Cenote Azul...

While my parents were here, I made sure to take them to a cenote. I've been wanting to visit one since we moved to Mexico, but we just never seemed to be able to fit it in. Maybe, I was just waiting for some fun people to come visit us. Basically, a cenote is a natural body of water that is caused from the collapse of the limestone ground and the water beneath pooling up. There are
thousands and thousands of them in Mexico, and each one has a unique characteristic. Some are outside with large rock formations surrounding the water for people to jump off. Others are inside caves that are so deep people scuba dive in them.

We decided to take my parents and nieces to the Cenote Azul which is about 30 minutes away from Playacar. I was really surprised by how many people were visiting the small area on a weekday. Even though there were quite a few large groups of families, it didn't seem crowded as we swam around. Seth and Sabah rented snorkel gear so they could check out the fishies underneath. Sarah and I just hung out and chilled in the water. Oh, did I say, "chilled?" Yep. The water was absolutely freezing! We warmed up to it overtime, but it was a shocker when I first put in my little tosies.

Word to the wise. Sitting water welcomes mosquitos is not just some old wise tale with an underlying meaning. Sitting water REALLY does welcome mosquitos and lots of them. They have people stationed around the area to light fires in trash cans to ward off all the mosquitos with smoke. Of course, I didn't get that at first. I walked my family over to this nice cozy little quiet area where no one was sitting. Uh, duh...there is a reason there was no one over there! Within, 5 seconds we were all getting attacked by those little disease ridden pests and I quickly said, "Who's crazy idea was this. Let's move over by everyone else." Of course, my entire family looked at me like I was the devil incarnated.

After our little escapade with the malaria breeders, we found a good spot by the smoke and headed to the water. It seemed like everyone was taking their turn jumping off the cliff down as the people below chanted, "Si se poede, Si se poede, Si se poede!": "Go, Go, Go!"(very rough translation). Of course, Seth had to take his turn to prove his mainly fierceness. I snapped a few photos, but they didn't come out. Sabah asked if I was going to jump, and I exclaimed, "Are you crazy? I like living!" I am horribly afraid of heights, and I am well passed the stage of needing to prove or attempt to get over my fear. I have embraced my silly, unexplainable fear with open arms and acceptance. 

Overall, good times. I'll definitely try another type of cenote in the future. I'm thinking a cave one would be cool, but I sure hope its not as cold as the Azul one. Maybe, I just need to toughen up a bit and get over it.

Little notes to tuck away:

1. Water shoes are good; very rocky
2. No mosquito spray allowed
3. Stay by the smoke!
4. Bio-degradable sunscreen only
5. Snorkel gear can be rented for pretty cheap
6. Bring a cooler with drinks
7. Bring own snacks; no restaurant or snack bar
8. No restrooms once you are down by the cenote
9. No umbrellas
10. Talk to people while you are there; fantastic place to speak almost any language