Mayan Jungle

The Merceds Unimoger. It can do flips and land on all fours.

Logan told me just pose and look good, cause I wasn't really helping.

Imagine yourself here. I did, but your not allowed to see the picture.

This is the first Cenote we swam in.


Guess who?

We went down into this cavern, way down it.

This is the entrance into the second Cenote.


That's the ladder and the only ray of light.

Siesta time!

The tours with AllTourNative are the best tours to take down here. They are always on Mayan land, with the proceeds from the souvenirs and pictures going directly to the Mayan people, the groups are kept small and separated from each other. Always an adventure.

This morning we started out at the beach, taking a walk through the area and looking a various plants and an open cenote. This particular cenote had an alligator living in it, that travels to the ocean through the underground water ways.

From there we kayaked out to a reef and snorkeled, what a great day it was for snorkeling, the sun was shining, the fish were abundant and I didn't swallow too much sea water. Logan and I did manage to tip over the kayak trying to turn it around and head in the right direction. (Is that our theme, always falling off of our rides? Maybe we won't take up ultralights).

From there we boarded the Mercedes Unimog for a ride that consisted of four wheeling on what felt like a complete vertical then complete horizontal slope over old coral and boulders, with the driver doing his darndest to make it as miserable as he could. Now we know why we had to sign the waiver of liability.

The best part of the trip was the cenotes. These are the coolest part of the trips down here. A cenote is a cavern with an underwater river running thought it. There are stalactite and stalagmite formations above and below this crystal clear water.

The first cenote had an open side cavern, and we swam inside the cavern following our guides light. Once deep inside, she showed up complete darkness, we couldn't see our hands in front of our face. When it came time to turn back the way we came, she told us that we could find the opening by looking for the bright blue water that is created when the sunlight hits the water. I could see the blue light when I was under the water, but when I looked out on top of the water, I couldn't see any light.

To enter the second cenote we had to climb down a ladder through a very small opening. Here the sun came through the one opening but lit the entire cavern.

Exhausted from it all we had a great Mayan lunch, a rest on the hammocks before heading to civilization in our Mercedes Unimogs for another thrill seeking ride, the driver being encouraged to be even more adventuresome with every scream of the women in the back. At one point he even backed the Unimog back up and did it again.

After freshening up and taking a little nap, we had Christmas Eve dinner at the Sur Restaurant. The place is buzzing with merriment and excitement of what Santa will bring us tonight.