The Bat Cave
Thursday November 15th
Another day another trip. It sounded exciting at the time so I booked a cenote trip – without really knowing what it was. Cenotes are prolific in this region and from what I could make out are like underground caves with water or sinkholes.
On the way there we passed through a Mayan village. Again there were many of those oval huts built with bamboo. A few had doors open and you could see the hammocks inside, strung up in the middle. This is the preferred way for Mayans to sleep.
To add to the excitement of getting to the cenotes there is an old railway line. Small “carts” pulled by horses take you along. My back groaned at the thought of it but sitting up straight it wasn’t too bad. There were so many different butterflies in the countryside and Josh saw a snake too, it was quite relaxing trotting along.
The first cenote was accessed by a steep wooden staircase and it was an underground pool with a small hole overhead for light. The water was crystal clear, turquoise and swimming with black catfish – a bit freaky! I could not persuade the kids to go in swimming at all.
The second cenote we got to by going down a ladder into a deep hole. This one was smaller, just as turquoise and reminded me of the film The Goonies. The scene was completed by a bat circling in the rafters. It was too good an opportunity to miss – I had to go swimming! The water was cool but once you got used to it – lovely. O came in too and we hung off the tree vines, swang and played chicken swimming up to the very dark corners of the cave. We couldn’t tempt Josh to come in!
The water in the third cave was so deep it was scary. There was a platform for diving and Josh took the plunge in this one. He had company from some others who had joined us and the shouts that echoed off the walls just added to the strangeness to it. We all had a great time and one nice couple have promised to send the video of our swim.
Back to the hotel and the lovely landlady Ofelia. She must be in her 70’s but she is so nice and will help us out with all things. The rooms might be fallng to bits but I would stay here again like a shot, it has a great atmosphere. Out for a walk later we were tempted into a restaurant with the promise of a free margarita – wow was it strong but do as they do in Mexico right!
Tags: Central America, Travel
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