Xel-Ha Blog

Did you know that we produce drinking water?

On 2008 in Xel-Ha Park we took the decision to produce our own water from the salt water from well brackish water and stop buying water from CAPA, the company that supplies the water to the entire city.

For water to be potable, it has to have a tiny amount of salts, witch is not so common in our area, since being to porous the ground and being to close to the ocean, seawater contains a great amount of salt witch mixes with the underground water that makes it not safe for human consumption.

The investment to produce our own water contemplates the purchase of a desalination plant, as well as the construction of a bigger tank and fixing the pipes so they can integrate them to the actual main.

These would be recovered in a record time of 11 months. Plus, producing our own water guarantees the supply to the park without any affect in case of external water shortages or failure of electric supply since our system stores water product that can be pumped with the emergency plant.

A desalination plant works by passing the water through filters and membranes with a very high pressure to retain the entire salt and foreign material witch are returned to the underground, achieving safe water for human consumption. The plant that is installed in Xel-Há has the capacity to produce 200,000 liters in a day.

If this is not enough, the quality of the water that is produced is better and guarantees our whole main of distribution free from inlays and able to use what is left to irrigate all the green areas witch suffers in dry seasons.

It also increases the efficiency of the treatment plants not having to process hardest water; witch elevates the energy consumption and limits the volume of water to be treated.

Finally, to guarantee the accomplishment of water quality regulations, a certified laboratory analyze the produced water monthly and give us a complete report of the water quality.

Legend of a magic creation

Past the last flood “bulkabal” the chaos reigned. From chaos came darkness, and everything was like at the beginning, there was no existence, no movement; nothing but sea and sky, dwelled by darkness and silence.

Then Hunab-Kú (one and only god creator of the world) came down to the oceans. He invited the thirteen heavenly gods to dance along with him on the waters, and on the first day, they broke the ocean apart from the sky.

On the second day, tired of dancing on the cold ocean waters, they created a firm layer of ground where they would rest until they finished their creation; they howled: - Land! And the most magnificent one arose from the waters.

On the third day, they invoked Chaac (rain god), and he spilled a fertile rain on all the Earth’s secret cracks, which wrapped it with herbs, plants, flowers and trees. And the rain kept pouring until the fourth day, filling up every gap existent on the Earth, and so the most beautiful lagoons and cenotes came to life.

On the fifth day, Kukulcán (wind god) stirred his wings, and from them, the warmest breezes blew, and bequeathed harmonious movements to all inhabitants of the brief peninsula.

On the sixth day, Kukulcán sighed towards the seas, and from the foam emerged Ixchel (moon-fertility goddess), who rose to the skies, and after being wooed by Ahkin (god sun), gave birth to Itzamná (lord of the skies), and wondrously there was day and night on the resplendent land among the waters.

On the seventh day, Itzamná sprinkled the night with stunning celestial stars, among them, the shiniest one Yaman Ek (watchman- guardian).

- May all trees have their guardians! The gods decreed on the eight day, and the most varied birds arrived. The most colorful and graceful, “Mo” the macaw, was appointed guardian of the skies.

On the ninth day, Hunab Kú stuck a zaquitoc (white knife) on the ground, and beasts and reptiles, jaguars and monkeys emerged. They chose “Huh” the iguana to be the guardian of the land.

On the tenth day, Ixchel, descended from the skies to dance naked on a cenote, and she fecundated the waters. Fish banks sprouted, large, small, multicolored… and “Kay-Op” the parrotfish, was elected the guardian of the waters.

On the eleventh day, the gods basked for a while, but they grew cold, so they prayed to Ahkin (god sun) who surfaced from heaven, and with his miraculous fire, lit up the ocean, cenotes and lagoons, and the Earth’s weather became warm and gentle.

The gods gazed pleased at their magical creation; the most sublime, glorious and magnificent of all creations, where they combined all that was best of themselves… their dreams and wisdom, that which was most perfect and pure, and named it Xel-Ha (where the waters are born), but they found it too splendid to not be admired.

Thus, on the twelfth day, the gods created the most perfect creature of them all, gifted with intelligence, speech, sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste and movement, so it would be able to relish all the magic of everything that was laid on the land among the waters.

Thence they danced, chanted, rejoiced joyously, and rose back to the skies…

A gateway to the underworld

The word cenote comes from the mayan word “dzonot”, meaning “cave with water”. A cenote is a fresh water well created by the erosion of the limestone, and as a consequence of a cave’s ceiling collapsing. There, underground waters converge, forming a pond of usually turquoise water although occasionally they have a greenish color.

Specialists state that there are 4 kinds of cenotes:

• Open, on the ground: They are surrounded by vegetation, and have flora and fauna diversity, they are often mistaken for lagoons.

• Semi-open: To access the cenote, it is necessary to enter through a cavern, but it is close enough to the entrance to receive sunlight.

• Closed: Generally they are circular and covered by a vault with some openings through which sun beams get in.

• Open, deep: Cylinder-shaped, with a several meters free fall to the water mirror. The most representative one is the Sacred Cenote in Chichen Itzá.

This classification is directly related to the cenote’s age, being the oldest those completely open, and the youngest those still keeping their dome unbroken.

In the Yucatan peninsula, the estimated amount of cenotes is about 3,000, and it has been proven that there is an interconnection between cenotes, and among them and the ocean; this is why some cenotes, at a determined depth, show a salinity change in their waters, from fresh to salty, even way far from the coast.

For the mayans, cenotes were a source of life providing them with the vital liquid, but they were also considered sacred places, the gateway to the wonders of the underworld, and the center of communion with the gods. In them, rituals such as ceremonies and sacrifices took place.

