Merida …..our home for the next month & a day trip to beachside Progreso

November 15, 2023

The morning dawns cloudless and warm 26C, as we enjoy a calm breakfast and gradually get our things together. Our ADO bus leaves at 11.48 and it is only an 11-minute walk from the hotel. Per our normal way, we arrive early and hang out in the waiting area watching the ebb and flow of locals and foreigners alike. This is another clean, well-organized station…

We purchased our tickets a day prior for 615 MXN (49 CAD) so no concerns about room on the bus, our bags are ticketed, seats are assigned and the bus leaves on schedule…we have our “warm gear” at the ready, as these buses tend to err on the side of frigid once the aircon kicks in!

It is a 160 km ride which should take in the order of 2 hours, the drive is rather lacklustre as we are driving through flat jungle-like countryside.

Merida is the capital of Yucatan State with a population of  9000,000 and is renowned for its rich Mayan history, its vibrant, contemporary cosmopolitan cultures, and its varied food scene. It is also a good base to visit the North Coast beach towns (Progreso etc.), archeological sites, cenotes, haciendas, and some interesting small towns.

We will be here for a month so one way or another we will learn more than a little about his area. It is an interesting test for us, as we have never stayed this long in any one place throughout our travels, save for when we owned a condo in Florida.

The bus arrives on time and we grab a taxi to head to our rental. We are excited and a bit apprehensive as the pictures/write-up of Casa Gatita >>> Kitty House was quite nice but reality often surprises on the downside.

This unit is owned/managed by Burro y Flauta Vacation Rentals. They are an expat, family-owned company with excellent reviews and have been very professional in our digital exchanges.

On arrival, a young lady is there waiting for us (we had sent her a WhatsApp message advising our ETA) and she gives us a thorough tour of the casa…..whew, here we are, welcome beers in hand! We are very happy with what we see … below are some pics, note that the front door is actually the garage, which is the 1st “room” you enter…

We are living in Centro which is composed of several “barrios”, we are staying in Barrio Santiago. Many homes and old colonial buildings have been restored as homes, rentals, and of course various businesses, galleries, restaurants, boutique hotels, etc.

 

November 16 -20, 2023

We got up to a nice morning, except that during the night Montezuma had snuck into our happy household … Annie felt sick despite taking the Dukarol vaccine before we left (hopefully the symptoms will be lessened), this was definitely not the time to run off exploring. If you need to get sick on a trip the time to do it is when it is not a travel day…so sitting by the plunge pool is not the worst-case analysis.

With no food at the casa, I head for the  Santiago Mercado a short 7-minute walk, which has several stalls serving food pointed at someone with what looked like a nice dish and lucked out with an excellent sopa de pava > homemade turkey soup and a meal in its own right. Afterward, I get to do some grocery shopping at the Santiago Mercado (good for fruits and veggies) and at the closeby AKI Express (grocery store, albeit with a limited product line-up).

November 19, 2023

Annie felt better so we went for a bit of a walk to the Parque Santa Anna which allegedly has a nice market but there was a lot of construction (they are improving the pedestrian walkways) so ultimately not so great. Each of the parks in the area seems to be highlighted with a church, often a fountain, and nice very welcome shade trees.

Before moving on a convoy of pick-up, troops bristling with machine guns roared by…so far we have seen quite a few military or quasi-military units moving about.

Then onto the Paseo Montejo named after Francisco de Montejo, the Spanish conquistador who founded the city in 1542. It is a broad boulevard with many fine mansions that were built during Merida’s economic heyday which produced a considerable wealthy class. This stemmed in large part from the cultivation of henequen which was manufactured into various rope products for the shipping industry.  Eventually, demand fell due to substitute products and the demise of sailing ships…

Then back to the casa for a siesta …it is seriously hot here at 30C plus, so somewhat debilitating. The area has quite a few interesting restaurants.  Today’s pick is  La Chaya Maya situated in a colonial building with lofty ceilings and an inner garden courtyard >> very cool. We sampled a few Yacatanean dishes: both plentiful (so much so that we brought a “doggy bag” home) and also very tasty > with a Margarita + 2 beers + tip 627 MXN (50 CAD): 

All in all a pretty good day and it is great that Annie is getting back to normal…

November 20, 2023

Nice morning and we both seemed fine but the game plan is to stay close to the casa, explore the neighborhood, but not take a chance on a bus trip. All is well, and as this is Revolution Day we can hear the sound of drums and see a lot of police activity. We head down to Parque Santa Lucia as folks line up to view the parade…it is a military parade with various units marching by naval, canine, infantry, etc > mildly interesting, but after a bit we have seen enough…

Dinner is chez nous and yours truly is the Chef tonight….

 

November 21, 2023

Nice morning, 26C and sunny, everyone is feeling gung ho. After a decent breakfast, we decided to head for Progreso. This is a small port town and a popular beach destination for Meridians. It was a very sleepy town until the pier was extended to 6.5 km (yes the water here is very shallow) which now allows large cargo vessels to offload and more importantly for the local economy cruise ships can dock.

As per usual we are taking a local bus which entails walking to the AutoProgreso Bus Station where we buy return tickets for 96 MXN(8 CAD)…. an easy ride, the aircon is moderate, and in less than an hour, we are there.

The town is a tad tawdry with lots of souvenir shops and stands selling beach stuff with folks calling out for your business…” no gracias and a smile works” and we are at the beach:

Facing the pier on the left side is where the fishers land their boats after a hard day on the water…

To the right is an almost brand new Malecon along the beach with palapas, beach chairs, etc. There are no commercial buildings on the beach but the hotels, restos, etc. on the other side of the Malecon are happy to sell and deliver food, drinks whatever to the folks lounging under the palapas…

We walked to the end of the Malecon stopping every now and then to look at the water, beach, and fauna which is very reminiscent of the Florida Coast, bringing back a lot of happy memories from Manasota Key…which is “just” across the Gulf of Mexico…

Decent lunch at a resto overlooking the beach with a nice breeze and a couple of beers….hmm not so bad!!! 

Interestingly over 66 million years ago a large asteroid about ten kilometers (six miles) in diameter, struck Earth. The crater is estimated to be 180 kilometres (110 miles) in diameter and 20 kilometres (12 miles) in depth. It also happens to be buried underneath the Yucatan Peninsula. Although its center is offshore, the crater is named after the onshore community of Chicxulub Pueblo which is very close to Progreso.  It is the 2nd largest confirmed impact structure on Earth and caused the mass extinction of 75% of plant and animal species on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. The Museo Del Meteorito opened its doors in August 2022 to generate cultural tourism in the beach city.

The return trip was straightforward and we were back at the casa in time for much-needed showers and a siesta.  Dinner tonight was at a restaurant in a boutique hotel called Johannes Comfort Food & Bar, poolside we were not overly hungry so settled for two starters: aioli garlic fires and battered shrimp along with tempura shrimp tacos with Picco de Gallo mayo  >> washed down with ice cold frosties everything was just excellent!

On the way back we walked past Santiago Parque where a full-fledged band was playing old-school dance music and folks were, you guessed it dancing! Lanquid air, music, and the Santiago Mercado and Church serve as a pleasant backdrop. A nice way to end the evening…

All in all a great day…..