Could this be our tour guide Victor Olalde, proprietor of Posada Olalde, the budget guest house close to the Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza? It sounds like Victor. Meera Dattani writes in the timesonline:
My tour guide Victor has Mayan roots and is worth every peso for his desire to inform, elaborate and entertain.
Mayan maths and eco-chic at Chichén Itzá
It sure sounds like Victor for his vast storehouse of knowledge and his willingness to share it with us. He also took us to a Maya home where I shot footage for the Yucatan Travel Movie.
Copyright (c) 2010 Carol Chapman
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On our last Yucatan Travel Movie filming visit to Yucatan in March 2009, we visited Hacienda Chichen adjacent to the world-famous Mayan ruin at Chichen Itza. We had the good fortune to interview Belissa Baranche, who calls herself the “keeper” of Hacienda Chichen, and her husband Bruce, who is the driving force behind the greening of the spa/resort.
During the interview, we learned that Belissa is passionate about birdwatching. Therefore, I am delighted to discover that Jim Conrad, a respected naturalist who is also passionate about birding, is staying at Hacienda Chichen as a volunteer. Here is an excerpt from his post on their blog site:
On one such late-afternoon birdwalk I photographed the fast-foraging bird: Rose-throated Becard, PACHYRAMPHUS AGLAIAE, common at forest edges, in open areas and the like, from Mexico to Panama. The Rose-throated Becard male has the rosy throat, making it easy to identify.
Jim Conrad’s Naturalist Field Work at Hacienda Chichen, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico
Follow the link above for a gorgeous photo of the rose-throated Becard male – really cute.
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The next travel movie, which will be about the Yucatan including the Chichen Itza Equinox, Merida, and Palenque, will be called Yucatan Travel Adventure.
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Today, we are working on the narration to accompany the video footage of Cancun and Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Travel Movie. Miriam Balsley, the narrator, and I are having fun and getting a lot done.
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While continuing to edit the Yucatan Travel Movie, I am reminded of the wonderful sights I saw while touring the amazing ruins at Chichen Itza. I especially like all the carvings of feathered serpents, such as the ones on the upper walls of the Temple of the Warriors where you can see distinct eagle-type claws and long beautiful wing feathers with the man in the feathered serpent’s mouth. The neck and head are those of a serpent while the rest of the body is that of an eagle. The man looks so content in this strange creature’s mouth, as if the man is sight-seeing.
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I am so happy because I figured out how to make the maps for the Yucatan Travel Movie. These are the maps that show us traveling from Cancun to Chichen Itza, Izamal, Valladolid, Ek Balam, Coba, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Tulum, and Akumal, Mexico.
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Here’s a link to a number of images of Itzamna, the great god of the ancient Maya: http://images.google.com/images?q=itzamna&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=4HLFStLoM4ee8AaSpKQ5&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4
He is usually toothless, sits in a lotus position, sometimes has a beard – very unusual since the pure blooded Maya do not have beards. Verrry interesting.
Today, I am including the search for an image of Itzamna at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Travel Movie.
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When we were filming in the Yucatan, I wanted a photo of a carving of Itzamna, the Maya Creator god. However, when I visited Chichen Itza, a couple of tours guides told me that three different looking carvings were of Itzamna. To tell you the truth, I am still not quite sure which image is the right one.
Some clues: Itzamna is usually depicted as toothless. Two of the carvings appear to be toothless. One has him sitting lotus position. I’m not sure about that. One carving has huge feathers, almost like wings, curving out of the top of the man’s head. Is that Itzamna? Very confusing.
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Chichen Itza, one of the 7th new wonders of the world, is the next destination I will be working on in the Yucatan Travel Video.
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Ek Balam, Mayan for “Black Jaguar,” took center stage for editing in the Yucatan Travel Movie today. Ek Balam is such a fascinating place. Absolutely amazing that its pyramid has a tomb in it . . . and, you enter the tomb via the huge mouth of a giant carved monstrous image of a god’s mouth. Not that we tourists are allowed inside the tomb. But, we can look into the monster mouth, past its huge curved teeth and also be impressed by the monster god’s huge eyes, the lids of which are held up by people carved in stone. I find the two men with wings the most intriguing. What were they? Angels?
Also, this tomb is not under the structure as it Palenque, but 2/3 up the edifice. It makes me wonder if other pyramids have tombs hidden within them.
Reviewing the footage brought me back to that very hot day in January a year ago when we visited this wondrous site that is relatively free of tourists. Perhaps few tourists come here because they are all at nearby Chichen Itza.
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