mex1

Ruins

By Max - We are in Merida Mexico thes are sum roins. They are solid rook. Nobody no's who built these ruins. They are very, very big and there are a ton of them.

By Cheryl - This ruin is named Xcambo (ich-com-bow). This site is currently being excavated. It was exciting to see this because we'd never been to an actual dig site before. The archeologists are digging up the old structure, moving it above ground and reassembling it. Each one of these rocks has a number on it so they'll know just where it should be placed.

By Mitch - This hole is a place where they are trying to discover another ruin. They know that there is a ruin here because the land is really flat and when they see a bump that means that there is a ruin.

By Cheryl - This is part of the actual dig-site. They dig down through the earth covered mound and then reconstruct the structure.

By Cheryl - This is part of Parque Eco-Arqueologico De Dzibilchaltun. The ruins here have been reconstructed. There is a nice visitor center that explains Mayan history and has many artifacts.

By Mitch - This is one of the statues that the Myan indians carved. If you look closely you can see a face on this rock. There is about 20 of these poles.

By Mitch - This is another statue that the Myan indians carved. This is Mitch's favorite carved statue.

By Mitch - This dirt driveway is about 1 mile long. There is about 30 to 60 ruins in this area and this is only 1 of them.

By Cheryl - (It wasn't really a mile long driveway - it just seemed that way because it was almost 100 degrees and these two little kids from Washington were melting).

By Mitch and Max - This is another ruin. There is one day in a year that the sun shines straight through the door of this ruin and goes down the dirt road. That day is the beginning of easter and the end of fall.

By Cheryl - Well, they're on the right track, but a little off on the dates. Like many temples, the light shines through the door on the first day of Spring.

By Mitch - This is a aquifer. A aquifer is a pond that connects to an underground river. The Myans built their city here so they could get water.

By Mitch - Here is some fish swimming in the aquifer. The water goes under the rock that we are standing on. The water that is underneath us connects to the under ground river.

By Mitch - We saw an iguana sitting by the water. It was about 18" long. When we came 5 feet away from it, he ran under a rock.