Back from a productive work trip in Merida. Overall, I think it went great. Most of the planning over the last few months paid off and but for a few minor issues, we were able top wrap up coring the NCC in about three days. Also found a few fantastic food options through the week. For lunch we mostly had to do an Uber eats since there weren’t many options around the new consulate. Habaneros was the find of the week though. Their Pimitos was on point! ...
A few weeks ago I sent out a poll to the ESC group to gauge interest in a group hike at Nevado de Toluca. There was reasonable interest and we slotted this to be a family hike on the 24th. The Padilla’s and Johnston’s had to drop off last minute. It was just going to be Hadley and the Arturo’s now with the three of us. We reached the Shuttle point around 1015, hopped in a shuttle and got to the trail-head around 1100. Couldn’t wait to hop off the shuttle - the gasoline stench coupled with the super dusty windy roads was more than churning my tummy. S did terrific with no complaints! ...
Bacalar has been on our travel list for quite sometime now. Between work travel, syncing our individual schedules and just getting around to actually booking the trip; we finally get around visiting this beautiful place this weekend in November. As we get off the plane, we’re immediately hit by a waft of the Yucatán humidity, soon followed by thick droplets of rain. Strikes me just then that we’re also right in the midst of the hurricane season. A quick lookup on the weather forecast reveals Hurricane Sara would be swinging past us and into the Gulf of Mexico in a bit. I slap myself on my wrist for not doing any research beforehand but also shrug this minor oversight very quickly. How bad could it actually be? Maybe some showers here and there? We walk outside the Chetumal airport for about 500m and take a taxi from the main road to Bacalar. Oscar offers to take us there for 550 pesos. This was about 50 pesos shy of the amount the tour planner had quoted. M immediately accepts and we’re on our way. First impressions of this place immediately remind me of Trivandrum - lush green vistas with coconut trees strewn all around, narrow roads and barely any traffic. There’s construction for Tren Maya happening along the route but it barely impacts our drive. In about 50 minutes we reach the hotel and check-in. ...
Back to the Yucatan for a work trip. Too many variables to factor in and ultimately I decided to head here for just a couple days. Short but super productive. Nothing to beat some good facetime. The new building here is at a much better state than Hermosillo and we should be quite ready for the move next year. Spent about a day at the NCC and head back to the COB to close out a few things there. Wasn’t quite hungry but decided to walk over to a quaint place closeby. Barely anybody at this Puerto-Rican restaurant - Spanglish, but boy am I not glad I walked in? One of the best meals I’ve had here in Merida in a while. Salsa with some piping hot white rice served with some steaming hot platanos glazed with baked beans paste. Simple yet -potent- with flavors and spice. Surprised we did not quite visit this place over the last year. Coming back here for sure! Missed going to the Korean place this time around for the ice-cream. Spanglish more than made up for that though. ...
Spent most of this morning at the Basilica de Guadalupe. This photo does not do enough justice to how much this old church is actually falling apart.
Took a couple days off work for a short break. M flagged a quick trip to the Tula ruins. Just about a couple hours from the city, these ruins were a nice quick visit. There was barely anybody out here as opposed to the crowds at the Teotihuacán pyramids. On the way back we did a quick stop in Tepozotlan for brunch. Once back in the city, S wanted to roller blade and we head to Parque Americana for some good wheel time. I’m so glad we got these rollers! I’m definitely getting better at it. ...
Spent a good few hours out in the woods along with the girl scouts. M is not a leader this year so we took a step back and had a great time just enjoying the outdoors. S had a slow start and was heavily resisting for the first hour or so. She suddenly flipped once we reached the mid point and didn’t want to stop! She clocked around 5.2 miles in 3 hours and this would be one of her longest hikes in quite some time now! Super proud and she did earn her ramen! ...
Back from a week long trip from Matamoros. It felt much safer this trip with a significant lack of federales presence. Until last Saturday. Locals were getting ransom calls from the cartel and we decided to operate from Brownsville instead. Otherwise a pretty uneventful yet productive trip. Had to wait for a good thirty minutes for the bus to shuttle us to the terminal. Not complaining one bit though. There’s a mild nip in the air. Feels SO GOOD to be back in this beautiful valley. Izta and Popo are snow capped now. So freaking beautiful. Maybe I should head out for a hike this weekend? ...
I’m writing this, sick to the core at 0300, rallying between sweating out the sheets and freezing to the bones. It’s been a rough couple days. Oddly enough I didn’t feel one ounce of pain during the alpine hike I did on Saturday. We summited Nevado de Toluca on Saturday and this would be one of my best hikes so far. Just two hours from Mexico city, this hike has something for everybody. First off, just getting to the alpine lakes from the base, which takes about 20 minutes, opens out the playground. One can literally see the whole terrain and trails that surround the pristine alpine lakes. We decide to head clockwise and summit Pico del Fraile (15388’). The climb up is reasonably straighforward and its mostly choosing your path to get to the peak. ...
S was having a rough day on Saturday and was scrunched up against me all day. Around 1900 I checked my work phone and saw that Mo had texted earlier that morning asking if I would be interested in hiking Pico de Aguilar the next day. I wanted to confirm immediately but given S’s health I wasn’t quite sure. Decided to take a call the next morning and hit the bed. Thankfully, on Sunday morning, S seemed to have almost recovered and I decide to head out to meet Mo at his place. With some starting troubles (literally!) we finally leave for Ajusco around 0830. ...