Tulum and Cozumel

The ancient archeological ruins known as Tulum were the last we visited during a tour through southern and eastern Mexico. We had started in Mexico City three weeks ago in April of 2002 and had walked and climbed our way through pre-Columbian sites in Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Yucatan peninsula. After using up all this energy we were very happy to spend a week in a timeshare on the beach near Cancun.

But we had just one more Mexican ruin to visit...

First view of Tulum
Of all the Mayan ruins we've seen, this may be the most dramatic....

Another view
The architecture at Tulum isn't the most magnificent , but anyone...

One hundred and sixty years ago
Our guide shows us what the Castle at Tulum looked like in 1842.

A closer look
In the 1840's, the outside world would see for the very first time what...

The Castle today
The Castle appeared to look much better then, when it was surrounded...

Another look at Tulum
There's the Castle up on the hill. The Caribbean sea is over on the other...

The Caribbean
Again, this Mayan ruin is the only one with an ocean view.

Vigilant sentinel
This iguana didn't move a muscle as I moved around him to get a better...

Iguana
It sat very still, but gave me a very suspicious look.

A Mexican favorite
An illustration from a magazine ad currently promoting Mexico tourism.

View from our room
Ok, enough ruins! Now it was time to relax, and that's what we did in the...

Porpoise
Between Tulum and Cancun is Xel-Ha, a beautiful combination of coral...

Scarlet macaw
This beautiful creature and some of his friends live at Xao-Ha.

Snorkeling
A 45 minute boat ride takes you to the island of Cozumel, one of the...

Clearing the beach
On one typically hot day, I watched these four young fellows carrying large...

article published 05/10/2002

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