Costa Maya

 

Costa Maya was an absolutely beautiful place!

And definitely catered to tourists the most.  I'm not going to lie, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this skeleton face walking our way...thankfully he didn't get too close!

The Chaccoben Ruins were extremely impressive.  There were 48 structures in this area!

The big steps found all around the Mayan ruins were used for congregations to gather.

Temples were built over centuries of rulers.  Instead of building new structures, new kings would build on top of an existing temple.  Here you can see two different layers.

Stela Stones were found throughout the ruins.

So much is buried under all the jungle growth

Homes were built around courtyard areas

The markings on this gum tree were made by natives climbing the tree to collect tree sap for gum.

On this adventure, we were privileged to meet Barb and John Clements (seen photo-bombing this selfie).  We hit it off at our first meal.  We found out they had just moved out of our stake in Chicago and moved to my old stake in Florida!  We loved laughing with them all throughout the week, name swapping, and became great friends.

The Yaaxche tree is a hollow tree that connects to the earth and sky.  The Mayan people believed when they completed all their necessary tasks (during life and the afterlife) to the gods, they would go up through the hollow part of the tree to heaven.

We were treated to a lunch with some Mayans of Chaccoben.  This is their backyard where they grow so much vegetation and spices--and they provided a meal from much of their own produce.

These lovely ladies prepared the food and also made all the clothing they wore.

They gave us an opportunity to make our own corn tortillas in their kitchen.

Geoff got to experience freshly picked and sliced mangos!

This tree along our path was marked by Jaguars that roam the area.

Our wonderful Book of Mormon group!