Cenotes & Spiders


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September 11th 2018
Published: September 14th 2018
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Jungle roadJungle roadJungle road

The road on the way to Coba
We had quite an adventure today. Our whale shark tour was cancelled due to bad weather (it's raining nonstop). We're hoping it will leave tomorrow instead. So we went to exchange dollars to pesos. There are lots of exchange places and lots of competition, so it's worthwhile shopping around a bit. We got the best rate we've seen so far.

Then we sat to eat at a small place in a covered mall (it's still raining). Tamar got hot cakes, which was a large pile of pancakes with jam, butter, juice and coffee. I got, well, I don't remember what it's called but it was a plate piled high with chips covered in pulled chicken, cheese and sauce. And juice & coffee, of course. It was good, but way too much food for breakfast!

After we ate we got some water and saw a bottle of white liquid, so we asked about it. It's called horchata, a traditional rice drink. We got a bottle, of course.

Then we went looking for a car rental. The one I found online was nowhere to be found in reality, so we wandered around until we found something that was open (things
Our first tarantulaOur first tarantulaOur first tarantula

Why did the tarantula cross the road?
don't really open in Cancun until after 9AM). It took a while to work out the details and rent the car, and with full coverage it isn't cheap (about 200 shekels after haggling) for a tiny little Chevy Spark. So we started driving, but heard a horrible scraping sound! I stopped to check the noise (in the rain). Turns out the guy at the rental place put a traffic cone in front of the car and forgot to remove it in the downpour!

I had to stop on the main road and back up onto a sidewalk with the right wheels. Tamar got out to guide me, but luckily there was a policeman (well, a uniformed guy) there and he helped. We got the cone out, put it in the car and burst out laughing! We had a hitchhiker now! A conical orange one.

We continued on in a much quieter car (though the windshield wiper sounded like a frog) towards Coba, the ruins of an ancient Mayan city. The drive was longer than I expected, over two hours, but the rain gradually lessened and finally stopped. The roads here are arrow-straight and narrow, and every time it goes through a village or town there are lots and lots of bumpers (called Topes), Most of them have signs next to them, but not all, and they are all very big! If you hit one at even slow speeds you'll get a bad shake! We had to come almost to a standstill at each one, a real time waster!

The GPS took us down a smaller local road, a little run down, through the jungle (and the odd topes-littered village) towards Coba, and as we neared Coba we saw a big (really big) spider crossing the road! I didn't have time to stop, but a little later we saw another one. A ginormous tarantula, black with a red abdomen, was crossing the road! I jammed on the brakes for that one and we got some pictures.

We saw a couple more on the way before we got to Coba.

So, we finally got to the city, bought tickets and went for a walk in the jungle. Coba was a sprawling city with very widely spaced buildings and lots of walking. You can rent bicycles but we opted to walk. So we saw many of the main buildings, including a ball court. The court was a narrow alley between two sloped walls, and high up on each wall there's a stone hoop. As I understand it, players would try to get a ball into the opponent team's hoop.

On our walk in the jungle we saw a couple millipedes, very different than the ones we know & love from home, many interesting plants and huge butterflies, spiders, birds and other creatures of the jungle. We're glad we walked!

We got back to the car and tasted the horchata, with no expectations. It's actually really good! Tastes like rice pudding with lots of cinnamon and sugar, but as a drink, not a pudding. Delicious and refreshing.

Anyway, we headed to a couple cenotes nearby that are supposed to be really nice. Choo-Ha and Tankach-Ha. I got us tickets for both and it was beyond worthwhile! There's simple changing rooms and you have to shower before going in to get bug spray and sunscreen off.

We started off at Choo-Ha, climbed down the steep wooden circular stairs into a hole in the ground, and a big bell-shaped cave opened up under us! Stalactites hung from the ceiling and crystal-clear water filled the cave below. Absolutely stunning! Beyond amazing! And apart from one other couple, we were alone there. Out came the goggles and gopro and we went swimming. What an experience! The water is fresh and cool, clear as glass and oh so refreshing. There are a few small catfish down in the cave and the odd bat flying around.

We stayed there about a half hour before deciding to check out the second one, Tankach-Ha, just 200 meters away (we took the car anyway). It was even better than the first! Incredible! It's similar in shape (a big bell cave with rickety wooden stairs going down the narrow opening) but bigger, and there are two diving boards on the way down. One about 5 meters high (my estimate) and the other almost 10!

There was a local family there when we got there, but they left about 20 minutes after we got there, so we had the place to ourselves for a while. We swam a lot and jumped from the lower diving board a couple times. The first time Tamar and I jumped together, we did it with the gopro on
A jungle residentA jungle residentA jungle resident

A local milipede
a selfie stick. The gopro survived. The selfie stick - not so much. We just found that so hilarious! The gopro dangling on a wire from the stick, still filming. That's going to be a good video (NOT!)

A short while later another American couple arrived. Tamar wanted to jump from the high diving board once before we left, and when the other woman did so, Tamar got the courage to jump too. I opted to video the jump on her phone instead. After that we went to change into dry clothes before the drive back to Cancun. We got dressed, and while Tamar was washing her feet from sand before putting on her shoes, I saw a huge tarantula on the thatch roof of the changing rooms! It was barely holding on to the edge of the thatch. Of course, pictures ensued.

After checking online, by the way, the tarantulas turned out to be Yucatan Rust Rump tarantulas. Not really dangerous, but their hairs can cause nasty irritations to the skin. Best left alone.

Anyway, we finally left the cenotes, very happy. We headed back towards Cancun but stopped in the town of Coba (not the
The way down into the underworldThe way down into the underworldThe way down into the underworld

The stairs into Choo-Ha cenote
ruins) to get some supper. We sat at a place we saw on the way in, that looked nice, but it turned out to be touristy - pricey and not so good. We had mediocre tamales and fahitas, and good pineapple and tamarind juices to go with. I won't go into the food because it really wasn't worth the effort.

By then it was starting to get dark so we headed for the long drive back to Cancun, stopping on the way for gas. All those topes slowed us down again. I told myself before the trip that I'd do my best to avoid driving at night in Mexico, but it really wasn't too bad.

We stopped in Cancun to shop for a few necessities, then took the car back to the rental place and said goodbye to our orange cone stowaway.

We finally got to the hotel at about 10PM. A long, but successful day!


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Underground turquoiseUnderground turquoise
Underground turquoise

Tankach-Ha cenote


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