Best Cozumel excursion I have done, cultural and interesting.

[Taishartrueblood]

 "Mystical ChaakTun Cenotes & Maya Spiritual Cleanse" in Cozumel (labeled this by NCL)

 

You can do this excursion independently, not through the cruise lines, but it was pretty cheap for a full day excursion.

 

So we have all been to Cozumel a ton of times, but this was the first excursion that was a real taste of culture. The cenotes are always fun to explore but what was amazing was the "Maya Spiritual cleanse" portion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temazcal

 

After we arrived, we all stood around a fire (20 strangers) and they had us individually come up and toss herbs into the fire and say what we are grateful for. The shaman would then fan aromatic smoke over us. That part was interesting and people were more open and vulnerable than i would have expected.

 

We then were led into a Temazcal (think a brick igloo with a fire pit in the middle). The idea is that this symbolic of a woman's womb... the hole at top is the belly button and the entrance in the birth canal. Our guide had warned everyone that this was not for everyone.....when we first entered, it was cool in there which felt nice on a hot morning. We all sat around the outside or on the ground and then the shaman entered..... followed by a glowing hot rock that was tossed in by people outside the temazcal. The rock was the size of 3 cinderblocks and was literally glowing red (had been in a fire all morning). The shaman led us in welcoming the rock (grandfather/fire) and then 12 more glowing how rocks were tossed in (not the safest thing, imo, and the shaman was barefoot! He would move the rocks into the firepit with a pair of deer antlers).

 

At this point it was HOT in the temazcal, we all had sweat pouring off of us... but it gets worse 😛 The shaman then had them cover the hole in the ceiling and  poured some water on the glowing rocks to create steam. While it was hot before, the steam was EXTREMELY hot, we probably had 80% of the group choose to leave at this moment. They then covered the doorway and the the shaman would both lead chants and beat on a very loud drum (simulating a mother's heartbeat to a fetus, i suspect, but he didnt explain). After about 10 minutes of this, the ceremony was over and everyone left.

 

This is fairly authentic, this is a ritual that is still done on a regular basis. It is an experience that i expect i will remember for a long, long time... VERY highly recommend it! 

 

https://chaaktun.com.mx/

[tunafish]

what was the price?