This afternoon we drove downtown but went in the opposite direction from yesterday (I would give you the compass direction, but I really have no idea in this town). We parked and walked to a large building that contained dozens of shops the size of small shipping containers. The shops were laid out in a grid pattern so it was easy to navigate (unlike the streets in town!). It was almost like a huge flea market–they had everything from clothing to electronics to food vendors.
From here we walked back towards the car, but on the opposite side of the block. While our fellow “tour guides” had been in this part of town before they weren’t as familiar with it as the other side of downtown. So everyone was surprised when we came upon a natural history museum filled with artifacts. The front of the building looked like a large hacienda but with a large banner on the front fence saying “Mammoth Museum.” We paid the equivalent of $1 each to get in. They had about 10 exhibits to see, starting with the remains of a Columbian mammoth.
The exhibits were professionally done and did a good job of describing each artifact…in Spanish. There was some English on the larger exhibits, but we’re actually getting pretty good at deciphering words. They had a great collection of rocks and minerals (lots of geodes), several dinosaur skeletons, and a large exhibit on the German Mennonite community that lives in the area. Apparently, a group of Mennonites moved to the area in 1920 and have made a name for themselves making cheese. We ate some of that cheese with our tacos last night and it was very tasty.
