The water is so clear you almost feel like you can see the bottom!

While in Valladolid, Mexico I wanted to visit some of the local cenotes in the area and decided I would hire a driver for the day and check them out.  Basically a cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, that has water in it from the underground rivers that flow through the Yucatán Peninsula.  The Yucatán Peninsula has no aboveground rivers in it and a lot of these cenotes are completely caved in.

The first one I visited was called Cenote Samulá, located about 7km outside of Valladolid.  It costs money to enter but you’re allowed to take any photos you like and can swim as well.  If you’re ever in the Yucatán Peninsula during the summer time, you will know how hot it gets and these cenotes are great for getting out of the heat and cooling off.  This cenote is probably the most photographed one in all of Mexico because of the hole at the top and the tree roots growing down inside.  It is known that all the cenotes in Yucatán are connected by underground rivers, so if you can hold your breath long enough you could swim to each one… but most of the rivers are yet to be explored because of the great distances.

Does It Get Any Better Then This?

I visited Belize last year during November for 4 days.  I didn’t originally plan to as I was in Mexico but so many people talked about how great it was, affordable and so close to where I was in Mexico that I figured why not go and check it out.

I headed straight for the island of Caye Caulker, where I was told life slows down, that the lobster is to die for and that there are no worries there.  You know what, it was all true!  The island is so small you can walk every street in about 15-20 minutes.  There isn’t much to do besides layout on the beach all day, eat, snorkel and swim.  Pretty hard to beat that but the locals are what made the island so much fun for me.  Yeah they’re all a little drunk by mid-day, kind of lazy but they were some of the most friendliest people I met that month while traveling.

Everyday as I walked to the beach from my hostel a group of local guys would yell at me as I walked by “Hey man, where you going?  Slow down man, this is Caye Caulker… there is no rush here!“  That sums it up best for me I think!

World Heritage Site: Temple of Kukulkan (El Castillo) in Chichen Itza, Mexico

This is an HDR photo I took in October 2010 when I visited the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.  A two hour bus ride from Cancun, this is the most visited archaeological site in the Yucatán and second most visited site in all of Mexico.  In 2007, Chichen Itza’s El Castillo was named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World after a worldwide vote.

Facts About Chichen Itza:

• Temple of Kukulkan is often referred to as “El Castillo”, which means “The Castle”
• It is approximately 1,300+ years old.
• On the Spring and Autumn equinox, in the late afternoon, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts a series of triangular shadows against the western balustrade on the north side that evokes the appearance of a serpent wriggling down the staircase.
• Additionally, when one looks at the western face during the winter solstice, the sun appears to climb up the edge of the staircase until it rests momentarily directly above the temple before beginning its descent down the other side.
• A curious acoustic phenomenon happens when you clap your hands, the sound is echoed back as the chirping sound of the Quetzal bird, the sacred bird associated with both the name of the pyramid and its deity Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl.
• El Castillo stands slightly more than 29m/95ft high.
• You were allowed to climb the steps of the pyramid until 2006, which was closed after a San Diego, California woman fell to her death.
• There is a chamber underground below the pyramid but visitors are no longer able to enter it now.
• Castillo’s design is thought to relate to the Mayan calendar. Each of the four faces incorporates a broad, steep staircase consisting of 91 steps that ascends to the top platform. Counting the top platform as an additional step gives a total of 365 steps: one step for each day of the year.

1. What is your first name: Roger
2. What city are you from: Caye Caulker
3. What country are you from: Belize
4. What do you do: 16 Years Restaurant
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: To the North Pole because I have always been fascinated with polar bears and would like to see them in the wild, learn more about them.
6. What’s your dream and why: Expand out the restaurant and make it bigger.  This would allow me to take care of my family more and watch out for them.  First place I would build a new restaurant would be San Ignacio.

