Would you believe?

                  I wouldn't believe. Except I was there.

Would you like to come with me to a cenote in the Yucatan Peninsula? The reason we came here was to see a fantastic friend who kept talking about how amazing it was where she lived. Puerto Morelos in Mexico. So we came, and we hopped in her car one fine day and drove down la ruta de cenotes, the road of sinkholes. It's not far from where we are staying, which is pretty cool. We drove down a straight and lonely looking road with yellow bushes highlighting the way, the jungle so thick that it was like driving past a wall of green.

Then we took a turn down a bumpy dirt road that was not very wide. There were 2 entrances and we went down the first one. It was in the thick of the jungle, no one was around except a family of coatimundi here and there. The whole experience wraps itself around the cenote. There is friendship, jungle, odd animals, unusual plants and trees, and a lot of legend in there too.

Like this picture below at the end of the road with the car, at the beginning of one of the roads to a cenote. It looks like someone randomly propped up a big old stone. Was it part of some old ruins? Chances are good, according my imagination. There were not other stones like it in the near area, not uncovered like this anyway. Who knows what lies beneath the thick jungle.

Here is a coatimundi. It looks like the result of a forbidden love affair between a raccoon and monkey.

We were down a quiet road, then down a dirt road that begs for a 4X4 truck, then walking for a bit, not seeing a single person and only 2 houses since leaving the main road, and there is a tree house of sorts. Like a ghost town, with only coatimundis using this instead of humans. 

I have already shown pictures of the first cenote, it was a deserted place, they had a building there and steps and a platform. It seemed very deserted. There are thousands of these sinkholes, and this was one of many on private land. It was open and inviting, and the water was clear. I put my feet in the water. Part of me wondered if it would feel different somehow, this place looked magical, is this like a big cauldron of potions? It's just different to see my feet in the water, the bottom a few feet below, and also see the reflection of the sky all at the same time. It was interesting to listen to stories of Mayan beliefs in the underworld as I sat there. I was trying to not be nervous. I was mostly successful. Yes, I held my breath.

The whole thing was amazing, every turn of my head with every step taken. Each minute it's own wonder of different angles of new things in a new world. - Pure Adventure -

Then we walk back to the car and walk through the next entrance. My friend Laura explains to me that she knows the way because she came before with a friend who was a cave diver. The owners asked him to help them understand their cenote. He came to the first one and checked it out. Todos es buenos. All is well, no problema. Then he goes to the second cenote and this experienced cave diver won't even go down the stairs to this one. He turns and walks away, saying no way. Nuh uh. Nope. Nada. Not for me.

Why?

Is it the way it looks? Does it look like it would be unfavorable diving conditions? Is it the vibration levels that he can somehow feel? Is it superstition? The first cenote was shallow, and clear, and had some qualities of a cave. This next one the walls appeared to go straight down like a meteorite fell from the sky and created this hole. It appeared to be very deep but I couldn't tell, the water was dark and had a thick film on top. I dubbed it the Pool of Assumptions. Because all I could do was assume, it wasn't giving up any of its secrets. It simply reflected what was above, hiding all that was below.

I had zero urge to put my feet in that water. I think this one was used by the Mayans for not so nice things. There was evidence of an ancient entryway with 2 sacred trees posted like sentinels. It was all overgrown, though. We walked down the steps and there was certain eerie stillness there, unlike the other cenote that had birds flying down in swoops, and tiny fish seen swimming within the water. I am the kind of person who has to take a decent sized rock and throw it in the water to see if it will give an indication of how deep it is. My husband was like: why are you don't that? Um, because. It was odd. I tossed the rock in and it created a circular break in the film on top, but I could only see it go down about 2 feet. Then the film on top sucked back together again within seconds. Huh. So we did it again. We have video of how it took about 6 seconds for the film to close back up around the original hole formed by the rock like it never happened.

I have been told that there are some cenotes that have pockets or layers of sulfur that make them extra murky. I looked up some video of it, interesting stuff.

Another creep factor was the broken little walkway. Was it unfinished or broken? Maybe a bit of both. The odd thing is that there were 2 yellow life jackets sitting there. Why? I can't imagine getting in that water. I can only imagine bringing down my life jacket and then leaving it behind as I scramble back up the way I came. When I dropped the rock in there it was like the cenote was carnivorous, like it gobbled up the rock. Like it opened its mouth and ate it whole and left no trace behind. Maybe the centoe ate the swimmers and spit the life jackets back out. All I know, is it's a fantastic place to let the imagination run wild.

 


At the top of the staircase is a little structure just big enough to house a bottle of wine. Or I think it's wine, I didn't want to disturb anything. Laura says it's a house and offering built by the humans for an Alux (Al-oosh). I need to find a link to explain the elemental beings that the Mayan believe guard certain sacred places. Laura has written about them.
The story is that the people who own this cenote tried to build the stairs and things kept going very wrong. So they asked a Shaman to help, since their troubles were from an Alux. A house was built for the Alux and there were offerings put inside. Then there were no more problems.
Conversations go to strange places while on an adventure. We were talking about ancient things and I was saying there was a story I found recently about a clam that was dredged up around Iceland and the people killed it while trying to figure out how old it is. I was talking about how us people sometimes lack so much understanding. The clam turned out to be one of the oldest living things at 500 plus years old, based on the layers of its shell. You can look up the details, I found it by typing in "500 year old clam". We reached the top of stairs as we went back up and Ron was saying, You know, a few years ago I would have said all this was a bunch of hogwash and crazy talk, but I'm not so sure anymore.
I said: Well Ron, maybe you should ask the Alux for a sign. I was kidding, as much as I thought it would be cool if it was true. All three of us were back at the top of the stairs looking at the house with great intent. Laura saw an intact fossilized clam. It was fantastic for several reasons. We have seen many fossilized clams, but only pieces. Once Laura found the clam Ron was incredibly happy, he said that for many years of partial finds he had always wanted to find a whole clam. 

Ron was in awe. He held it in his hand and admired it. Then he put it back down. He said it felt like it would be wrong to take it from it's resting place. (just a coincidence? but my, what a remarkable one)

This whole thing was outstanding and exotic. Just look at the patterns on these hyper green plants.

Twice I though of how we were walking on possibly ancient holy ground. And full of holes. This is what happened to Laura, she sunk in a bit. The reason this can make a person nervous is that all that limestone creates pockets everywhere. You never know when a new sinkhole will be created. It reminded me of the phrase "walking on hallowed ground". Or hollowed ground, at least.

One of the sacred trees is called a Ceiba tree. It has spikes on the trunk. This blog is too long already, but that's just a sample of all the fascinating things I found in just a few hours. I'm glad I didn't have to rush this visit.

This is a beautiful blossom on the tree. The leaves were gone and there were bunches of flowers.
Thanks for sharing this adventure with me. Once you read this, it will feel like you were there with me too.




(Brenda, taking you with)