TechnoTourist’s Engineering Expeditions

Xcaret is a self-proclaimed ecological theme park in Playa del Carmen, a seaside resort just south of Cancun, Mexico. Located right on the ocean, it's a beautiful setting and a great place to relax. The hammocks scattered throughout the park are especially nice if you're tired from exploring the animals and ocean.

Water Works – Ancient Nature

Xcaret (commonly pronounced Esch-car-ay, although there are variations) is a place where you could easily spend more than one day. On my day trip there, I saw some small Mayan ruins and an underground river. You can explore the underground rivers and lagoon inside the park, and also enjoy snorkeling and scuba diving off the reef just outside the park.

Lakes and rivers on the Yucatan Peninsula are few and far between, so the ancient Mayans relied on other water sources, mainly the ceonotes (sink holes or water holes) that are surfaces to underground bodies of water. Ceonotes act like natural wells. They are formed when rock dissolves and water makes its way to the surface, creating the opening at the top. The ancient Mayans also used these water holes as places of sacrifice, believing that ceonotes were gateways to the afterlife. Today, Xcaret's ceonotes are popular with cave divers.

Animal Life - Preservation

For me, Xcaret was beautiful not just because of its coastline and scenery, but also because of its animal life. On our trip, we saw many different animals - many of which are endangered species. The animals of Xcaret include jaguars, dolphins, sea turtles, manatees, all types of birds, horses and burros, deer, fish, and many others. The habitats are large and natural, and the park is mainly a free-walking tour (unless you arrange for a guide). The birds live together in large habitats – so do many of the animals (except for the predators, of course). There is also an aquarium, dolphin pools (you can swim with them, or just walk around the edge of the pier), and manatee pools, too.

Xcaret also has a program in which sea turtles grow up in tanks of various sizes and then are released into the wild when they're big enough. It was interesting to see these turtles at the different phases of their lives – from the size of a fist up to the size of a computer monitor or bigger. The sea turtle program showed that Xcaret is not just about tourism. It's about preserving a piece of Mexico's nature, too.

Resources:

http://www.xcaret.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenotes#Cenotes_and_the_Maya

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