Cenotes exist all across the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico. They are sink holes in the limestone of the area that contain underground lakes. The Mayans believed these were gateways to the world of the gods. Accordingly they adopted the habit of sacrificing unfortunate individuals by chucking them in through the small openings in the ground that are the only sign of the cenote.

The Mayans did not think of this as a punishment, it was a privilege. This belief was confirmed by the fact the none of them ever returned. The fact that the person sacrificed promptly drowned in the underground lake did not seem to occur them as reason for them not returning.

Most cenotes are inaccessible however the Dzitnup cenote near Valladolid in Yucatan has a path leading into it. We visited at 10:00 am in the morning before most of the tourist traffic arrived. It was already scorchingly hot outside and the cave was refreshingly cool. You can swim in this cenote which is an eerie experience, swimming amongst stalagmites that formed before the cenote filled with water and below giant stalactites. Also there are small blind fish that brush past you in the water.


The Green Man could have been more accurately described as the red man at the time, having, two days before, been on a snorkelling and sunburn tour off the coast of Cancun. The Green Man's skin is callibrated for the pallid sun of northern Scotland not the blistering (literally) sun of Cancun. The cool water was refreshing on a raw and tender back.