Cenote Ik kil – Yucatan, Mexico

“I jumped. I really did. I still can’t believe I did. But I did. I climbed the limestone steps and hopped into the 40 meter deep sinkhole called Ik Kil. And while Ik could’ve Killed me (had to do it), it didn’t. Instead I swam with the sunlight peeking through the top of the cave. The rich turquoise waters hiding schools of fish freely going about their day. Vines reaching in from the top of the cave almost like curtains playing with the light.”

“The radiant emerald water was incredibly refreshing and jumping off the limestone platform for the first time was exhilarating. I had read that the cenote was occupied by thousands of inquisitive black catfish and that occasionally; they would nibble on unwary swimmers but I hadn’t noticed them at all. The water was rather deep and jumping in from the platform took me quite some time before I could resurface but then again, I’m an average swimmer at the best of times. Of course, my excitement of finally being at Ik Kil completely obliterated my fear of deep water – and mind you the water in Ik Kil is about 40 metres deep – so what do I do when I arrive? You guessed it; I sprinted up the stairs to the top platform and jumped right in without hesitation – ok, I may have hesitated for a second, just a second though before I took a running leap. Then I did it again. And again. And then once more.”