The Norwegian Star – Excursion to Costa Maya, Mexico

On a recent cruise (on the Norwegian Cruise Line) that my family and I went on, we chose two (2) paid excursion tours to go on — one in Costa Maya, Mexico and one in Roatan, Honduras. Recommended wear was good walking shoes and, depending on the weather, shorts or long pants. We wore long pants as we were told to take mosquito repellant and I didn’t want to get bitten. (Unfortunately, we were there at the wrong time of the year for the mosquitoes — lucky for us but now we had mosquito repellant that we had to haul home.)

This post will deal with the Costa Maya, Mexico excursion. The cost per person was $84.99 and we chose the tour called “Chacchoben Mayan Ruins” that was approximately four (4) hours long.

This was the first port the ship stopped at after a full day at sea so we were ready to get out and about.

We boarded an old bus which was comfortable and air conditioned. The tour guide spoke throughout our drive to the ruins giving us a lot of information about the area and later about the ruins themselves.

Tour Bus TV
Tour Bus TV

The guide handed out a few samples of things she spoke about. I really liked this part of the tour as I’m a visual person and this helped to put everything she spoke about into perspective.

Cacao from Cocoa Tree
Cacao from Cocoa Tree
Chicozapote Chewing Gum
Chicozapote Chewing Gum (think Chicles chewing gum)

Below is a picture of the fruit of the Corozo Cohune Palm which is a tree that the Mayans made use of for oil, roofing material, etc. and that appears to be prominent in Mayan ruin areas.

Corozo Cohune Palm
Corozo Cohune Palm
Corozo Cohune Palm Nut
Corozo Cohune Palm Nut

The tour guide came with maps and allowed us ample time to take pictures of the Mayan ruins that we saw.

The Tour Guide
The Tour Guide

Below are pictures of the Chacchoben Mayan ruins. The guide told us a few stories as we went along. One story told was of a sacrifice where a person would be rolled from the top to the bottom of the pyramid. (Ouch!)  Since the person was dead when they got the bottom, their skin would be removed and it would be worn by the Mayan chief.

Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin

I took quite a few pictures of the ruins so will let you enjoy them without much comment.

Steps - Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Steps – Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Trees at Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Trees at Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Tree at Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Tree at Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Another Mayan Ruin
Another Mayan Ruin
Mayan Ruin
Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin

One question I had throughout the tour (that I failed to ask) was how they knew in what order to put these Mayan pyramids together. The guide told us that the ruins were hidden for many years under trees and that everything had to be cleared so they could re-construct them. They took each rock off one by one and put them back together. So really, how did they know where each rock went? Perhaps there was labeling done — tedious work.

The guide stood off to the left and told us that baby (child) sacrifices were held at this location. How sad!

Mayan Ruins - Baby Sacrifices
Mayan Ruins – Baby Sacrifices

These steps were very hard to climb as I’m short — well, even tall people had trouble climbing them. I took my time and supported myself by holding onto the step above the one I was on.

Mayan Ruin
Mayan Ruin

(This was the pyramid where the guide told the story about the man being rolled down to his death … )

Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Chacchoben Mayan Ruins
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin

This trip/tour was well worth the money and the time. It helped that we had an excellent guide and driver. There was a “checkpoint” that we had to pass through where men with rifles stood to check for anyone who might be trying to bring drugs into the country.  A little spooky to go through a checkpoint for me but it was uneventful.

Our next port of call was in Belize. We didn’t take a tour/excursion there but I’ll post some pictures soon on that port also.

Preparing for a Winter Vacation

The Norwegian Star – The Ship

Gulf of Mexico – Sunsets

The Norwegian Star – Cabin Steward

The Norwegian Star – Food

The Moderno Churrascaria Restaurant

The Norwegian Star – Excursion to Belize City, Belize 

 The Norwegian Star – Excursion to Cozumel, Mexico

 

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