Muy bien Mexico

We had an amazing day today. We were picked up from the hotel by our private guide, Jerry. We were a little late due to the non appearance of our room service breakfast but Jerry was unfazed, and told me that 'today we travel as family' so time was not a problem. Jerry gave us an engaging history of Cancun, the Yukatan and the Maya while we travelled to our first stop. He asked the boys lots of questions to keep them interested. To my surprise Flynn knew the date Columbus came to America.
We drove past rural Mexico and had glimpses inside the one room shacks/houses that today's Mayans live in. We could see the hammocks for sleeping, tables with bright oilcloth on them and lots of dogs. Everyone was friendly and all the children waved. It was Saturday so there were a fewgangs of  children roaming around (looking for trouble says Jerry). We saw many people in bicycles or on the tricycle with the cart in the front that seems to be the primary rural form of transport.
When we arrived at Cenote Park Maya we went through a ritual with a shaman to purify us and keep us safe since we were foreigners. Lots of chanting and smoke made from a resin that smelled like church incense. The shaman was very serious, but there was a Photographer capturing the whole thing to sell us photos later.
We changed into our swimmers and had an outside shower to clean off ready for our adventure. We then rappelled down a rope into a cenote, or sinkhole that is part on an underground river. It was a loooong way down but I was the only one who was a little scared. Once in the sinkhole there was a great set up of zip lines, ropes, diving platforms etc for us to play with. It was magical. Jerry had us there early ahead of the crowds, so we were on our own for about an hour in the cave.
We left after a group of Germans arrived and walked up to a Mexican lunch. There were hot, hndmade tortillas rolled and cooked on the spot by an older Mayan lady (yum), beans, rice, chicken in a few sauces, empanadas and other good things. We were all hungry after the exercise so we ate a lot.
We then continued on our way to Ek Balam, which translates as Black Jaguar. It is a partially excavated site with a huge pyramid that you can still climb (as opposed to Chitchen Itza which is for looking only). The scale of it was incredible and we couldn't help but contrast it with the wooden shacks that today's Mayans are living in.
Hot and weary we trooped back to the van where Umberto, the driver had cold towels and cold water for us. Everyone had a little snooze on the way back to the hotel. Jerry gave us a test and we remembered almost everything. He was a wonderful guide- arguably the best I have experienced anywhere.
We did teppanyaki for dinner and sat with a friendly older couple. Cambo and Flynn did a spot of shopping in the rock shop, where on of the shop assistants fell in love with Flynn's dodgy Italy hat. he tried to trade him for a new hat at ne would buy Flynn form the shop but it was no deal. The boys refused to sing along with me to the mariachi band (lame), so we trooped upstairs for bed.