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| Jeanne On top Of Coba Pyramid with young Mexican tourists |
As soon as we started off in our minivan that was to take us
and 11 other people on a day tour to the Coba Archaeological site we knew we
were in trouble. The van seemed to sway from side to side, getting gradually
worse. Our driver, Gustavo, stopped by the side of the highway and he and our
guide, Pepito, got out and examined the tires. Sure enough, as Ray suspected,
one was almost flat. I think Ray and I are transportation jinxes. No matter what
country we are in, at least one of our rides ends up with a flat tire or broken
motor. Mexico is no exception.
We had signed up while in Playa del Carmen on Saturday for
what sounded like a great day. As well as Coba, which we had visited 21 years
ago on our first trip to Mexico, we were going to swim in a cenote, have lunch
and visit a Mayan village. We were already at least 1 ½ hours behind schedule. Gustavo
had picked us up first at 7:15 AM and then we had wasted more than one hour
rounding up the other passengers. People were not where they were supposed to
be, were late and one, an Italian Lady, seemed to have lost her husband. She couldn’t
understand why we couldn’t wait while she tracked him down.
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| Guide Pepito, driver Gustavo wait for tire repair |
Finally we were on our way when the tire went flat. Luckily
there was a tire service center just down the road. The service man was very
efficient but it took another half hour to locate the pin hole, plug it and
replace the tire. We continued on down the highway.
After that delay Pepito announced a change in the itinerary.
All except Ray and me had opted to visit Tulum Archaeological site and swim on
the beach. Ray and I had visited Tulum previously and we had stayed in Tulum
twice before. That is why we had opted for a swim in a cenote, one of many fresh
water pools formed by an opening in the limestone crust that covers most of the
Yucatan Peninsula. Instead of visiting Coba first, we would all have our
alternate activities in the morning, have lunch and then visit Coba. That was
fine with everyone. Pepito led the Tulum group through the ruins and they all
had time to swim in the ocean.
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| Casa Cenote |
Ray and I were taken to Casa Cenote, about 5 km north of
Tulum. We had swum in a cenote on a previous trip. This one was better than we
originally thought. This cenote was right beside a road lined with houses
facing the beach. All we saw from the road at first was a small pond with a few
people already in the water. We had brought our own masks and snorkels with us,
so we changed into our bathing suits and soon slipped into the clear, cool
waters. Mangroves, with their roots sending their tentacle roots into the
water, form a barricade all around the sides of the cenote. The roots are the
perfect nursery for baby fish while larger ones cruise the bottoms. Much to our
surprise the initial pool was just the starting point for a cenote river that
meandered for several 100 meters between the mangroves. At the end of one turn
a heron stood undisturbed by the swimmers, waiting for the right moment to
snatch an unwary fish for dinner.
Cenotes are favourites with divers as well. The depth is
often shallow enough for beginner divers and there are underwater limestone
caves to explore. We swam above several groups, waving a greeting, on our
journey through the system. There was a definite current in the river system,
making us work to get to the end of the system, but making the return trip a
breeze. We finished our swim when we started to feel chilled, as the water was
cooler than the ocean. Luckily the sun was out so we soon were warm enough to
change and take a short walk on the beach, just across the road, before being
picked up by Gustavo.
We picked up the others in Tulum and headed to our lunch stop near Coba. A few km later the minivan began to sputter and Gustavo once again had to stop by the side of the road. It seemed that the car was out of gas. The gas gauge wasn’t working and he had not kept track of when the van was last filled. At least there was a container of gas with enough fuel to get us to the closest service station where he put in enough to last us the rest of the day. By the time we got to lunch we were all famished. It had been a long time since any of us had eaten breakfast. Luckily the buffet lunch still had enough food to feed our group.
Ray and I were curious to see what changes had occurred in Coba in the intervening years since our last visit. About the only change we could see was the increase in visitors. The site was never overcrowded but there were many more small tour groups like ours there for the afternoon. Pepito told us that Coba had first been studied by a team from the University of Chicago from 1961-1963, working on a grant from then President Kennedy. After Kennedy’s assassination, the grants dried up and virtually nothing has been done since then. Just a small percentage of the site has been uncovered, leaving many more important temples waiting to be cleared of the jungle overgrowth that has covered them. Coba was occupied by the Mayans for about 1100 years, from the 4th C to the 15th C, when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived. It was one of the most important ceremonial and astrological sites in the Yucatan, connected by a road to Chichen Itza. There are two ball game sites on the site where the Coba team would take on the Chichen Itza team. Nearby is a Mayan Calendar with 21 December 2012 as the end of 5,200 Mayan years. Legend says that after this date there will be climatic and geological imbalances and that man’s life span will decrease. Time will tell if these predictions are correct. I don’t intend to lose any sleep worrying about it.
The tallest pyramid, at 42 M, in the Yucatan is at Coba and
it is still open for visitors to climb for the view. We both climbed to the top
in 1990. This time Ray declared he had been there, done that, and didn’t need
to climb up again. I climbed to the top. I was glad to discover it wasn’t any
more difficult a climb that my first ascent. The trees still obscure much of
the view but I did get a sense of how extensive the jungle is at Coba.
We stopped in a small Mayan village on the way back, mostly
to see, and hopefully buy, the souvenirs the locals make. I am afraid the
locals did make any profit from our group. We were all just anxious to get back
to our hotels after the long day. The most interesting sight for me was spying
two spider monkeys playing in the trees behind the home we were visiting.
Finally, we arrived back in Playa del Carmen where the others were staying. Ray and I continued back to the Mayan Palace, without incident. There were no more flat tires and the fuel supply lasted until we were let off. Despite the problems, we did have a good day and were glad to revisit some of the spots we had enjoyed before.
To see photos on Picasa of our day trip to Coba and the Casa Cenote click the following and select slideshow to view the photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/rayjeanne.burnham/Mexico2011DayTourOfCobaCenote?authuser=0&feat=directlink
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