After four centuries of waiting, the annular solar eclipse, called “The Ring of Fire”, was fully observed in the pre-Columbian cities of the Puuc of Yucatan, where thousands of tourists and specialists came to witness this natural phenomenon, which at first the clouds threatened to obscure it.
The massive arrival was observed in Chacmultún, Uxmal, Kabah, Labná, Xlapac, Sayil, and Oxkintok, which was also attended by numerous street vendors, who “made a killing”, because a half-liter soft drink cost at least 30 pesos, and in the case of Uxmal, sunglasses with sunscreen were sold for 50 pesos, but inside the site, the cost soared to $250.
Fortunately, the balance was white, there were no major incidents were registered at the observation sites, although the guards of the Yucatan Center of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) called attention to people trying to climb the pyramids.
Although the greatest criticism corresponded to Oxkintok, due to the poor quality of the narrow road, because the nine kilometers had potholes of various sizes, and even in some sections there was no asphalt tape.
The eclipse began at 9:51 a.m. and ended at 1:17 p.m. Initially, the clouds threatened to impede the observation of the phenomenon, especially the totality of the annular phase.
The annular phase began at 11:29 a.m. and concluded at 11:34 a.m., so the maximum occurred at 11:31 a.m., so the Sun was 96.7 percent obscured.
At Oxkintok, totality lasted four minutes and 22 seconds, at Uxmal, it was four minutes and 13 seconds and at Chacmultún it was two minutes and 16 seconds.
At Oxkintok alone, more than 200 people arrived and were distributed among the different archaeological groups that make up the site.
Among the attendees was the archaeoastronomer from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Jesús Galindo Trejo, who toured the pre-Hispanic city to detect any building aligned with the event.
Also, the specialist from the INAH-Yucatan Center, Luis Pantoja Diaz, arrived and explained the historical importance of the site.
Around midday, only about 50 percent of the attendees remained in the archaeological monuments area, who chose to tour the site.
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