Watch out for falling coconuts :)

My apologies for the prolonged blog silence. Hubby and I just got back from a week in the Yucatan, where we had no phone and no Internet access. Terrible, I tell you, just awful.

Yes, it really does look like this. How we suffered. 

We flew into Cancun, but since Cancun is such a high-rise tourist trap these days, we actually stayed  about 3 hours south of the city at a small, private B&B right on the water. In theory, we were going to spend a relaxing week laying on the beach. In reality, hubby and I got bored after one day, plus I was having to bathe in sunscreen to keep from frying. So instead of laying around, we actually got in a lot of sightseeing. It was awesome!

One of the first places we visited was the 12-story Mayan ruin at Coba. At it's height around 1000, Coba was home to over 55,000 people. 

Here's me at the top of the pyramid.

Coba has an impressive intact "pok-tu-pok" court. This game was played with a resin ball, and teams were of 3-7 players. Use of hands, feet and head was not allowed, and the goal was to get the ball through the stone hoop. The captain of the winning team was sacrificed to the gods. Gulp.

Coba had lots of impressive termite nests in trees. In Mexico, termites build their nests off the ground because there are ground-dwelling anteaters. Hubby and I are considering getting a pet anteater to take care of the fire ants we have.

Next up was the ruins at Tulum. This was a lighthouse that served to show ships the passage through the surrounding reef.

It was also home to a lot of Very Large Iguanas. This one kindly informed us that he was not moving off the path, and we could go around him. Thank you very much.

Part of the palace structure in Tulum.

Hubby and I.

No vacation is complete without a lot of eating and drinking. Here we're halfway through a plate of cerviche, which is shrimp and fish marinated in lime juice. You sort of scoop it up onto a tortilla and off you go. The margarita is a must-have side dish.

The ruins at Xcalak (prounounced sha-ca-lack). It's a very different style of construction than the ruins at Coba.

Our final stop was the ruins at Chaccoben. Another style completely, although still keeping with the same basic pyramid theme.

A huge grove of palms hides the ruins at Chaccoben. It was very eerie walking through the palm forest looking at 2000 year old buildings.

Did I mention that we did a lot of eating? Here's hubby with a guanabana popsicle (tastes a little like strawberry-banana-kiwi, but it's a funny-looking spiny green fruit). They basically take crushed fruit, pour it into a popsicle mold, and there you go! So refreshing.

As for the falling coconuts reference, it's apparently a very real threat in Mexico. They can cause serious head injuries!