Jaguars in the Jungle

Not too long ago I had the privilege to venture out to a little known Maya cenotes. As I explained in prior blogs, cenotes are luscious waterholes found all over the Yucatan peninsula. They exist due to the karst topography that characterizes the region. Likewise, there exist a large amount of underground caves that sometimes give way to a cenote. These are filled with enormously impressive stalactites and stalagmites in various shapes and sizes. The first cenote that I was invited to go to is known as the ‘rehoyera’ as well as ‘without light.’ This last name is very appropriate since this cenote is below ground (not all are) and the cave it is found in is completely dark. Leading the expedition was the only male, Don Raphael, who brought along his rifle, just in case he needed to protect us from a jaguar or any other large predatory animal. A couple of the women came, adolescent friends of mine (ages 13-20) came, and about 6 children also came along. Our large group made our way single file through the Maya forest until we made it to the site in about a half hour. We did our hiking in our flip flops, trying our best to avoid the various rock, roots, and branches that littered the small path. It was a beautiful day out; the weather was sunny and not too warm.
When we arrived, it was literally a small hole in the ground where we were to climb in. A long tree branch was placed at the entrance so that we can use to climb down the several feet depth. Once inside, a few people used their small lamps to illuminate the caverns and see where we were going. The flash of the camera illuminated the surroundings for a split second and revealed a glorious and large cave with beautiful rock formations throughout. We hiked on a downward slope very carefully so that we may reach the cenote (water). Oh yeah, did I mention we were all barefoot? We left our flip flops at the door (or hole in the ground) because I was told that the journey may be even more dangerous with the flip flops. I did as I was told; after all, they know this place way better than me. We carefully made it to the water and were surprised to see it illuminated with the flash. It was a lot of water! It was a huge pool. Even though the incredible heat of the cave – causing everyone to sweat profusely – made the water enticing, we didn’t go in. They said in previous trips that they had ventured in, but we decided that swimming in a pitch dark unknown was not attractive at the moment. Plus, we were still a little weary about the jaguar footprints Don Raphael had found. The jaguar likes to go in and out of these water-filled caves to quench his/her thirst from time to time. Who can blame him/her? After exploring the cave for a while and going through an opening where we had to crawl, we decided it was time to head back. On the path back, we decided to run for a portion of it. The kids love to run in the forest, and they do so easily, even in flip flops! I was proud that I could keep up; and stay up! This was not the first time I found myself running through the Mayan jungle with the children. I will tell about the other experience shortly. Adios for now Latinitas.