FOGG Notes: Everyone on Caye Caulker knows Roger as “Jolly Roger” as I don’t think I found a person the whole time who didn’t know him on the island.  He has the best lobster meal dinner on the island and I found myself eating there every night because so.  For $10 USD you get:

• 2 Fresh Lobster Tails (caught that day)
  
• Mashed Potatoes
• Garlic bread
• Rice
• Cake for Dessert
• and 3 Rum & Punches

Now if you eat there the next night, the price is only $7.50.  If you eat again the 3rd the night, it’s only $6.00 and he said if you came back after that, he’d make you a better deal.  I got my lobster meal down to $6.00 and loved it every time.  So much that I didn’t even eat lunch during the day and would just eat his meal at night instead, as it was enough to keep me going until the next day.  Note: his prices do vary from the high tourist season and the low, so don’t hold him to what I print here but either way it shouldn’t be that big of a difference and is well worth more than what I paid.

Roger was a real interesting guy and after I ate there the first night, I knew that I wanted to do a Faces interview with him, so on the last day I found him and fired away with questions.

He’s always been an independent person, when he was 17 he left his fiancé at the alter in her wedding dress (and yeah she never spoke to him again after that).  He has now settled down and is married with 3 kids.  His wife, Olivia, helps with the restaurant by serving people while he cooks.  Before he started the restaurant he was working security as a night watchmen.  It was this job that got him wanting to do something more.  His father used to be in the restaurant business and this gave him the idea to start his own set-up.  So he started with a tricycle selling snacks off of it and after a few weeks he knew he had something.  So he found a place on the beach with one table and started from there.  Soon he out grew that one table so he moved locations and added another.  He now has 4 large tables and on a good night can serve up to 80 people.  The rules are simple — it’s first come, first serve on the lobster, as he buys it fresh daily from local fishermen.  He also serves chicken and other fish but most people want the lobster as he’s famous for it.

The restaurant is nothing more then a little shack along the main road but asks anyone and they will tell you where it is.  This is the type of place Anthony Bourdain would visit.  It has some of the best sea food I’ve ever eaten and priced for anyone to enjoy.  If you visit, tell him ‘hi’ for me and that you read about it here.  He’ll have to think about it for a minute but would love knowing that he’s becoming more ‘world famous’ for his cooking.

1. What is your first name: Roots (means it’s a positive way of living)
2. What city are you from: Caye Caulker
3. What country are you from: Belize
4. What do you do: Street Vendor for the last 6-8 months
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: Hawaii because he thinks it would be beautiful and would look like Belize.  He’d like to go snorkel and see the reefs.
6. What’s your dream and why: To travel the world full time and see all the different cultures, while having a good time.

FOGG Notes:  On my last day on the island of Caye Caulker, I went to see some friends from the hostel at the beach to say bye to them all.  When walking back to the hostel, afterwards, I saw a group of Rasta looking guys sitting around a fold-up table along the road.  They were selling some kinds of soap and massage oils or something.  They yelled at me as I walked by and told me “Hey man, no need to walk so fast man.  This is Caye Caulker, everything move slow my man.  No rush man!”

They looked chilled sitting in the sun, so figured why not and decided to take their advise and sit with them for a bit, as I still had an hour before my boat departed.  I quickly could assess what was the group, as there was 3 guys total.  Basically all they did was sit around all day selling their lame product to whomever would want some, meanwhile looking at all the girls walking by in their swimsuits and making cat calls to them.

“Hey girl, you look tired, sit here and let me take care of you girl.”

“Blondie, you want to party later, stop and I’ll give you all you need to know on where and when!”

“You must not have a boyfriend girl because if I was your man I would be by your side all the time!”

They cracked me up and to be honest I don’t think they ever sold anything (or cared) because what they really made money off of was selling weed.  It seemed to me like they had the most bohemian lifestyle and the best gig ever.  Sit around drinking all day, watching new girls walking by 1/2 naked, making real money from the “side” business, then partying late into the night.

