By Glenda Winders
On my plane were 12 glamorous models getting ready to do a photo shoot, honeymooning couples of varying ages gazing into one another's eyes and some party animals who started drinking as soon as we boarded our connecting flight in Dallas. What we all had in common was that we were headed to Cancun, Mexico. The difference between us was that I was going to learn about Mexican history and culture — and learn I did in a most enjoyable way.
My ultimate destination was two eco-parks — Xcaret and Xel-Ha, part of the Experiencias Xcaret collection of connected archaeological eco-parks in the state of Quintana Roo on the Riviera Maya side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Architect Miguel Quintana Pali initially bought the land, once a busy Mayan port, with an eye to building a home for himself there, but once he realized the area was filled with natural wonders, he decided to develop it into a showcase for sharing his country's heritage with the whole world.
These are theme parks but not amusement parks since the attractions are natural phenomena rather than manmade rides and games. The system also encompasses Xplor, which allows visitors to do exactly that underground, and Xenotes for snorkeling in four different kinds of cenotes (caverns with pools of fresh water). A new addition coming in 2016 will be Xenses. It's still under wraps at this point, but representatives say it will enable visitors to trick and play with their senses.
Xcaret ("little inlet") is built around cenotes and underground rivers left over from when the entire area was under water. Some of its structures are authentic archaeological ruins, while others have been constructed to show what life was like for the early Mayans who lived here.
Take, for example, the pelota court that duplicates ones where boys from noble families once put a ball through a doughnut-shaped hoop for the "prize" of being sacrificed to the gods in exchange for good weather, peace, fertility and abundance. Or the Mayan village where artisans create hammocks, embroider traditional dresses, make wood and stone carvings, and serve up tortillas. The goods are for sale, with the artists allowed to keep all of their profits.
At the sweat lodge visitors can join a Mayan priest for the purifying ritual, and Hacienda Henequenera, a 19th-century plantation house, contains a museum of Mexico's popular arts.
"We want people to make an engagement with our culture," said Paola Fuentes Chavez, who works at the park and was showing me around.
There are 10 stages inside the park with entertainment that goes on at all hours of the day and night, one of them in a naturally formed open theater with a river running through it. But the granddaddy of all the shows is the nightly "Xcaret Mexico Espectacular." The lavish production takes place on the massive Gran Tlachco stage and features some 300 colorfully costumed musicians and dancers who enact the story of Mexico's history from the early Mayan civilization up through the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquest, the Mexican Revolution and beyond.
Horses gallop across the stage, mariachis sing and play, and flags fly. The "voladores" (flying men) unwind from a pole high in one corner of the arena. At the end of the stirring spectacle everyone was passionately chanting "Viva Mexico!" — including me.
Along with much of the rest of the audience, my friends and I opted to have dinner while we watched. The meal and service were top-notch, which, considering the number of people in attendance that night, still has me wondering how they pulled it off.
But beyond all the festivities, the protection and reproduction of its indigenous wildlife make up a significant portion of the park's mission. Some 220 scarlet macaws mate, fly through the park, entertain visitors and pose for pictures with them. The aviary's biome is also home to many other birds and fruit-eating animals, and the main project at the nearby butterfly pavilion is to protect those endangered species, too.
In other enclosures bees produce a special honey for medicinal purposes and visitors find out how useful bats are to the ecosystem. The park also protects the turtles that nest on its beaches, and they invite 100 schoolchildren to visit free every day to learn about their programs.
Guests can learn about how reefs are formed at the Coral Reef Aquarium, explore underground rivers and swim with manatees. They can also suit up for a completely safe "Sea Trek" through a lagoon filled with sharks and stingrays.
The natural wonders and opportunities to enjoy them were multiplied at neighboring Xel-Ha, where my favorite activity was riding the flying bicycle through the treetops and then dipping down into a cenote just as the adventure was about to end. The experience resembles zip-lining except that I was seated on what looked like a recumbent bicycle and I controlled the speed by pedaling as fast or as slowly as I wanted.
Another unforgettable feat was inner-tubing down the lazy river, which here is an actual river that carries fresh inland water out to the salty Caribbean Sea. Along the way cliff divers entertained us floaters with their graceful and dramatic leaps into the water.
One of the things that impressed me most about the operations at these parks was their commitment to sustainability and good environmental practices. When they harvest one flower, they plant two more, and they provide trees for reforestation in their state. Most of the structures — right down to the sinks in the restrooms — are made from natural wood and stone. They even provide biodegradable sunscreen to guests going into the water to avoid pollution. They were the first park in the world to obtain the Earthcheck Sustainable Tourism Certificate.
"We're trying to change the way people think," said my guide, Iraseima Belmont, as we walked along the green, serene Path of Consciousness. She also pointed out the possibility of having a massage out of doors right in the middle of the jungle. And when people just need a break from all the fun, there's Hammock Island, with handmade Mayan hammocks where they can find their own trees and climb in for a nap.
One of the songs we sang at the end of the "Espectacular" was "Asi se siente Mexico en la piel" — Mexico gets under your skin. It certainly does at these extraordinary parks. Viva Mexico, indeed.
WHEN YOU GO
The parks are open every day of the year, and packages for multiple days, multiple parks and a variety of activities are available: www.experienciasxcaret.com.
I stayed at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya, an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen that offers its own program of diving, snorkeling and boating activities: www.rivieramaya.grandvelas.com
Glenda Winders is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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