CRUISING TO MEXICO'S MAYAN RUINS

By Lee Foster

Though other cruise areas of the Caribbean boast of spectacular beaches and good snorkeling, no competing cruise destination offers an archeological experience equal to the Mayan ruins of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Cruises from New Orleans can take you to Chichen Itza, one of the most impressive archeological ruins in the Americas. Another day trip excursion can introduce you to the major Mayan site of Tulum, so noted for its seaside location. Depending of your cruise day-trip choices, you might squeeze in some snorkeling and swimming at the white-sand beaches around Cozumel or visit the eco-archeological theme park known as Xcaret.

CHICHEN ITZA

From an anchorage at Progreso on the northern side of the Yucatan peninsula you can make a day trip to Chichen Itza.

This stone legacy to two eras of Mayan history (peaking in the 9^th and 14^th centuries) shows an astronomical knowledge that had no parallel on earth. The central treasure, a pyramid called El Castillo, or The Castle, stands 82 feet high. The pyramid embodies in stone the extensive Mayan knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and calendar time. On two days of the year, the vernal equinox (March 21) and autumnal equinox (September 21), the side of the pyramid is lit up in light and shadow to approximate, in triangular patterns, the movement of a serpent climbing up and down the pyramid.

The Mayans were obsessed with the passing the time, the counting of time, plus the practical need to plant and harvest crops in an orderly fashion. They devised a calendar as refined as the Gregorian calendar of Europe. The most valuable knowledge of the priest class was mathematics and astronomy. Only with that information could timely offerings to the gods be made, insuring adequate rainfall for crops.

Another site to visit at Chichen Itza is the Ballpark, where a small rubber ball was struck by a player's body rather than hands in an effort to put it through a vertical hoop at the top of the ballpark wall. Carved motifs on the walls of the Ballpark depict the captain of one team with the decapitated head of the captain of the other team. It is not known for sure whether this deadly fate went to the winner or the loser. Death may either have been the price of loss or the sacrificial honor ritual of victory.

The rivers of the Yucatan flow underground, occasionally eroding the limestone to form large open wells, or cenotes. Two such rivers converge at Chichen Itza. The Sacred Cenote is where Edward Thompson, a Harvard professor and U.S. Consul to the Yucatan, made extensive excavations after 1900, retrieving many beautiful artifacts and some human bones, indicating that human sacrifice was a frequent practice among the Mayans.

TULUM

Tulum is not as awesome a ruin as Chichen Itza, but its seaside location is stunning.

This large, walled, imperial domain looks from bluffs onto a Caribbean as blue-green as certain shades of jade. Easily defended, Tulum's beaches also offered ready trade opportunities for canoes launched toward the gem-rich lands to the south.

When standing on top of the major remaining edifice, a pyramid called El Castillo (same name as at Chichen Itza), a visitor glances over this roughly mile-square area, replete with ceremonial and housing structures. From this vantage one can only ponder what life must have been like at Tulum, which was flourishing when Hernan Cortes and his band of Spaniards arrived at Vera Cruz, to the north, in 1519. All structures at Tulum and Chichen Itza were said to be brightly painted in red, blue, and green pigments, which must have made the monuments look all that much more imposing.

Some clues remain to recreate the scene at Tulum. Miraculously, despite centuries of indignities that the elements have perpetrated on these sea-facing ruins, some delicate Maya paintings of ceremonial and warrior activities remain for viewing. Though the soft limestone erodes easily, several major stone carvings, such as a characteristic Mayan head, remain nearly intact. Four cities flourished at the Tulum site, over time. Sixty buildings existed at the site in the final period.

SNORKELING THE REEFS

Aside from the Maya ruins, the sunny, white-sand beaches and clear azure water of the Mexican coast are a haven and respite, especially for winter-weary travelers. Visitors come to practice a modern version of the sun worship that has been a cultural preoccupation of man here for thousands of years. Summer brings sweltering heat, but the tepid waters of the Caribbean offer a soothing bath. September is the rainy month. Winter and spring are the prime tourism seasons.

Mexico has designated the reefs on the west and south side of Cozumel as the underwater Chancanab National Park. Protected from fishing or collecting, the park teems with abundant fish life and exquisite coral. Fish exhibit the iridescent shades of blue, green, yellow, red, and orange so fascinating in the tropics. The Yucatan peninsula's legendary Chinchorro Reef, one of the longest reefs in the world, has fecund fish and shellfish life, including giant lobsters.

Excursion boats at Cozumel, such as the Fury catamaran, take visitors on day trips out to nearby reefs for snorkeling. On the return voyage, chilled beer and margaritas create a festive mood.

XCARET

Mexico has built an interesting eco-archeological theme park, known as Xcaret, near the port town of Playa del Carmen, on the mainland across from Cozumel Island.

The archeological ruins at Xcaret are of lesser importance, compared to Chichen Itza and Tulum, but the nature attractions at Xcaret are superb.

Xcaret functions on several levels. It is a seaside waterpark where you can snorkel down an underground river, swim at a beach, swim with dolphins, snorkel out on a coral reef from an excursion boat, or scuba dive.

As a garden Xcaret could absorb you for a day of strolling through a landscaped seaside environment, with a stop at a fine-dining restaurant.

Mexican fauna, such as jaguars, can be seen in naturalistic settings. A large butterfly pavilion allows a lyrical wandering amidst a flutter of winged beauty. One of the most elaborate sea turtle exhibits in the Caribbean shows the captive breeding of huge loggerhead and green sea turtles at Xcaret. Besides seeing the eggs and recent hatchlings waiting for their opportunity to reach the ocean, you also witness mature turtles swimming in naturalistic seaside pools.

Mexicans can show amazing design genius and scope of imagination, historically and today. Xcaret is a case in point. You might hear of the notion of a "Mexican eco-archeological- park" and wonder how well the concept has been thought out and funded. In this case, Mexico exceeds a traveler's expectations. No expense was spared at Xcaret. The landscaping and the stonework of this seaside garden park alone would qualify it as a world-class experience.

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IF YOU GO: CRUISING TO MEXICO'S YUCATAN PENINSULA

For further information on Mexico, contact the Mexican tourism office at 800/44-Mexico. They can send a packet of information on the country. The Mexican tourism web site at http://mexico-travel.com is also useful, providing a gateway to many regional tourism web sites. Be sure to bring proof of citizenship to Mexico. A passport is best, but a certified birth certificate will do.