Roots, I found out quickly, was the leader of the group.  I didn’t need anyone to tell me this, as I could just see it, and they all gave him a lot of respect.  When he spoke, everyone shut up.  When he got up, everyone else got up too and when he yelled at a girl, 7 times in 10 he got her to stop and talk.  He had a real candid personality that people were drawn to.  I asked him what it was like growing up on the island and he just shrugged and said “My youth was nothing but partying and having sex with a lot of girls.”  Pretty much summed it up for local life on Caye Caulker because parting, sex and fishing is about all there is to do.

1. What is your first name: Jorge
2. What city are you from: Trinidad
3. What country are you from: Cuba
4. What do you do: Bartender
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: Would like to go to any socialist country and work.
6. What’s your dream and why: For the USA to lift the embargo and release the 5 Cubans that the US government has locked up.

FOGG Notes: Jorge was working a at a bar that we were walking by and the first thing I noticed was that he didn’t look Latin.  I know that might sound bad but it’s the truth, so much that I think a lot of Cubans look American or European a lot.  Is that just me or does anyone else agree?  Anyways, he had this real classic look to him that just oozed 1950-era style about him.  What I mean is that I could have converted these photos to Black & White and said my grandfather had taken this photo back in the war and you wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.  Then again a lot of Cuba oozes 1950 and guess it’s what makes it so unique.

I did find it funny though that Jorge wanted to visit any socialist country in the world to work in.  Coming from a communist nation and at war with a capitalist country (USA) made me think why?  Maybe he was splitting the difference and seen the worse of both extremes, thus his logic was the middle ground.  Again this is where I wish I knew more Spanish so I could ask more about that.  He was to my surprise the only Cuban that I met while there that stated he wanted the embargo lifted by America.  To my surprise, after doing some research after coming back, that one of the single biggest factors for the embargo not being lifted is because American-Cubans don’t want it lifted.  I thought that was strange but if you really think about it does make a little sense, seeing how all these people were kicked out of their country by Castro.  Can’t blame them if they still have a bad taste in their mouth from it.

1. What is your first name: Gerardo
2. What city are you from: Trinidad
3. What country are you from: Cuba
4. What do you do: Painter for the last 10 years
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: Travel to Brazil to watch a soccer game there and to get with some Brazilian women (who he thinks they are hot!).
6. What’s your dream and why: Wish to one day display my art work in a large gallery, so that I could sell more paintings.

FOGG Notes: I met Gerardo while interviewing a lady on the street next to his shop.  At first he walked up and tried to sell me and a friend a painting but quickly stopped when he saw we were focussed with the interview with the lady.  He stepped back to his shop and watched us very intently while we were with the lady and never took his eyes off us.  When we wrapped up the quick interview we turned to walk up the street by and seen him smiling at us.  So I figured the least thing I could do was stop and see what he had to offer.  I was really surprised by his art work as it was actually quite good!  We talked for several minutes and finally I asked if it would be ok to shoot a few photos and ask him a few questions.  At first he didn’t want to do it but I told him it would be a way to display his art on the internet.  Then it was a 180 degree change of mind and I began to ask him the standard questions.

I remember at one point though when I asked him what his dream was he just looked at me with a really weird look and thought about it for a minute.  Then he said “You are asking some really hard questions you know!”  I couldn’t help but smile but told him to take his time and think it over, as there was no rush.

1. What is your first name: Silvia
2. What city are you from: Trinidad
3. What country are you from: Cuba
4. What do you do: House wife (although she is single).
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: Travel to Mexico because I like Mexican men (and she was dead serious when she said that!).
6. What’s your dream and why: To take care of her children and support them.

FOGG Notes: I was interviewing her when Gerardo was trying to sell me a painting.  She was the only person in Cuba that approached us versus us approaching them.  We had circled the streets of Trinidad about three times looking for someone interesting and willing to do an interview with.  As we walked by her on the street she saw my camera and stopped us.  I didn’t know what she was saying at first but she had a big smile on her face and just seemed genuine.  She was a real bubbly person and when I asked if I could photograph her she was very excited about it and even more when we asked her the interview questions. She seemed like the kind of person who had a wild younger life but now that she is older she still longs for those days.  The sheer aspect of telling us without a flinch that she loved Mexican men pretty much summed it up… she was and still is a wild women.  Grandma’s Gone Wild comes to mind!

