Chetumal and Laguna Bacalar

May 1-2, 2016

My first day in Chetumal, (and first day in Mexico if we're being really accurate), I wandered. It was hot but not terribly overpowering. I got a late lunch from a very nice lady in a little restaurant, confirmed Mexican food is spicier than all the other countries, and discovered cucumber-lime is an excellent juice flavor.

Then I found the waterfront, (Chetumal is on the edge of a bay), and did some people and car watching. Lots of slugbugs, although they tended to be more normal colored than everywhere else.

The seafront. Not as picturesque as some other places, but still water rolling in.

Monument to something that was by the water

The next day I visited Laguna Bacalar (which sounds like Klingon to me) 45 minutes from town.

I was dropped off in the center of town, where I found a delightful focaccia sandwich and an old fort. The sandwich was eaten, the fort was closed. But there were still had some cool views, with the laguna visible in the back. (Note: I discovered yet more of my photos are corrupted and gone, so I found stock photos that were basically what I took.)

From the path outside the fort. It had basically a moat, and then 10 feet of steep wall. I can see how it would be hard to get in if the gatekeeper said 'no'

Okay, I didn't have this photo exactly, but it's got the laguna in the background and was pretty sweet.

I got another taxi a couple kilometers out of town, where I paid a small entrance fee to use the lakefront services of a tiny resort for a couple hours.

I went swimming in the very blue waters, and reveled in the fact that it was fresh water for a change.

Also, there were stromatolites to geek out over. They kind of resemble coral, but are really bacteria that have been building these structures for thousands of years. They leave awesome fossils and are fascinating from a geo-bio perspective, so I enjoyed that too.

A couple hours in the sun and water, and I caught another taxi back to town, happy with the day's adventure.