Marimba Bands and Chocolate

Day 12 – 14 October 2026 – Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

 

Puerto Chiapas seemed to be an industrial port – we saw row after row after row of huge shipping containers stacked several high, all labelled “Chiquita” – full of bananas, no doubt!  It isn’t a huge port, but it looked like bananas are definitely the biggest crop here!  But it is near some Mayan ruins, as well as several coffee plantations and other places that can be visited on excursions, so ships stop here on their way onward.

 

Once I disembarked, I could see there was a walkway through manicured lawns, but no beach, just huge rocks along the shore.  It was a short walk to a tourist center, a giant thatched building that was sort of combo tourist and shopping mall – there was a group dancing traditional dances, a marimba band (with a really great saxophonist!), and lots of shopping.  WAY too many gorgeous embroidered or woven textiles – so hard to not buy everything!  Of course, I watched the dancing for a while, and then when they took a break the musicians began and I watched them – the guy on the alto sax really was soooo good!

 

Then, well, shopping seemed like an appropriate activity.  I wandered around each and every shop, because who knows, I might miss some item that I can no longer live without.  (I did purchase a gorgeous cotton scarf that is so soft and silky – it’s jacquard woven, so the design is on both side, in black against rich jewel tones of ruby, sapphire, turquoise.)

 

And chocolate!  The chocolate was delicious, dark and rich, with just a touch of cinnamon added.  I’m not sure if the chocolate is meant to be mixed with hot water and milk to create hot chocolate, but I will admit to just cutting the round bars into pieces and nibbling a bit for my dessert.  Delicious!

 

There were tours available, but I was fine with just wandering around in this area for a while.  Sitting in a bus or van for several hours is just not appealing to me, and there never seems to be enough time to explore an archaeological site or wherever the tour might be.

 

The two entrances to this tourist center had those hanging cut paper decorations, and I found out this art is called “papel picado” – literally, pierced paper.  All the papel picado I’ve seen has been done on colorful tissue paper.  Of course, I wonder what happens to these decorations in heavy rains, but maybe this is considered an ephemeral art form, like sand art or something.

 

I found great views of our ship beyond the papel picado!!!

 

Once back on our ship, I realized we were docked in a huge harbor that had interconnected rivers or canals branching off in various directions.  There seemed to be a network of rivers and waterways – not quite the canals of Venice, but somewhat similar in a more natural sort of way.  And one canal or river seemed like the main street of a neighborhood!  Really, I could see buildings all along the banks, with small motorboats moored or docked right alongside the edge!  It turns out that the real name of the town is Puerto Madero or Puerto de San Benito, just to make things more confusing.