for major cataclysms in 2012. After all, this is a geologically active planet.

Is Chile Earthquake Forewarning of 2012?

First Haiti, then Japan, now Chile. Are these earthquakes working up to the massive changes coming around December 21, 2012?