Las Cenotes

Oh my I love cenotes. And snorkeling. Thursday morning at nine, eight of us at Nomadas Hostal got together at the front and headed out to visit some of the underground caves filled with water and stalactites and stalagmites. Not of course, before I ran all over central Merida looking for a bank that wasn't out of order and frantically took a taxi back and was totally late and totally relieved that I was't left behind. For 300 pesos, $30 usd, we took a van to a little market in a Mayan pueblo and wandered through chiles and verduras and raw carne hanging in the heat for those who dare to eat it. After that we drove way out into the middle of nowhere and stopped at a clearing with a big hole surrounded by some trees and a ladder reaching way down. We each received our freshly sterilized snorkel and mask and climbed down until we were close enough to jump into the gray blue water. It was filled with minerals and tiny catfish cuties and felt so clean and untreated. There were remnents of candles from Mayan ceremonies along the walls, this is a sacred place for them. It is easy to see why. I snorkeled my first snorkel in here, and learned how to dive while our guide was showing us how deep and far the cave goes underwater and all the otherwordly stalactites hanging low with black abyss behind them. I spent a lot of time just staring down, floating on top of the water. The colors and the feel of the water just pulled me in and everything else went away. When our heads were above water we learned about the history of the cenotes. There is no water on the surface of the Yucatan peninsula. No rivers, no lakes, nothing to provide fresh water for crops or drinking. Except the cenotes. So they have been very special to the people of the Yucatan for thousands of years.

*I have to meet someone now, so I will have to continue my long description a bit later...