Yucatán | FindPenguins

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Trip start
May 13, 2026
Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Cozumel
May 14 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Cozumel is an island off the Mexican Riviera, reachable by ferry from Playa del Carmen. It's a beautiful place with lots of snorkeling and diving.
Most of these pictures are in the central square and nearby streets in the main town on the island, San Miguel de Cozumel. The last 2 are looking back to the island from a snorkeling boat.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Tulum
May 15 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Tulum was a Mayan seaport city atop limestone cliffs. It is unusual in that it is one of the few walled cities built by that culture.
I'm told that they exported jade and obsidian, but that the major wealth generator was salt.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Cobá
May 15 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Cobá is s large inland city north of Tulum. It is best known for its Nohoch Mul pyramid. The 2nd picture is the pyramid; the 3rd is the structure on top; and the 4th is the view from the top.
An interesting fact here is on the mesoamerican ball court. The game began with the ball on a stone in the center. That is the white stone protected by a structure. If you take a close look, you'll see that this stone is carved in the shape of a skull.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Cenotes
May 15 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Cenotes are essentially sinkholes where the limestone bedrock is dissolved and the overburden collapses. Most of these pictures are on one cenote where the water is about 10 meters deep, except for one large submerged rock that I'm standing on.
The other is in Valladolid.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Ek Balam
May 22 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Ek Balam is a less well known Mayan archaeological site not far from Valladolid. Only the central part of the city had been excavated with the most important building being the Acropolis.
After the site map is the inlet to a cistern, followed by a carved (now worn down) stele. The next several pictures are of the Acropolis which included the King's residence. It also includes the tomb of an important king. The rest of the pictures are around the remainder of the site.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Valladolid
May 23 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Like many cities founded by the conquistadores, Valladolid is built on top of an older Mayan city. The cathedral in the 1st picture (along with many other buildings) was built largely with stone from dismantled Mayan buildings. In fact, across the street from the cathedral is the main city plaza. The outline of the plaza matches the previous Mayan temple on the site that was dismantled. With many of the stones in the cathedral.
There are pictures of the market and several buildings. Most interesting is the city hall that houses a set of murals that depict the History of Valladolid. They are in the last 4 pictures.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Campeche
May 25–Jun 1 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Officially San Francisco de Campeche, this UNESCO listed seaside city is the only walked city in Mexico. The walls were for protection from pirates.
The old city is very walkable and the colonial Spanish design is apparent. I didn't see anything of what was there before the conquest.
The photos are all in the historic old town, beginning at the current waterfront (which is actually landfill). The beach was originally almost at the walls in the 4th picture.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Palenque Archaeological Site
May 29 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
I have titled this trip Yucatán because that's where most of it is. Palenque is the exception. It's in Chiapas.
Probably the 2 best known Mayan archaeological sites are Palenque and Chichén Itzá.
Palenque Archaeological Site is some distance from the modern city of Palenque. These photos start with a site map followed by many of the ruins excavated so far. I'm told only about 5% of the site has been excavated. So the last few pictures are in the jungle with ruins below, along with a few poking their heads out.
This is a huge and spectacular site.Read more
TravelerSkip , your travels continue to inspire. Brilliant!
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Cascadas
May 29 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Yucatán is mostly flat, but Chiapas is more mountainous. Therefore, there are many cascadas or waterfalls. I visited 2 of very different characters. One is a free falling waterfall into a small pool. The other is a broad series of steep rapids. It rained heavily while we were at the latter site. So we got a pretty good show of the flow of waterRead more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Mérida
June 2 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Mérida is the cultural hub of the Yucatán and, along with Cozumel, the places i would consider for a return visit.
The pictures are taken throughout the old city. Like most places here, previous Mayan buildings were dismantled with the stone being used to build the then new city. If you look closely at some of the building walls, you can make out old Mayan carvings in the stone.
Like in Valladolid, the city hall hosts a museum of murals depicting local history.Read more
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Yucatán skip's retirement travel
Chichén Itzá
June 4 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Well, here it is. The other well known Mayan archaeological site. I wasn't sure i would get to visit as the government closed the site due to conflict with the local people. Thankfully, it was resolved while I was still in country.
The 1st picture. Is the famous Pyramid of Kukulkan, the feathered serpent god. The 2nd picture looks at the stairway from the side where on the equinox the light forms the body of the descending Kukulkán. It is the interplay of light and shadow that creates the effect. The head of the serpent is at the bottom.Read more
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Trip end
June 8, 2026