After our morning adventure of climbing the ruins at Coba, Mexico, it was now time to venture on to an eco-encounter with a community of Mayan Indians. Alex, our ever present and dependable guide from Alltournative tours, served a traditional Mayan lunch that a wonderful group of Mayan ladies prepared for us. Above you see a photo of my daughter with a Mayan girl close to her same age.
While the Mayan community here has some electricity, there are very few other amenities. Food is cooked over a flame and the toilets are raised outhouses – it is far different than the way we live back home. All the Mayan people are generous and helpful in all their efforts. It is a cooperative community of people who are doing the best they can to whittle out a living in very uncompromising natural surroundings.
Our first adventure with Alex was to canoe on a lake which was set within the community. As you look at the photo to the left you will see my family in a canoe. You will also see three little huts along the banks of the lake. These huts are the toilets. All the other thatched buildings are public areas for eating and living.
It was a beautiful day to canoe – sunshine and calm. All the lake banks are grassy and filled with turtles and other native wildlife. After we finished the canoe adventure, we hiked through the jungle. It was quite challenging as you can see by the photo below. Much of the Yucatan Peninsula is filled with limestone outcroppings and is very rocky with very little soil. Hiking through the jungle also means climbing over rock as much as it means working your way through vegetation.
Ziplining was our next adventure - we were able to ride a zipline over a large open cenote which resembled a lake. Quite frankly, I do not have a photo of this experience because I was holding on for dear life. Sometimes safety comes first.
As the afternoon progressed, the Mayan people had even more exciting adventures for us to participate in. My favorite experience was repelling 40 feet down into a cenote hole. By all appearances, it was simply a hole in the ground, but once you repelled down through the hole, you could see a huge cavern filled with water at the bottom. Here you see my daughter repelling down the hole with the special climbing equipment provided for all of us. As you descended into the cenote cavern, it was very dark. Holding the rope tightly, I was able to lower myself with the repelling equipment into the cold water. After the 90 degree heat, it felt wonderful.
In the photo below you see how we descended into the dark abyss of the cenote cavern. There were bats squeaking all around, collecting insects which fly through the holes to the outside world high above us. Small fish, some blind, swam around our feet and stalactites dripped from overhead. This all happened while we sat in inner tubes and floated in lazy circles watching the fun. It was simply amazing.
Going down was quick and easy, but getting out of the cavern was far more complex. Alex, our guide, and the Mayan guides pulled us out of the cenote by brute force. Several Mayans set up a pulley system above the cenote hole then cinched the climbing equipment carefully. Bouncing with each pull from Alex and his team, we were hefted up, up, up back into the daylight. Below is a video of my ascent from the cenote abyss into daylight. It is a very bumpy ride in a wet bathing suit, which surprised me, I laughed the whole way up. Lots of fun -
It was easy for a few men to pull me up, but it took a lot more man power to hoist my husband up. Six Mayan men and Alex, our guide, pulled Luis up on the pulley system. Below is a photo of Luis almost reaching the top to get a hand from one of the Mayan Encounter staff.
Living the Mayan Encounter was truly an awesome experience. Visiting both the Coba ruins in the morning and having the eco-adventure in the afternoon were really fantastic and brought us closer to nature. Jungle, cenotes, and lakes in the Yucatan peninsula are filled with many types of eco-systems and it was a gift to be able to touch them so closely.
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Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
I loved that video! I still can't get over this great experience you had. Looks like you were all so happy. It's so amazing all the things you can do there.
Posted by: Angie (Losing It and Loving It) | April 13, 2009 at 11:59 AM
hehe looks gloriously warm, nice swimsuit weather which we aren't having in New England!!
Posted by: Michael A Grant | April 05, 2009 at 05:47 PM