"When you come up and tell people there are elephants down there they really think you've gone crazy"
March 26, 2006 10:44 PM Subscribe
Cenotes (say-NO-tays), scattered across the Yucatan peninsula, vary greatly in shape and size, but are often quite beautiful in any case. Some cenotes were apparently used for ritual human sacrifice by the Mayans, and some, say scientists, contain waterlife which may be helpful in treating cancer. However, these cenotes and their connected ecosystems may be in danger if the rapid and largely unchecked development of the Maya Riviera continues.
Awesome - especially some of the pictures in the second link. Disappointing that I'm only the 2nd commenter, though!
Imagine one of these things opening up under your village - I can understand why they'd begin to believe in malisious deities!
posted by Chunder at 1:21 AM on March 27, 2006
Imagine one of these things opening up under your village - I can understand why they'd begin to believe in malisious deities!
posted by Chunder at 1:21 AM on March 27, 2006
Really interesting, thanks. Coincidentally(?) the Yucatan cenotes were featured on the BBC programme Planet Earth last night. This page offers video (Real) of divers in the cenotes, (under 'Programmes') exploring among the 350 miles of caves mapped so far.
posted by punilux at 1:55 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by punilux at 1:55 AM on March 27, 2006
Beautiful, cheers... was a tad disappointed when I realised there weren't any living elephants down there! That would be amazing.
posted by twistedonion at 3:20 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by twistedonion at 3:20 AM on March 27, 2006
I've only been once, but snorkeling (not diving -- cave diving is way too scary for me) in Gran Cenote was amazing. We swam off into one of the caves and looking down through the water (which is gloriously transparent) could see enormous rock formations looming up through the depths, while bats wheeled above our heads. Swimming in another direction we passed through warm shallows and schools of large fish, coming up where a second hole in the roof had opened, letting in sunlight and a cascade of vegetation.
That said, it's pretty clear that the rapid development of tourist facilities through the coastal Yucatan is a big problem. As mangrove forests along the water are cut back/destroyed in order to build more resorts, the cycle of nutrients that keeps the coral reefs alive is choked off. Even leaving aside the larger issues of environmental damage, if the reefs are threatened, a big draw for the tourism itself is also endangered.
But that article from Sport Diver is pretty sobering too -- if the development contaminates the groundwater, the whole place could be unliveable. And I have to say, when we were there in 2003, the current owner of Gran Cenote was building a small hotel right next to the cenote. Probably a bad sign.
posted by BT at 3:27 AM on March 27, 2006
That said, it's pretty clear that the rapid development of tourist facilities through the coastal Yucatan is a big problem. As mangrove forests along the water are cut back/destroyed in order to build more resorts, the cycle of nutrients that keeps the coral reefs alive is choked off. Even leaving aside the larger issues of environmental damage, if the reefs are threatened, a big draw for the tourism itself is also endangered.
But that article from Sport Diver is pretty sobering too -- if the development contaminates the groundwater, the whole place could be unliveable. And I have to say, when we were there in 2003, the current owner of Gran Cenote was building a small hotel right next to the cenote. Probably a bad sign.
posted by BT at 3:27 AM on March 27, 2006
I was to Mexico last summer, and went for two Scuba dive in a cenote. You didn't need to be cave certified for the once I went in, as the surface water was never more than 10 meters horizontally from whatver position I was in. They were fantastic dives, and I was gutted that none of the photos I took from my disposable underwater camera came out, as some of the sights were spectacular
posted by doozer_ex_machina at 4:07 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by doozer_ex_machina at 4:07 AM on March 27, 2006
We stayed in Playa del Carmen and had a blast...including a couple of day eco-tours to cenotes and Mayan villages etc.
Due to a very unpleasant 24-hr. airline delay on the way home, be got to spend a few hours in one of those all-inclusive resorts near Cancun. It was just as nightmarish as spending a night on the cold airport floor.
Food everywhere, music everywhere, crowded pools..kinda like what I imagine a cruise ship to be like.
