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Delight in the Magical Beauty of Yokdzonot Cenote
A fifteen minute drive from Chichen Itza, on the free road to Merida, you will find the town of Yokdzonot. Follow the wooden signs that clearly direct traffic to the ecological park, a place which eighteen local Mayan females proudly created with more faith and hard work than money.
Elvia and Mirna Mendez welcome tourists and locals alike at the entrance of the park; the admission fee is USD$ 5.00 per person; services includes optional rental of a life-jacket and visor. The fee helps the women protect, maintain and enhance the park’s garden and cenote; a few “palapas” house their little restaurant, kitchen, and public bathrooms. The park has a eco-friendly waste management system including man-made (shall we say female-made) wetlands and grease traps to process their waste water. Yokdzonot Ecological Cenote Park is a true jewel of community effort, a success story and the pride of all the family members of these females that stone by stone carry and built this ecological wonder. The female group is grateful to have the Hacienda Chichen’s staff support and the Maya Foundation’s help.
The project was born from these females desire to give their families Mr. Jose Tamay, Hacienda Chichen staff and member of the Maya Foundation In Laakeech A.C. Board of Trustees, actively promotes the Yodzonot Eco-Park to all guests, while the foundation continues its marketing aid to this community project. Mr. Villasenor, former Manager of the hotel, helped the ladies create a wholesome tasty menu and taught their administrator how to budget a little business, keep quality and service on check, and learn to project cost-gain in an effort to help them succeed in their goals.
So far, these Mayan females are a proud example of what good will and hard work can bring to a village. Your visit to the site will encourage them, help their families' economy, and bring a well deserved sense of success. If you go, a donation to support their efforts will be highly appreciated; if you wish to help them now, please contact info@yucatanadventure.com.mx and we can let you know what is currently needed.
June 2007
Updated March 2008 |
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Ever dream of paradise? You can find it here, at
a better future. Tired of waiting for the men of the town to organize
themselves and plan a community tourist endeavor, these Maya woman took
upon themselves the incredible task of building, planning, and designing
and managing the community property that is now a truly lovely eco-park. “It
was very hard,” Marisela recalls, “no-one believed we could do it, the
place was filled with garbage and waste, we took over a year to clean
the land. Then we brought each stone by hand to create the walking
paths, we cut the wood to built the walking fence. We did these things
with almost no money, no pay and with a lot of criticism from the other
village people.” The older member of the group, Dona M. Chac, speaks
mostly in Maya, she smiles pleased with the achieved success. “There
still a lot of work left, the gardens need more wild orchids and native
plants, we are still gathering many of them from the field and placing
them here,” adds Elvia with pride, "We need help to bring tourists, so
they know we are committed to work hard to preserve the
natural beauty of the cenote and to provide the additional services to
enjoy a relaxing visit." 
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