I woke up in Puebla to a room I genuinely didn't want to leave — two pairs of tall, dark wooden French doors, each opening onto its own small balcony overlooking rooftops and quiet colonial streets. I spent a good stretch of the morning just photographing it all: the beautiful interior, the colonial exterior, the flowering balconies against a perfectly blue sky. Every frame looked like a postcard.

Eventually I made myself go explore, and Puebla rewards exactly that kind of unhurried walk. Talavera tile in blues and yellows, church bells somewhere in the distance, bakery windows full of pan dulce. It's the kind of place where you don't need a plan, just a direction to start walking.

If I'd had more time, I would have added a few more stops to the morning — Biblioteca Palafoxiana, a striking 17th-century library in the historic center, and the House of Puppets Museum nearby, a small spot dedicated to Mexican puppet-making traditions. Neither made it into my own day, but they're high on my list for next time.

From there, I made my way to Africam Safari, and it turned into one of the most purely enjoyable stops of the whole trip. Guided tours run by bus or jeep, so self-driving isn't necessary if you'd rather just sit back — either way, you get right up close: giraffes in actions, zebras grazing a few feet away, unbothered capybaras enjoying sunbathing, alpacas in the middle of their friendship drama (yes!), the list go on with ostriches, deer, mountain goats, flamingos, lions… a completely different pace after days of festival energy. Simple, unhurried, sunshine, exactly the kind of afternoon that makes a long trip feel balanced.

Most people treat Puebla as a stop on the way to somewhere else. I'd tell you to give it its own full morning.