Dinosaurs and Sacrifices: the Cenotes of Yucatan State – wayfarersoliloquy
The Yucatan Peninsula’s majestic sinkholes lure travelers and locals by the thousands. While most people flock to the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo to experience them, the real treasure lies to the east, in Merida, where thousands of popular and hidden cenotes form a concentric ring around the city. For the Mayan communities who preside over them, their cerulean waters are considered sacred gates to the underworld and protected cultural assets that many of these small communities depend on.
This December, my friends and I drove out to some of the remote villages that thrive off of cenote tourism. Most are within an hour from Merida, the cobblestoned colonial capital of Yucatan state. Driving through the dense tropical shrubland it’s easy to become disoriented. Upon arrival at the cenotes of X’batun and Dzonbacal we paid the small entrance fee and hiked into the forest towards the sinkholes. Dzonbacal was a shimmering blue pool inside a deep cave accessible by a small wooden staircase that’s surrounded by thick tropical vegetation. It was the perfect introduction to the Yucatan’s famous natural springs. X’batun was an open air cenote surrounded by overhanging tropical plants and roots. It felt like a tropical oasis. Swimming amongst its lily pads and braving a quick freedive into the dark reaches of the underwater cavern, I immediately felt why so many people make pilgrimages to these natural swimming pools.
The cenotes of Yucatan State are concentrated along a 200 kilometer perimeter that surrounds the city of Merida. It was because of this concentration that a team of scientists were able to pinpoint the exact location of the asteroid crater that killed off the majority of life on earth including the non-avian dinosaurs. This gigantic impact occurred when the Yucatan was just the seafloor. When the asteroid, about 10 kilometers in diameter, hit the surface of the earth it turned rock into liquid and raised a massive mound of earth and formed a crater that tore twenty kilometers into the continental crust. Once the geologically young Yucatan Peninsula formed some twenty million years ago, the once towering crater had already weathered away. For millions of years the weakened limestone impact deposits within the craters’ rim were exposed to weathering and water drainage. Over time, limestone caves and sinkholes were formed, creating the concentric rim of cenotes we enjoy today.
Since their formation, many animals have depended on them for water and shelter including humans. For the ancient Maya who developed massive civilizations in the Yucatan’s unforgiving environment, they were once used as sources of freshwater and as the sacred homes of the rain god Chaat. Offerings of gems and pottery, burials, and complex ceremonies were made to appease the god and encourage dependable rainfall for the milpas, a planting system for sustenance crops like corn, beans, and squash. The role of cenotes in ancient Mayan society wasn’t just for ceremonies and sustenance. A few Archaeologists hypothesize that the cenotes played an important role in determining the alignment of the grand pyramids in many Mayan cities.
Yucatan state’s cenotes have for many years remained hidden from tourism and foreign tourists were few and far between. Recently this has all begun to change. Many of the cenotes are located in small towns and villages far removed from the tourist trail. With the increased popularity of the area’s sacred springs, local economies have started to benefit. Many towns such as Homun have a fleet of moto taxis who for a small fee will bring visitors to the cenotes of their choice, including ones with tall diving platforms and rope swings. Every day during peak season tourist vans, families, and adventure seekers arrive here to take advantage of the beautiful waters and breathtaking surroundings. “The population of the town and the amount of visitors we get grows every day.” Said our moto-taxi driver as we chugged along a dirt road to the farthest cenote outside of town to avoid the tourists. “Our town is changing. Things are getting more expensive for us, even though we’re all making more money.”
Not all cenotes are alike yet they all share almost unimaginable beauty. Some are exposed, surrounded by blue sky and jungle while others open up deep below the ground, accessible only via narrow passageways into the underworld. Inside their waters and cave walls exist flourishing ecosystems supporting many species of fish, amphibians, mammals, and plants. Vines and tree roots snake down into the limestone overhangs providing shelter for forest animals. Within the freshwater caves are deep networks of tunnels connecting entire chains of cenotes. Recently divers have begun to explore the deeper sections and have discovered fascinating fish species that exist nowhere else on the planet. Although the majority of the Yucatan’s cenotes are located along the rim of the Chicxulub crater, many exist in other locations throughout the state. Nearby in Merida, there exists a cenote in a very unique location. Looking at its surface you would think you were deep in the jungle but a quick glance up will reveal a towering Costco sign. The cenote is located in the center of the Costco parking lot, one of the strangest places to visit a sacred natural space.
Just a few kilometers from Merida is the coastal town of Chicxulub. Within the natural salt marsh and protected flamingo habitat lies ground zero for one of the most destructive events in planetary history. The violence that upheaved the earth and destroyed the dinosaurs also helped create one of the world’s most captivating natural wonders and sanctified spaces. For the Mayan people of Yucatan state these cenotes remain protected hallowed grounds where people from across the globe can come to experience their transfixing waters. It may be fortunate that this part of the Yucatan escapes the overbearing presence of tourists that their neighboring state of Quintana Roo does, yet this may be short-lived. The Mexican government is constructing a high speed train that will connect the tourist beaches of Tulum and Cancun with archeological sites and cultural landmarks throughout the peninsula’s four states. This 1500 kilometer track will inevitably bring in more tourism dollars but will also further alter the communities within the state’s cenote zone. For people like our moto-taxi driver in Homun, many will have to deal with the inevitable inflation and encroaching development that comes when beautiful places get “discovered.” Hopefully most of these cenotes can remain preserved as they are for the future generations that call them home.