Off the Beaten Path in Progresso

Thursday we pulled into Progresso a bit later than Cozumel, and we had a full day ahead of us, so we didn’t waste any time in getting off the boat. Given the mass exodus of people, the process was handled about as well as it could. We took the long shuttle ride to get off the 5 mile pier and landed in the city center.

Jason had made all the arrangements for the day, and appeared a little nervous as to whether everything was going to work out. Nothing like being responsible for your wife’s family, right? Fortunately, as we were pulling into the bus station, we saw a guy with his name, so any worrying was for naught.

The nine of us piled into the large van (which this time did have car seats for all the kids), paid our balance, and set off with our guide Juan Carlos. I didn’t look into the trip whatsoever, so had no idea that the ride would turn out to be as long as it was. That being said, our guide made the time fly by with jokes and interesting information about the areas along the way.

Our first stop was at a set of Mayan ruins which had been restored. This site isn’t as famous as many of the others, and therefore had much less traffic than the popular ones. Being Mexico, that also meant that the government had looser rules which meant you could actually climb up on and touch the ruins.

There had to be the remnants of 40 or 50 buildings that had been restored on the grounds. Carlos told us about a lot of the history of the area and pointed out many different interesting things about the buildings. Dad asked even more questions ( 😉 ) so we got to find out even more tidbits of information. The highlight had to be the 60-ish foot tall pyramid that stood at the back of the complex.

Solid stone in the middle, with very rough sides. The side that he pointed out was climbable was still very very steep. I helped Crosby get up to the top, but was still a bit nervous of all the kids being up there. However, once up there, there was an amazing view of the rest of the grounds.

As is often the case, if getting up is tricky, getting down is even worse. We all took our time, though, and thankfully everyone made it down safely. We spent a few more minutes there before it was time to hop back into the van for our next stop.

It was another decent drive to get there, so we decided to start enjoying our Dos Equis. Good thing open container laws aren’t a big thing in Mexico!

The next stop was an open cennote. We shed everything but our suits and walked over to the entrance. The actual water was 45 feet below ground level, but it was all open above it. There was a jumping platform from the top as well, but that was a looooong way down. However, in reality the slippery uneven wooden stairs that were the main way down weren’t a whole lot better. We left the rest of our clothes and phones at the top and slowly made our way down the treacherous steps. [We later found out the steps were the reason for the weight limit — which is perhaps a bit scary.]

Fortunately, there were no issues, and the first group got in the water. Crosby was doing great. Carlyn wasn’t quite as sure, though. They also had a 15 foot deck where you could jump into the water and that’s where I decided to make my entrance. It looked (and was plenty deep), so away I went! And it was a lot of fun jumping in.

We then all swam around a bit, and while there were supposed to be some fish in there, I didn’t see many so the snorkeling was a bit of a bust. Everyone was having fun though. Then the talk started about the big jump. I’m not afraid of heights, but I’m also not a huge fan of falling.

I watched Jason jump in on the short one to gauge if it was deep enough. It looked like it was. So I made the walk up the stairs to the top. And looked over the edge… 45 feet down… with a ragged metal cross-piece on top. And stepped down. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to do it. But I wasn’t sure, so I got back up to take another look.

Finally I thought to myself, “screw it, I’m going.” And then I jumped out. I really wanted to make sure I got away from the wall. And then I hit feet first, butt second. Apparently in my effort to make sure I got out enough my feet got a bit ahead of me, which stung a bit, but I quickly surfaced and breathed a sigh of relief and also took a second to enjoy the adrenaline rush.

Then it was Jason’s turn. He went through a similar struggle as I did, but he ended up jumping too. Safely — might I add — so all was well. And by about that time it was almost time to go, so we all made our way up the raggedy stairs up to the top. Everyone safe and sound with a few stories to tell.

The last main stop along the way was lunch. We went out to an old ranch / manor / hacienda where we enjoyed a really nice lunch and a short walk around the plantation. Somehow several of us ordered pork, but mine looked far different than the others. Crosby and Carlyn had salted chips, and somehow, I managed to knock a glass off the table. The food was good, and like all of the meals on the trip, it was a lot of fun being out and eating with the whole family.

The drive back to port was a solid hour to an hour an a half, so we didn’t wait too long before heading back. We did manage to make one last stop on the way at a Mexican grocery store, though. The kids (and adults) all really liked one of the local snacks that we tried, so I went in and grabbed several boxes for us all to take back home.

That was the end of port day two, but we had another day at sea to look forward to.