Calakmul and the jungle

We bid a tearful farewell to Baby and set off towards Calakmul. We knew this was going to be the longest road trip, with Google maps estimating it at six and a half hours, but nothing could have prepared us for the condition of the first road we turned onto. It was the worst road we'd ever seen. It wasn't a case of avoiding potholes, but a case of choosing which ones to go in. We needed to go down this road for six miles, and with an almost empty fuel tank we began to think we might be in for a long walk.  Fortunately the road got a bit better about half way along, and we just made it in time to the gas station and get ripped off by the pump attendant.

Campeche

Our jung-a-low

After stopping off in Campeche for a walk along the city walls and colourful streets, we arrived in the jungle of the Reserva de la Biosphere Calakmul. We were staying in a 'jung-a-low', which was a basic little hut in the woods. The only place to eat was in the large jung-a-low restaurant, so we had a lovely meal and some tequillas to give us some dutch courage to sleep in the jungle. The noises at night were deafening. The bugs, birds, monkeys and god knows what else, screamed and squawked all night until the sun rose, when there was sudden silence.

Inside the mosquito net, inside the jung-a-low 

Wild cat defence

The Calakmul ruins are a further hour long drive into the jungle. We drove along the windy road looking out for potholes, and suddenly noticed something in the middle of the road. We froze with fear when we saw it was a massive jaguar. He got up and slowly wandered off into the jungle. There are five types of wild cat in the area surrounding Calakmul, and we'd already come across one of them. It was another 1km walk through the jungle to reach the ruins and as soon as I left the safety of the car, I acquired a large stick to fight off any more wild cats that might jump out at us.

Although Calakmul is one of the highest pryamids, I was determined to try to get to the top and overcome my new found fear of heights. Luckily the steps up are cut into sections, so I took one bit at a time, knowing I would only fall a few metres if my clumsy feet let me down.

Clinging on at the top of Calakmul

At the top of Calakmul

Being at the top was breathtaking, not least because I'd actually made it up one, but you can see for miles and even into Guatamala. I didn't want to leave, but mainly because of the embarrassing crab like crawl method I'd have to adopt in order to get down again.

We went to dinner that night, passing a tarantula on the way, and decided on a plan to stop of at Laguana Bacalar for a few hours of sunbathing before continuing to Tulum for the last four days of our holiday at the beach.

Little did we know that Hurricane Rina had other ideas for us.