Native Trails MyTrails 2025 242 Quintana Roo 35 X-Cabil city tour Duration: 01:00 h · Level: Easy X-Cabil is a traditional Mayan village with a number of customary Mayan houses, but also many stone buildings. When you come to the central square, you see the remainder of a hydraulic system that was once used for storing water. You continue to a platform at the edge of the square: Possibly of pre-Hispanic origin, it was used, about 300 years ago, as a base to build the church. The two most important festivals of the village are also held here – the feast in honor of “Our Lady of Guadalupe”, the patron saint, and in the middle of the year the feast in honor of the rain god. 36 Excursion to the biosphere reserve Sian Ka'an Duration: 03:00 h · Level: Difficult Our excursion to the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve starts south of Tulum. After an adventurous ride on the narrow headland, you reach the old and new bridge of Boca Paila, also called Puente de Madera - here the water of the protected lagoon meets the Caribbean Sea, and this is a place where you can regularly observe sea turtles, crocodiles, dolphins, manatees and countless bird species. In Paso Lagartos we take a boat to go to Punta Allen, the southernmost point of the peninsula. If the ocean current allows, there will be nothing to prevent you from taking a snorkeling trip. After lunch in Punta Allen, we return to Tulum by land. 37 Boat tour on the Muyil lagoon Duration: 05:00 h · Level: Medium On a small path through the dense jungle of Yucatán, you reach the lagoons in the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve. In a panga boat, you cross the turquoise blue water of the Muyil lagoon before passing the historic, extremely narrow Maya canal into the neighboring Chunyaxché lagoon. On its northern end, there is a small river amidst mangrove forests, where you can let your boat float in the clear water – a wonderful adventure! 38 The production of the natural chewing gum Duration: 02:00 h · Level: Medium Experience the traditional way of tapping latex in the woods of Quintana Roo. Down to the present day, the chicleros, mostly direct descendants of the Mayas, harvest the milky sap of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), or – as it is called in Mexico – chicozapote: The first step is obtaining the sap of the tropical tree. This is done by cutting the bark and collecting the fluid flowing out. The white elastic sap was obtained that way by the ancient Mayas already. In the next step, the latex is heated and thickened. The solid latex blocks are then sold to the customers. Mixed with sugar and flavors, chicle – or “chewing gum” in English – is known all over the world. Further, modern industry is not conceivable without latex. 39 City Tour Sacalaca Duration: 01:30 h · Level: Easy Discover Sacalaca and the Yokdzonot cenote on a tour through the village – a place small in population, but with a great past, since it was the regional center of Christianization and also one of the places where the revolt of the Mayan population against Mexican dominance had its origin. The traditional Mayan houses with walls of vertical branches and roofs of corn straw are still held in high esteem because of the good ventilation. In the center of the village you find a church that suffered heavy damage in the Caste War; once used by the Indian part of the population, its former importance is still reflected in statues and the decoration around the windows. Less than 250 m (820 ft.) from it, there is a second church, which was once built for the people of Spanish origin; its unique bell-gable evokes Dutch golden-age architecture. 40 Visit of the botanical garden Maya Ak'alche - Natural Medicine of the Maya Duration: 01:00 h · Level: Easy In the Mayan view, diseases are primarily an imbalance between the body and the soul. The therapies of traditional Mayan medicine are therefore directed at restoring the harmony between the patient’s body and the universal energy by decoctions and herbal infusions, massages and other treatments. The botanical garden of HuayMax will give you many interesting insights into the Mayan medicine and the indications of useful and medicinal plants. Many
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