Rio Bec Nightmares
After 3 days of rain and heavy wind resulting in a compromised, leaking, thatched roof, we decided to sublease our place.Fortunately, as we went out that morning, 2 young French Canadians were outside looking up at our place. And they were looking for a place for a week. It was perfect!
We rented a car and headed to the Calakmul ruins in the S part of Campeche state, almost to the Guatemala border. It is difficult to get to the ruins of Calakmul without a car, as they are 45 miles off the main road on a narrow road with no public transportation. We stayed nearby in great cabañas (outside of Ipujil) that were like being outside, at Rio Bec Dreams. Rick and his wife, Diane, moved from Canada 8 years ago, and built this dream.He had to drill every nail or screw hole because the wood is so dense. Water is a constant problem in the area. It is pumped from 70 miles away and is sporadic. They have buckets of grey laundry water all over for emergency toilet flushing. They drive 1 and 1/2 hours east to Chetumal for groceries. Fighting the jungle back is a continual battle. You must rake out the underbrush constantly to keep away the dangerous spiders, biting ants and snakes. Rick looks tired. When we left he offered to sell us the place. As dreamy of a place it is to visit, staying there would be a real Rio Bec nightmare.
Calakmul was wonderful. Birds, toucans, monkeys, all over. The pyramids are huge. You can see the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala from the top of one on a clear day. Only about 10 people were in the whole huge site. On our return drive to Rio Bec Drams, we even saw 3 Jaibu storks roosting on the top of a canopy tree.
We headed North next and stayed outside of Izamal, about 1 hour east of Merida. We stayed at a old henequen hacienda which is still a working ranch. There we saw lots of birds, orioles, matmots, varieties of thrushes. In the evening we heard crashing about in the fruit trees off the porch. There were huge fruit bats (about a 2 foot wing span) flying through the trees, shaking the fruit off, which would then crash to the ground.
We headed back to Puerto Morelos. One of our renters was still there, laying in bed as he had ruptured an ear drum by frenquent diving. He had to delay his flight a week for the eardrum to heal. He looked rather lost as he left with his assorted bags. He is an artist using recycled goods he finds for his works. He left a few piles of plastic scraps he had found at the beach.
We rented a car and headed to the Calakmul ruins in the S part of Campeche state, almost to the Guatemala border. It is difficult to get to the ruins of Calakmul without a car, as they are 45 miles off the main road on a narrow road with no public transportation. We stayed nearby in great cabañas (outside of Ipujil) that were like being outside, at Rio Bec Dreams. Rick and his wife, Diane, moved from Canada 8 years ago, and built this dream.He had to drill every nail or screw hole because the wood is so dense. Water is a constant problem in the area. It is pumped from 70 miles away and is sporadic. They have buckets of grey laundry water all over for emergency toilet flushing. They drive 1 and 1/2 hours east to Chetumal for groceries. Fighting the jungle back is a continual battle. You must rake out the underbrush constantly to keep away the dangerous spiders, biting ants and snakes. Rick looks tired. When we left he offered to sell us the place. As dreamy of a place it is to visit, staying there would be a real Rio Bec nightmare.
Calakmul was wonderful. Birds, toucans, monkeys, all over. The pyramids are huge. You can see the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala from the top of one on a clear day. Only about 10 people were in the whole huge site. On our return drive to Rio Bec Drams, we even saw 3 Jaibu storks roosting on the top of a canopy tree.
We headed North next and stayed outside of Izamal, about 1 hour east of Merida. We stayed at a old henequen hacienda which is still a working ranch. There we saw lots of birds, orioles, matmots, varieties of thrushes. In the evening we heard crashing about in the fruit trees off the porch. There were huge fruit bats (about a 2 foot wing span) flying through the trees, shaking the fruit off, which would then crash to the ground.
We headed back to Puerto Morelos. One of our renters was still there, laying in bed as he had ruptured an ear drum by frenquent diving. He had to delay his flight a week for the eardrum to heal. He looked rather lost as he left with his assorted bags. He is an artist using recycled goods he finds for his works. He left a few piles of plastic scraps he had found at the beach.