The final blog from the trip by me (Diego). The next one will be the final reflection. See you then.

Villahermosa 8/19/10

Today we returned the car to the rental agency and then took a taxi back into town. We wanted to go to the Anthropological museum. Our taxi driver didn’t actually know the exact location and when we got to the general area he stopped and got out and asked people who were on the street where it was. We eventually found it, but discovered that it was closed for renovations. Que lastima! We asked the driver if he would take us to El Parque de “La Venta,” which doubles as a small zoo and an outdoor museum centered on the Olmecs and the giant stone heads and alters they left in and around Villahermosa. Villahermosa was inhabited by the Olmecs 2500 years ago and the site where much of their archeological remains were found, is a park named La Venta. We happened to be present for feeding time in the zoo section. The 20-foot crocodile gets fed six whole chickens every few weeks. The coyotes get some steaks of beef. The keepers had a hard time corralling the Caracol cat.

Today I tried some food from street vendors, neither of which I liked. Elote and some kind of unsweetened iced drink. Elote is simply corn kernals with condiments added. I had squeezed lime juice, a little hard cheese, salt, and some chile added. Kind of bland. The drink was horchata, I think, which is a kind of rice milk drink, although it’s my understanding that other grains can be used also. Maybe if it was sweetened I would have enjoyed it more. Dinner was at a kind of taco joint only they served a kind tostada. Afterwards we got some ice cream and went to the main square and people watched before hailing a cab to go back to the hotel and pack for our departure. Diego