You'll find travel in the southern area enjoyable year round because of the mild winters and warm summers. (A few places, such as the Isthmus area, become extremely humid and hot during the summer.) Tropical vegetation, especially from Tampico southward, is dense and lush. Fauna of the area provides an insight to unusual species; quetzals (Guatemala's national bird, regarded by the Mayas as a religious symbol), egrets, jaguars, and tapirs all roam here, particularly in the state of Chiapas.
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Southern Mexico encompasses an area unknown to many visitors. Most tourists arriving in Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and Acapulco never penetrate the southern states. Yet these states offer rewarding experiences that are missed by those who prefer more developed metropolitan areas to the more primitive regions. Here you'll find modern seaports, small fishing villages, broad expanses of sandy beaches, groves of tropical fruits bananas, pineapples, papayas, mangoes, avocados, coconuts, and oranges exotic birds, historically interesting cities, and many of Mexico's greatest archaeological sites.
Nowhere else in Mexico can you see Indians who have retained their cultural characteristics in such pristine form as the Zapotecs, Lacandons, Chamulas, and Zinacantecos. The archaeological sites of Palenque, Mitla, La Venta, Monte Alban, and El Tajin leave you with lasting impressions of the early civilizations of southern Mexico, an area so vital to the understanding of ancient Mexico. Anthropologists in search of the earliest culture in Mexico's history focus on this region, studying the artifacts of the Olmecs.
