On The Wild Side of the Yucatan
29.02.2012
33 °C
There are no rivers in the Yucatan despite the torrential tropical downpours every summer during hurricane season but, for millions of years, underground aquifers have carved an extensive system of caves into the soft limestone. Massive stalagmites and stalactites give testimony to the age of these caves in Loltun…
It was a slow day at the caves – so slow that a couple of guides almost came to blows as they fought to win our business. They started at $50 but by the time we stopped them they had bargained each other down to just $5. They were so determined that if we hadn’t stepped in they might have paid us to take the tour. Once inside we were enthralled by the sheer enormity of the cathedral-sized caverns and the seemingly endless miles of tunnels…
Unfortunately, pictures cannot convey the sheer wonder or enormity of these caves. But as we neared the surface, daylight brought it into focus… 
These giant holes were blasted by an enormous meteorite that struck this area 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs – or so we were led to believe. But then we took a boat trip through the mangrove swamps in Celestun…
James’ daughter was dwarfed by the alien tentacles of the mangrove roots, and then we arrived at a cenote…
“Come on in – the water’s lovely,” cried a group of Americans who were swimming among the fish in the clear fresh water, and we were very tempted…
“Wait!” yelled James’ daughter. “What’s that monstrous creature that has just slithered into the water?”
It’s a dinosaur – an eight-foot long crocodile had joined the Americans for an afternoon dip and those guys dived out of the pool faster than they dived in. Great fun was had by all - including the croc....
those look like amazing caves. quite different from the Waitomo caves of New Zealand in the south part of the North island. And guess what we have in North Van -SNOW- for Lucille's 16th (well64th) as she is Leap Year gal. thanks for the interesting photos jean
by Jean McLaren