1. What is your first name: Miguel
2. What city are you from: Trinidad
3. What country are you from: Cuba
4. What do you do: Sell trinkets on the street to tourists
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why: I’m happy in Cuba and don’t want to go anywhere.
6. What’s your dream and why: I have no dream and am happy!

FOGG Notes: I saw this guy on the street selling purses/bags made out of straw.  He was with another guy and they took a break to sit on the street curb next to the restaurant I was eating at.  I kept an eye on these guys because they had such a weathered face to them and the fact that they were peddling purses of all things.  After I finished my meal I walked outside and sat on the curb with them.  I got out my pack of smokes and offered them both one.  They seemed a little surprised but graciously took one and we both sat there for a minute smoking our cig, watching tourists walk by.  I was leading this all up to an introduction to see if I could photograph these guys.  I pulled out my camera and snapped a few photos of street life going on, then turned it my left and smiled.  They didn’t run and seemed ok with it but both put on a model look while I snapped a few photos.  I quickly looked at the photos on the LCD screen and then showed them both but they just both nodded at me, as if I was their grandkid and did something that I thought was great but they didn’t really care.

I didn’t ask these guys for an interview then and there but saw them later sitting on another curb in the shade.  I figured what the hell and worse thing they could do was say no but since I had buttered them up already and they seemed ok with photos I figured I might have a good chance.  Again, I offered them both a smoke and asked if it would be ok to ask them a few questions.  They both seemed really hesitant but my friend explained that it was the same thing we ask everyone and only took a minute.  Miguel said ok in a 1/2 “I could careless” way and so we asked him what his first name was.  The other guy started shaking his head while smoking and by the time I asked Miguel what city he was from the other guy walked off repeating “No, no, no!”  (see photo of the other guy here) Thought I was done for the interview but Miguel kept going but his answers were so cold and closed.  Basically the only thing he would say is that Cuba is the happiest place in the world and he didn’t want to leave it.

This was a perfect example to me of the Cuba repression you see while there.  It boiled down to only two reasons for the coldness I got when I tried to ask anything:

1. Afraid of the Cuban Government: because if he said something bad about Cuba they might come after him for it
2. He’s a proud Cuban: because he thought I was going to use his photo and info to show how bad Cuban life is to the world and make his country look poor.

Either one is probably true (if not both) but it just struck me as funny.  Never have I been somewhere where people were so worried about what might be written that they couldn’t express themselves because so.

I shot this photo from a moving bus on the first day in Havana, Cuba.  It was one of the first pictures I took while in Cuba and might well be one of the best shots I got while in Cuba.  The look of the boy standing with a straight stance and the framing made it come together but it lacked that pop to make it stand out.  When I loaded the photos from the day and seen this I couldn’t help but think he looked like a kid in training.  That today he was standing their like a solider and in 15 years he would more then likely be standing their again, only this time in his uniform and weapon.  All males must join the Cuban military after graduation.

As you can see below there is a big difference from original to the edited version.  I wanted to show how rugged the wall he was standing next to was so that it would highlight him more.  There was so much going on in that wall and wanted to make sure all the shadows, tears and multi-colors were the second focus spot for the photo.  The boy would be #1 for sure but if you look at the before photo the wall doesn’t really draw the eye much does it?

So, I started with clicking on the “Adjust Brush” in Adobe Lightroom and selected the wall to add more contrast and clarity.  I then selected the background to darken the street behind him some.  Not a lot but just a little to make it feel more moody.  Last, I highlighted everything except the boy and upped the contrast and clarity.

You can see the histogram on the upper right and the overall adjustments below it on the sidebar.  I upped again the contrast and clarity, plus raised the black level some.  I’ll sometimes do the same thing 3x in one section to get the feel I want (ie; raising the clarity levels over and over).  I thought about turning the tempature down some but liked the feel of it just the way it was.

If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know.  All tips are welcomed!

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