Our tour group was a little smaller than usual. We only had two models, Meghan Claire and Kate Snig, and four photographers. The first photo shoot of our tour was at our home base at Hacienda Santo Domingo. Everyone had arrived the day prior to the official start of our tour, and we had only one opening where we had no other guests at the hotel when we could shoot on the property, so unlike with previous tours we started in the morning rather than waiting until mid-day to kick off the tour. It was a good beginning to the tour. Since we had only two models, there was a little less fluidity to moving around and getting different shots, but everything worked out ok.
Since we started the tour early, we did a second photo shoot on the first day at Hacienda Ake in the afternoon. I had shot here before, and it appeared to be in a little rougher condition since our last visit two years ago. It is the hacienda located next to some ancient Mayan ruins. There were some nice shooting locations, and this time I didn’t strain my back here. On our way home, just after sunset, we had an unexpected adventure. Just after we left the hacienda, the transmission in the van started disengaging and wouldn’t shift gears. Dima had to nurse it a lot just to climb the mild climbs and get back to the main road. In the meanwhile, Meghan was talking with the rental company trying to get some assistance. We eventually hobbled into the small town of Tahmek and stopped at the town square, where Dima had planned to meet with the rental company person. They eventually sent us back home in a taxi, and ultimately the rental company gave us a replacement van. Fortunately, it didn’t interrupt the tour, but it did cause us to miss dinner. Overall, a lively first day of the tour.