In Xel-Ha Paradise Cenote and Adventure Cenote are used for fauna species reproduction, reason why they are protected areas, and off limits to swimmers, however, unsurpassable locations for birdwatchers and nature lovers.

“Do I look fat in this shell?” Hermit Crabs

Hermit Crabs are different from other crabs because they lack carapaces in their abdomen. For this reason, they look for empty seashells which they carry on their backs and they use as homes.

While walking and eating, crabs extend their antennas, their claws and a pair of legs out of the shell’s opening; whenever threatened by a predator, they bring back their body, and isolate themselves in the interior of the shell.

As young crabs, they may be as small as a fingernail, but when they reach adulthood, they can grow to the size of a tennis ball.

As they grow, they need new shells to live in, so they start by inspecting with their claws other empty shells, and once they find the right one, they quickly move into it. For hermit crabs, finding a suitable shell is a matter of life and death, thus, fights among them are quite frequent when there is a shortage of shells.

They live near beaches, since they feed on seaweed and other tiny animal life found in the sand. Sometimes they feed on dead animals washed up on the shore, so they help keep the beach clean.

In Xel-Ha, different sized hermit crabs can be seen walking freely on the pathways.

Two brothers… turned into trees?

Mayan legend tells of the two greatest warrior princes of all time, brothers of enormous strength and skill but of completely different nature. The youngest, Kinich, was kind and merciful and beloved by all, while the eldest Tizic was sullen, drawing his strength from the hate and anger nursed in his heart. They both tragically fell in love with the beautiful Nicte-Ha, and despite her protests, declared a battle to the death for her favor.

The Earth was torn and the Heavens went into hiding during their battle, longer and more hideous than any the world had ever seen, until both brothers died in each other’s arms. In the afterlife, they begged the gods for forgiveness, and a chance to return to the world of the living and see their beloved Nicte-Ha once more.

Tizic was reborn as the Chechen tree, which seeps black poison from its branches and burns any who comes near. Kinich was reborn as the Chacah, whose soothing nectar neutralizes Chechen’s venom. The gods doomed them to grow newt to each other, which throughout time remains happening. Next to a Chechen, there is a Chacah.

They solemnly watch over Nicte-Ha, who having died of grief, was mercifully restored to life as a beautiful white flower.

Today, in Xel-Ha, there is a place where little Chacah trees are planted by movie, radio, television, literature, and sports celebrities, who raise a thought of care for the environment and leave a brief manifest for posterity, engraved in stone.

What is a mangal?

A mangal is a kind of ecosystem formed by one of the only plants able to survive in salty waters, trees called mangroves. Mangroves reproduce by germinating their seeds while still attached to the tree, and when they grow, fall under it and float till they find a place to root.

The mangrove’s hanging branches are interlaced forming impenetrable barriers in which fish shelter and that provide natural protection against strong winds and surges. In fact with this purpose, mangrove plantations are grown in coastal regions in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and India.

Mangroves host a wide variety of water and land organisms, including birds, fish, mollusks and crustaceans, bird nesting areas, and even reptile feeding, growth and protection zones may be found within them.

Mangroves act as sea water filters, and as food source for the coral of our reefs.

In Quintana Roo there are 4 different kinds of mangrove, and in Xel-Ha it is possible to know 3 of them, red, white and buttonwood.

Bees…. With no sting?

In the planet’s tropical regions live bees with a very special charachteristic: they lack stings. In Mexico, they can be located mainly in the southeast area, in the Yucatan Peninsula. Their scientific name is Melipona becheii beneth, but In the Mayan language, they receive different designations, depending on the region they are located.

According the ancient Mayan myths, the first inhabitants, called zayawinicoub, ate up all the royal honey they were harvesting, and as a punishment, they were turned into stingless bees, so they would restock and protect the honey.

For the ancient mayans, the stingless bee Xunaan-Cab had a very important role given that it was their supply of products such as honey, which was essential to them for their healing features, and to sweeten food, and wax, to light up at night.

Twice a year, on full moon nights, The Mayas hold solemn ceremonies in which they pray for a plentiful honey harvest, and gratitude is offered to mayan deities for their blessings and for the bees’ fertility. During this ceremony, lead by a mayan priest, and accompanied by sacred melodies, essential to the ceremonial, the honey extraction takes place.

At Xel-Ha’s meliponary, 16 honey harvesting ceremonies have been observed, with the objective of not only encourage the honey harvesting, but also protecting and propagating the species that nowadays is endangered because the mayan communities have gradually abandoned this practice throughout time due to the high volumes of honey produced by European bees.

The work done by Xel-Ha in the meliponary was reason for an acknowledgment granted by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy in 2007.

All the activities related to the meliponary are supervised and supported by the Popular Cultures Direction, of the National Advice for the Culture and the Arts.

All about Manatees

Manatees are marine mammals that can reach a length of 3-4 m, and a mass of 500kg.

Even though they spend most of the time submerged, they cannot breathe under water, and need to surface for air regularly; when they plunge, their 2 nasal orifices are closed to prevent the water from going in.

It is the only fully herbivore mammal, and it is able to eat up to 9% of its weight a day.(50kg)

A female can only give birth to one pup each 2-3 years and their gestation period lasts about 12 months.

Hunting for their meat and fat, water pollution, and fishermen nets, where they die due to lack of oxygen, added to their slow reproductive cycle, have made of this species an endangered one.

In 2008, as part of a rescue program performed by federal authorities in Tabasco, two manatee exemplars were handed over to Xel-Há for their safekeeping, and as the happy outcome of the care provided at our park, the youngest one, Bul, was born in captivity.

Here, they receive medical care, proper feeding according to age and weight. And can be admired by all our visitors.