Well, at least we found out where all the white American families go on vacation.
posted by kozad at 6:52 AM on March 27, 2006
Due to a very unpleasant 24-hr. airline delay on the way home, be got to spend a few hours in one of those all-inclusive resorts near Cancun. It was just as nightmarish as spending a night on the cold airport floor.
Food everywhere, music everywhere, crowded pools..kinda like what I imagine a cruise ship to be like.
Well, at least we found out where all the white American families go on vacation.
posted by kozad at 6:52 AM on March 27, 2006
My dad and I were out for a drive in Yucatan one time when I was maybe 12 years old. We were way out in the middle of nowhere and my dad pulled over to do what men do off to the side of the road when on a drive in the middle of nowhere. He went to one side of the narrow dirt road and I went to the other.
After a minute I hear him calling for me to come quickly. I ran over to where he was standing. I realized that he was on top of an ancient, rough, moss covered stone block platform with a channel running down the center to what was apparently a stone block cistern. The edge of the platform dropped off into a hole in the ground about 10 feet in diameter. Through the dim light through the trees we could see down into the hole. About 50 feet below us was a pool of still water.
Vines and roots trailed from the jungle all the way to the water level. My father picked up a small nut off the ground and tossed it down into the hole. The second it hit the water it touched off a flurry of activity. The water frothed with unseen creatures, this set off the bats and birds nested on the walls of the cenote, who screeched and flew in and out of the hole, some tiny birds the size of hummingbirds and some bats the size of house cats! Then, as suddenly as the noise and activity began, it stopped and the pool went back to its stillness, at least until the next nut hit the water.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:44 AM on March 27, 2006
After a minute I hear him calling for me to come quickly. I ran over to where he was standing. I realized that he was on top of an ancient, rough, moss covered stone block platform with a channel running down the center to what was apparently a stone block cistern. The edge of the platform dropped off into a hole in the ground about 10 feet in diameter. Through the dim light through the trees we could see down into the hole. About 50 feet below us was a pool of still water.
Vines and roots trailed from the jungle all the way to the water level. My father picked up a small nut off the ground and tossed it down into the hole. The second it hit the water it touched off a flurry of activity. The water frothed with unseen creatures, this set off the bats and birds nested on the walls of the cenote, who screeched and flew in and out of the hole, some tiny birds the size of hummingbirds and some bats the size of house cats! Then, as suddenly as the noise and activity began, it stopped and the pool went back to its stillness, at least until the next nut hit the water.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:44 AM on March 27, 2006
Great post. Anyone interested in the area and the Maya should read about the Caste War of Yucatan. I recommend the book of that title by Nelson Reed; I have the original 1964 edition, but the 2001 revised edition sounds great. Reed writes like a novelist while preserving historical accuracy, and you'll end up with a tremendous amount of respect for the Maya and their long struggle to hold on to their native land.
posted by languagehat at 8:11 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by languagehat at 8:11 AM on March 27, 2006
Interesting that you mention that Languagehat, the whole reason my dad and I were there was because of my mother's dissertation research on the caste wars.
posted by Pollomacho at 9:07 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by Pollomacho at 9:07 AM on March 27, 2006
My girlfriend and I swam and snorkeled in both cenotes near Tulum pictured in the second link. Water was sparkling clear and refreshing. Thanks to our guide, Eduardo, who grew up in the area and turned us on to these out of the way sights. There were no tour buses or typical tourist trap trappings to be seen. Hopefully it stays that way.
posted by Roger Dodger at 10:16 AM on March 27, 2006
posted by Roger Dodger at 10:16 AM on March 27, 2006
Funny this should be posted now! I was just in the Yucatan last week, and went snorkeling in the cenotes at Hidden Worlds near Tulum. It was amazing and the closest you can get to actual cave diving w/o a SCUBA cert.
Gratuitous photo of another cenote we went swimming in.
posted by smackfu at 8:13 AM on March 28, 2006
Gratuitous photo of another cenote we went swimming in.
posted by smackfu at 8:13 AM on March 28, 2006
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