Day Three 1/28/26 (Wednesday)

 

We decided that instead having breakfast at the hacienda, we’ll walk to the supermarket again and have some street food along the way. On the way there we spotted a stand with empanadas that seemed to be popular, and then another one with tortas (sandwiches). We tried both on the way back, but also bought yogurt, granola and banana at the market just in case. The empanadas were nothing to rave about They were made from tamale masa and stuffed with meat, with some red sauce on top. The sandwich wasn’t great either.

Then Phil picked us up and we drove to Mundo Maya https://yucatanmagazine.com/museum-maya-world/ . The building itself is very impressive and so is the content of the museum. When we were visiting the second part of the museum – devoted to traditional crafts,  we spotted a young woman who was wearing a very unusual blouse, which looked ethnic and modern at the same time. Phil approached her and commented on her clothes and we started talking. It turned out that her name is Carmen https://www.instagram.com/the_blue_artetextil/ and is a designer from Chile.

The museum is on the north side, close to Montebello so we went to a local restaurant called Merci for lunch. Excellent food!

The hacienda offers an eco tour of the grounds + the history of the hacienda every day at 4:30 pm so that was our next activity.

History of the Hacienda:

Hacienda Xcanatún's roots date back to the mid-18th century, when its original structure was located on the grounds of a magnificent estate. This grand structure found its original use housing horses and mules that pulled transportation vehicles known as bolan koche, which resemble wagons. As the years passed, a man named Don Manuel Zapata y Bolio eventually introduced the production of sisal to Hacienda Xcanatún. Sisal was an immensely popular crop to grow at the time, as it was integral in the manufacture of ropes and other textiles. The export of sisal proved so lucrative that Don Manuel Zapata y Bolio’s son, Manuel Zapata Martinez, decided to develop a port to move the fiber more efficiently. The Port of Progreso was thus created in 1881, which allowed for trains to transport sisal from Hacienda Xcanatún with relative ease. 

The region soon entered the Agrarian Reform, causing the owners to downsize the property to 18 acres. The demand for sisal fibers dropped dramatically, and thus the Machinery House, Main House, Chapel, citrus orchards, and livestock pens were converted and sold away. Soon the property fell into a desolate state, being utilized intermittently as a vacation house for the owners to enjoy. The years passed, and the property's identity continued to decline.

In 1988, the location was ravaged after Hurricane Gilbert made its way throughout Xcanatún, which left ruin in its wake. Five years later however, Jorge Ruz Buenfil saved the hacienda by renovating it into a luxury boutique hotel. Ruz Buenfil worked tirelessly to maintain the original identity of the hacienda through careful reconstruction. Utilizing locally-sourced materials including hardwood, wrought iron, clay, marble, and coral stone, Hacienda Xcanatún was restored to new glory. The hotel's gardens were also re-established, with palm trees, fruit trees, and other species of unique flora abounding throughout the grounds. 

During the tour, we saw big groups of coati that live on the grounds. They are not afraid of people at all.

 

After the tour, we drove a bit further north to visit the campus of the private university where Phil’s older grandson is a student. The campus of Universidad Anahuac Mayab https://merida.anahuac.mx/nosotros/infraestructura is very pretty and students look good and happy.

 

We had an unusual dinner experience that evening. Noa recommended a dinner place to us near the hacienda, but it was not clear if it was a privet home or a restaurant. Nobody answered the phone when we tried to call so we decided to walk there since it was only a 4 minute walk. We saw a small building, which did have a restaurant sign and an open door so we walked in. The interior was very nice , with 4-5 tables and a large wine rack. The owner greeted us and said that they are not officially open yet, but we can sit down and have some food and wine. In the kitchen, there were some workers doing something. We got a bottle of wine and the owner said he’ll offer us the same food his people are having so we said – sure. And then he started bringing food – first a thick soup made from sun-dried tomatoes, and then flatbread pizzas with Spanish ham, sausage and mushrooms, and then a plate of cheeses and ham, and then another pizza, and then a fantastic cheesecake for desert…. And then he told us that it’s all on the house because we are his first customers. We didn’t want him to lose money and we insisted that we wanted to pay so he charged us about $20 per person and then gave Al and me a bottle of white wine and Phil a bottle of red as a gift. The food was excellent and it was a fun evening and a great experience.