Dipping Into the Yucatan's Freshwater Cenotes William Gurstelle - Star Tribune
go to original November 22, 2015

Jumping into a Cenote in Mexico (MicBergsma)

The easternmost projection of the Yucatán Peninsula is mostly a dense tropical jungle, but it’s a jungle unlike any other on Earth. This part of Mexico, a state with the musical-sounding name of Quintana Roo, is commonly known as the Riviera Maya — a sprawling waterfront tourist development of huge hotels and sandy beaches. But a bit inland from those beaches is the Ring of Cenotes, a mostly undeveloped watery paradise where adventurous travelers can walk in the footsteps of ancient Mayans.

In these cenotes (pronounced si-NO-tays), the ancient Mayans communed with their gods. Modern visitors also find this to be a mystical and compelling place. Swimming in a cenote feels like floating back to a time before cars or buildings or mobile phones. This is a place where the modern, built-up world is invisible, where zapote, ceiba and ficus trees loom, great masses of thick hanging vines sway, and fish dart through clear water. Large groups of raccoon-like coatis roam the forest clearings, iguanas sun themselves on rocky ledges, and eagles and hawks ride the thermals in sweeping arcs.

Sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid 6 miles wide smashed into the peninsula. The resulting impact crater stretched for nearly 100 miles. The violence done to the planet was so great that it altered the Earth’s climate, resulting in a mass extinction of three-quarters of its plant and animal species. Chicxulub, as geologists now call the extraterrestrial rock, ended the long reign of the dinosaurs.

Read the rest at Star Tribune

Related: How Mexico’s Notorious Party Beach Resort Cancun Became the Perfect Holiday Spot for Families (Mailonline)

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