Yucatan

The Riviera Maya is one of the most popular destinations in Mexico, and it’s easy to see why: crystal clear Caribbean waters, pristine beaches, beautiful beach towns and Maya ruins …

This Yucatan road trip offers a great taste of Mexico: A mix of Caribbean beaches, Maya ruins, cenotes, jungle, delicious food and authentic Mexican villages.

These cenotes are reached by riding on horse drawn carts (note: not carriages, these were far from romantic) on centuries’ old train tracks through the jungle. This sounded just quirky enough to recapture that magical feeling we were looking for on our visit to Merida .

The sleepy colonial town in the center of the Yucatan peninsula has a classic, authentic feel, the kind of place which is somehow still devoid of major tourism despite its proximity to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and several beautiful cenotes.

While we were staying at the beach house, we had many little geckos that were hanging out there with us – including this one, our personal favorite!

Since we’ve started traveling full-time in 2010, we ran into a hurricane every year – first Matthew in Belize, then Irene in Washington last year, and this year Ernesto in Mexico…

In my monthly round-ups, I am looking back at my travels over the past four weeks, what went well and what didn’t, and what’s next for me.

The Zocalo in Merida is home to several shoe shine men and boys, as are most central parks or squares throughout Mexico and Central America. We stopped to talk to him because of that adorable (and very pregant!) black cat.

Although Valladolid is with 45,000 considerably big, it has more the feel of a sleepy Mexican village, with pastel colored colonial buildings and a tranquil town center. A lot of the women still wear the typical Mayan dresses and sell hand-made dresses and other crafts around the town square.

My last stop in Mexico was the tiny island of Isla Mujeres with its picture-perfect Caribbean beaches and laid-back vibe. The perfect place for a mini vacation!