Progreso, Mexico
We arrived in Progreso just after lunchtime on Thursday, January 8 and spent an overnight at the port so we were able to do two different excursions. Progresso is a commercial port with a population of 60,000 people. Most of the population is involved with fishing, with octopus being one of the primary species fished. The town itself has very little to offer tourists but it does have some nice beaches. It is also within fairly close proximity to some of the most important archeological sites in the Yucatan Peninsula. From the ship it is a short walk to a touristy market where you can purchase souvenirs but getting into Progreso and the areas beyond involves traveling along a 5 mile pier, the longest pier in the world. Walking the pier is not an option.
Our excursion on the first day was a guided walk in the Mayan archeological site of Dzibilchaltum which is located about 45 minutes from Progreso. The more well known sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal are 2 hours from Progreso. Having been to ChichenItza a number of years ago we elected to visit the closer site. It is also one of the oldest Mayan sites discovered to date and has a temple called the Temple of the Seven Dolls. During the spring and fall equinoxes, the sun lights up the interior of the structure at sunrise. The site also includes a pool called a Cenote which the Maya used for drinking water and irrigation. Our guide told us that some of the Cenotes at Mayan sites were used for human sacrifice. The site also includes the ruins of a Spanish Catholic Church that was built after the Spanish invasion in the 1500s. The Mayan architecture is all constructed with horizontal and vertical lines, while the Spanish architecture has curved arches.
Our second day in Progress took us into the city of Merida, the Capital City of the Yucatan. We traveled by bus for the one hour ride to Merida. Our first stop was at Monument a la Patria, created by Colombian sculptor Rómulo Rozo in 1956. It has carvings of over 300 detailed figures honoring Mexico’s history and identity.
From the monument we traveled to the center of Merida to the Plaza Grande where we took a walking tour around the square. We learned about the oldest building in Merida which was built as a residence and the cathedral which is the oldest cathedral in South America, dating back to 1500. The Plaza Grand still had some of the Christmas decorations displayed. The animals mourned the large creche were interesting.
After touring the square with our guide Romain, we have about 2 hours free time. It was a hot day and we needed a brief rest away from the heat so we stopped at the local restaurant our guide recommended and enjoyed a drink and some fresh guacamole with freshly made Yucatan hot sauce. The sauce was spicy but went great with the guacamole.
After our break we spent the rest of the time in Merida doing a little shopping and touring a free museum which was once a residence. Most of the museum is beautifully furnished as it was when the original residents occupied the home. There were also interesting displays of Mexican artist work in two of the rooms.
Our tour bus arrived back to the port mid afternoon, shortly before sail away time. We enjoyed sail away from the pool deck with a cold drink and a light snack before heading back to our cabin. After being in the heat for the day it was nice to just sit and relax for the rest of the afternoon. The Disney Magic was docked next to our ship and we enjoyed seeing it’s passengers wave goodbye to us as we pulled out of port.
For dinner we decided to go to the main dining room where we were seated at a group table for eight. We enjoyed meeting some new people and had some nice conversations as we enjoyed dinner. There wasn’t any entertainment we were interested in after dinner so we decided to call it a night.
The next two days are sea days so they should be pretty low key. Our next stop is in Panama.