THIS WEEK’S DESTINATIONS
M y nine-year-old son, Freddie, isn’t sure about the “green stuff” on his poached eggs. It’s chaya, a Yucatan superfood, three times more nutritious than any other leafy green vegetable, and used in everything from eggs to ice cream to drinks.
He’ll have to get used to it. It’s our first morning in the Yucatan, the region on the eastern tip of Mexico. We flew in to Cancun airport the night before, then headed by private transfer 180km inland to lovely
MEXICO
Swim in a cenote sinkhole and explore ancient temples in Yucatan
SCOTLAND
Stop by the Taynuilt Hotel, where good food and hospitality flourish Hacienda Chichen, built in the 16th century by Spanish conquistadors, located in the grounds of Chichen Itza – the region’s most famous Mayan temple and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Guest bedrooms are the chalets used by archaeologists in the 1920s. The hacienda’s biggest draw is its private gate to the ruins and by 8:30am we are raring to be first in. Our first glimpse of the 25m high Castillo de Kukulcan is a “wow” moment. We hire a guide, who is astute, focusing on all things of interest to my jetlagged sons aged 14, 13 and 9. 3 Take a tour on a Segway and enjoy Mediterranean-israeli cuisine during 48 hours in Jerusalem
ISRAEL
PLUS
BARGAIN BREAKS The Mayan temple, Chichen Itza, main Did they know the Mayans played a game a bit like basketball? And that the captain of the winning team was sacrificed by having his head chopped off? He points out images of skulls and eagles eating human hearts. I don’t see them yawn once.
Yucatan has the largest underground network of caves, subterranean rivers and sinkholes – or cenotes – in the world and swimming in them is a treat, especially in temperatures pushing 30 degrees. We head to Cenote Ikkil, which is 26m below ground level but open to the sky. Access is via a
of Jerusalem by Segway stone staircase on one side but vines and small waterfalls cascade down the other. My sons jump off the side while I float on my back alongside the catfish, staring up through shafts of sunlight to a tunnel of tropical forest.
Back at the hacienda we go birdwatching with Berberno, a naturalist – he also plays in the hotel’s guitar trio – who leads us through the kitchen garden, where we pause to snap off a snack of warm bananas. Within minutes we have seen a beautiful bluecrested motmot, with its long tennis racquet-shaped tail, and a young, crimson-crested woodpecker having a go at a domestic papaya. But the highlight is the perfect, six-inch high Mexican pygmy owl, which sits scowling at us from a low branch.
From here we travel to the coastal town of Celestun, for a boat trip through the 146,000-acre protected Bio Reserve. More than 300 species of birds pass through here and thousands of flamingoes flock to nest and breed. They are such alluring creatures, and at their most curious in the air. We watch them flying in, their necks and legs equidistant from their wings so at times they look like they are flying backwards. The skipper fishes out the tiny red shrimp the flamingoes feast on to give them their pink plumage. We sail into the mangrove, where termite mounds teeter on the branches and crocodiles lurk just metres from where people splash in a natural spring.
Celestun is a pretty fishing village, with a clash of colourful casas on the less-visited west coast facing the Gulf of Mexico. On the weekend the beach is packed with kids flying kites, families barbecuing, their obligatory buckets of iced Sol beer buried in the sand. Cafes serve up blue crab, flour tortillas
20 JUNE 2015
Merida is possibly the happiest city I’ve visited