Sisal...Home of the Best Blue Crab Ceviche Ever

Written by Terry - We went to a sleepy little beach/fishing village, NW of Merida(look on the map), called Sisal on Friday, ...I mean it makes Celestun, one of the places we liked last year, look like a metropolis. We rode in on the one bus that makes the only daily trip from/to Merida everyday, not really knowing how we were going to get back to Merida when it came time to leave. The people are super friendly, and there are some pretty nice houses there also. We walked the town, saw some flamingos, walked the beach and then ate a fresh mixto coctele(mixed cocktail) of jaiba(crab), pulpo(octopus), caracol(conch), and camarones(shrimp) with a couple of Modelo Especials(beers) at a little beach place called "El Restaurante del Muelle"(The Jetty Restaurant). Sisal is the blue crab haven of the Yucatan. They brought us out botanas(snacks) of blue crab, some kind of pulpo ceviche and chips that would have been enough to eat in of itself before our coctele arrived. It was awesome!

When it came time to head back to Merida we went to the town square and found where the fisherman were hanging out, at the sitio de taxis(taxi stop). There were some old beat up vans, looked like 1980 models(yep, older than you Cole), there that said Merida on the window, so for $12 pesos each($1 US), the fisherman, their 5 gallon buckets of fish/crab/tools etc, and us gringos, all loaded up. It seems like there were at least 50 of us in this van...just like the funny Mexican TV shows...thank goodness I had a window seat, I'm not sure where Bev ended up. We didn't go all the way to Merida though...had to catch a connecting van at Hunucuma to Merida, which was a little less crowded and more upscale...at least bumped up to 3rd class...but we made it. Was really funny because they drove right by our front door in Merida and we got off at the corner...now that's service you can only get when you fly 3rd class Mexican style.

Written by Beverly - One thing we have learned is that asking a lot of questions about how to travel back, which bus do I get on, where do I catch the bus, etc., etc., gets you no where. The best thing to do is just make a statement: "Nos gustaria ir a Merida, por favor " (we would like to go to Merida) and then just kick back and put your life in their hands...they always seem to take care of us.