Ivan is the BEST!

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We were on Explorer this past week and toured with Ivan on June 8th- Ivan was the highlight of our trip!! He is truly an amazing and mesmerizing person-he actually grew up in the village of Chacchoben and the ruins were his playground-

Numerous people at the port tried to keep us from getting to the town of Mahahaul to meet up with Ivan- just as he indicated on his website- but my husband was persistant and we finally made it to the town- Ivan met us just outside the Cat's Meow restaurant-

We were early so had a little time to explore the town- finally we headed out to the ruins with 2 vans and a taxi- we were with Ivan, the other van with David- Ivan talked the entire way to the ruins- he is so well spoken and knowledgeable (he was formerly a Ritz Carlton employee)- we just about hung on his every word! He talked not only about the history- but also the culture and customs of- not only the Mayans-but also other nationalities/groups living in the area-

We spent more than enough time at the ruins- with Ivan explaining each site-he really helped us to understand the ruins from a native Mayan perspective- we could almost see the ancient Mayans there at the site!

On the way back Ivan continued to share his culture and his history with us- we enjoyed hearing about his own childhood stories-

We returned to Mahahual with plenty of time to shop, explore, and eat (and drink) at Tapas before heading back to the boat-