MY OH MAYA!
Cancún is all well and good for a beach break, but with a 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son in tow on our first family holiday in Mexico, my husband and I want them to experience more than just sand, sea, and resort buffets. So after a brief stay on the crowded coast, we rent a car and head inland, where the hinterland of the northern Yucatán Peninsula promises historic haciendas, ancient Maya ruins, authentic culture, and water-filled sinkholes called cenotes, perfect for a subterranean swim.
Following Mexican Federal Highway 180, which stretches from Cancún to Yucatán’s state capital, Mérida, and from there all the way up to Texas, we pass through mile upon mile of unbroken scrubland. With no visible waterways, it’s hard to imagine this arid territory once supported the flowering of Maya civilization.
Just north of the pretty colonial town of Espita, we turn off onto the rough track to
