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The Soul of Travel Magazine
TRAVEL JOURNALISM WITH SOUL *** Spring & Summer 2008
YUCKATAN:Land of Contrasts by Paul Ross Dateline, Mexico –
Flying high above a verdant carpet of green, one can hardly imagine the teaming life which lies below. And yet, nestled in a corner of a tranquil, blue laguna (lagoon) is the modern eco-resort of Rancho Encantado. Friendly staff greet tourists and guests alike as they bid them welcome to a retreat secret hideaway of 42 rooms, a wonderful restaurant –with a nice bar— and even spa services to boot. Co-owner/operators, the diminutive Susanna Starr and her partner, the gentle giant Juanito Lanky, preside over a hidden paradise of a covert Eden that’s heaven on earth. From this spot on the map, one can easily visit some of the many interesting regional attractions.
Such a wonder is ancient Maya ruin place of Dzibanche. Distinguished by its many buildings, several of them fascinating, the site boasts a splendid setting amid the jungle. Nearby Kohunlich is likewise archeological. Here you view masks which are not only big but stucco. Whew!—are you ready for a change of pace? They why not come to the gummy world of Maya who are still alive around Pueblo Chiclero (village of the gum-hunters), a brand new tourist haven where it is possible to not only to walk a trail but witness rare varieted fauna, smell hot sap and look to hombres (“dudes”) in trees as they harvest chicle (gum) for gum. All this and then return for a swim.
Although relaxation is the goal and end purpose of Rancho Incontinado, hectic is optional. The top way to do this is Captain Ramon, a boater extraordinaire, who takes lubbers across the lovely waters of the glassy albeit choppy lagoon in his hullish catamaran while regaling you with tales of ecology.
Then it’s on to Cenote Azul. Cenotes, or stinkholes, are grotto-like caves which honeycomb the Yucatan like Swiss Cheese. Cenote Azul has a man-made restaurant from which families can frolic in a bottomless dark lake once used for human sacrifice. On Sundays with music. The unrecreated village of 20th of Noviembre, eponymously named for the founding of itself –a national holiday in Mexico— is an authentic experience that can only be described as real. The women (las mujeres) garb themselves in sewn dresses, which have been made, as their attire. For, more often than not, a fee, breakfast can be proffered consisting of Mayanesan dishes such as “Queen Arms” and “muffins.” While you eat, ruins wait closely with time-weary patience. Campeche isn’t one of them but a neighboring state chockfull of lots of stuff to see. Myriad examples can range from Becan to Chicanna with much more to be sure or –as they say south of the border— “mucho.”
“How was your day?” comes a friendly shout from a staff back at Rancho Enconveniento –or would if he spoke English. In reply, visitors spew words all over him. And he responds with smiling incomprehension and an ages-old tolerance born of knowing where his tortilla is buttered.
Each night, one can be lulled to sleep by the organic mechanics of deep aquifer waters flopping on the sediment. As you drift away, you are serenaded by chirpy squeaks of geckos, which make your room seem like a nocturnal children’s playground filled with bulb horn-honking tricycles in a ceaseless traffic jam of predation. Bogus nachos, migres.
TO GET THERE: Located between X-box (Sh’Bosh) and the charm of El Jungla del Muerto, the town of José Feliciano Jamon Maria y Carne con Leche sin Kosher has little if nothing to do with Rancho Encuentro, no matter how hard it tries. The Rauncho is a mere 3500 nautical miles from Tierra del Papa, home of Lord [gagging sound), translated as “Jaguar Hairball” and only 3 metric tones less that adjacent Chetumal de Mer. Ranchdip Envidio borders the ancient Mayan political capital of ‘P’i’x’ ‘T’u’x’ ‘’ (Pish-Tush) and the bustline modern metropolis of New New Rochelle.
If you were to gaze upon your Yucatan protuberance from space, where Italy is famously a “boot,” the Mexican peninsula isn’t.
And I was really, really, really [499] transformed.
The “lagoon of seven colors,” Bacalar, Yucatan, Mexico.
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