Starting something new on the blog today, a Photo Tuesday feature.  Each Tuesday we’ll highlight an amazing photo from our adventure.  As always, our entire photo collection is visible on flickr and our most recent photos are presented on the photo tab.

This photo was taken day 2 of our trip, less than 24 hours after crossing the border into Mexico. Half way down the Baja penninsula, we stopped at a small town called Guerrero Negro to “visit” with the grey whales. After a choppy ride out in miserable weather, we waited in the lagoon for what seemed like forever before the whales approached us. This mother and calf stayed near our boat for several minutes, playfully swimming from side to …

So  now we’re home in the states for a week so we’ll take this opportunity to take stock of how we’ve done so far and what it is we need to change.  Overall, it looks like our preparation has paid off.  We’ve rarely been without something we’ve needed and have never been completely unprepared.  Since leaving the US we have not met another backpacker with smaller packs than we have (we do have the added benefit of being able to share a few things) but we have met many with things we wish we did have.
Our supplies have treated us well but we are swapping a few things out that don’t seem to be standing up to the wear and …

One country down, about 75 more to go. Time to do our first country summary.  If you haven’t been reading along, here’s your 30 second summary of Mexico. Drum roll please…

Hours on a bus: 96..4 days exactly, lets not forget the additional 15 hours traveling by boat and train.
Longest Bus Ride: 12 hours
Nights we slept on a bus: 6
Nights we spent in Mexico: 29
Best night’s sleep: Night number two….on the bus….after playing with whales.
Strangest Food: Chapulines. Claro.
Trips to a Medical Establishment: One, for Jill’s leg in Creel
Best Meal: Anything at Martha’s house… Muchas Gracias!!!!
Best alarm clock: Eeeeeeee gaaaaaaaaassssssssss in Zacatecas
Number of times the the time changed: 5, we think.
Best Compliment: From …

The last few weeks in Mexico all we had been hearing about was Semana Santa or holy week. “Utter chaos; Go somewhere and don’t move;” was the consensus of travelers and locals alike. The busiest travel week in Mexico, something akin to a national spring break for everyone, not just students, we decided to wait out Semana Santa in San Cristobal de las Casas. San Cris, as we now call it, is far away from the beaches and other nice vacation resorts, so we hoped to find fewer crowds, less chaos, and the Mayan ruins of Palenque.

San Cris seems to owe much of its fame and fortune to a series of ‘unfortunate’ events. The day …