Next week I will be taking my 10th trip to beautiful Mexico! This will be our first real trip since the pandemic started. As I have one foot out the door already, I’m thinking about our last trip to this same part of Mexico we’ll be revisiting, Yucatan. And by that, I don’t just mean the peninsula, but the state of Yucatan. Many Americans are not so familiar with this area, which is one thing we like about it – a lot fewer tourists!
On our last trip we visited the stunning Yellow City of Izamal, the Mayan ruins of Uxmal and Dzibilchaltun, the capital city of Merida, and three cenotes. All of the cenotes were very different from each other. The Xlacah Cenote is in the middle of the Mayan ruins of Dzibilchaltun. It’s completely above ground and sits next to a Mayan temple ruin. It is used like a large public swimming pool where locals go to cool off. The middle is filled with lily pads and it’s very pretty but a bit too populated for our taste. The Chihuan Cenote is completely underground and almost pitch-dark. We found it after visiting the Yellow City, we headed off to find another cenote we’d read about. We drove through a few Mayan towns where the locals stood in intersections with bags of strange looking fruits for sale. It was getting late, and we didn’t think we’d find this cenote in time, so we decided to check out another one that we saw a sign for. We pulled up and were the only car in the parking lot. We paid the few dollars to get in and then took a tunnel down into this cenote that had no natural light coming down to it. There were a few artificial lights strung up, but it was still quite dark and there were ropes along the sides to guide you. The ceiling of the cenote was very low, I could float on my back and literally reach up to touch the stalactites. The length of the cenote was very long. I went pretty far back, so far that the little bit of light from the bulbs did not reach it. I was blissful in my secluded cenote cocoon far away from the rest of the world until I heard/felt a bat fly by. Okay that’s far enough! I paddled quickly back up to the illuminated part and stayed there for the rest of the time.
But it was the Kankirixche Cenote we visited on that trip that felt even more daring, at least the journey there did. After visiting Uxmal, we set out to find a cenote we’d read about in our guidebook. The section was labeled “Cenotes off the Beaten Path”. We turned off a main highway that stretched between Uxmal and Merida. At first, we were on a normal paved two-lane road. But the road started becoming more and more narrow as we drove through not Mayan towns, but small, sad, dumpy looking Mayan villages. Eventually the road turned into a one-lane gravel road. We finally see what was just a handmade wood sign nailed to a tree that said “Cenote” with an arrow pointing left. We turned down the thin dirt road which was very bumpy. It was stifling hot, smack in the middle of the day, and we are in a budget economy rental with no 4-wheel drive, no insurance, and no cell service. We kept having to stop for fear of hitting all the iguanas running across the road, and then get out to look and make sure they completed their crossing and were out of the way. We drive this way for about 20 minutes and start to wonder where the hell we are going. We contemplate trying to turn the car around. But then suddenly, in the middle of what seemed like nowhere, we see two men standing on the side of the road by a gate. And by “gate” I mean a rope they have pulled across what looks to be an entrance to something. We roll down the window. “Hablas Ingles?” I ask. “No, Mayan” one of the men replies. Shit. Now I can’t even use the little bit of Spanish I know. “Cenote?” I ask. The men nod their heads and hold up two fingers – as in two dollars. We hand over the money and they pull the rope back so we can enter. They point to a small wooden building which ended up being the changing room. We see one other car parked so we park next to it. I walk to the wood shack to put my swimsuit on. I have to say it was quite disgusting. It had a small dressing room in which I struggled to put my suit on while trying to balance on my flip flops and not step on the mucky floor. It smelled really bad and there were horseflies everywhere. I couldn’t get out of that place fast enough! Once I’m suited up, I walk down to Bill who’s looking around, unsure where to go. This is not a big popular cenote like Ik-Kil, there are no signs around, no tour guides to help you. We’re finally here, and yet we have no idea exactly where the cenote is. Finally, we see a person, surely the owner of the only other car. He’s dripping wet like he’s just been swimming. He was French, but like most Europeans, was fluent in English. We ask him where the cenote is, and he points to what looks like nothing more than a hole in the ground. We walk to the hole and look down at a janky old wooden staircase. But about halfway down, we stop in disbelief at the shocking beauty of this hidden cenote. There’s enough sunlight to show off the alluring azure blue of this natural swim hole. There were chirping birds flying in and out. It was peaceful and oh so beautiful. And after the hot stressful drive, diving into the cool water felt luxuriously delicious on our skin and our souls. There were a couple of people in it who must have been with the French guy, but they left soon enough, and we had this paradise all to ourselves. Part of the cenote was somewhat shallow, creating a lighter aqua blue color to the water, and the other part was really deep, which resulted in a darker sapphire blue. We could see clearly under the water’s surface, and I think that’s the first and only time I’ve seen stalactites under water. It was truly a magical place and experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Now in less than a week, we’ll be heading back to this part of Mexico, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in all – the natural beauty, the history, the colorful and lively culture, the food! Hasta luego!
