Ik Kil- Cenote

Months before our trip to Mexico, I found a pin on Pintrest about Ik Kil. I thought it was BEAUTIFUL and pinned it as a place I would like to go someday. After our day at Chichen Itza I told Eric that I saw a really pretty cenote on Pintrest. He looked it up and found that it was a few miles from our hotel. We thought about jogging there the next morning and checking it out before our tour group left for the next city. Hours later, Eric over heard Pam and Sarah talking about wanting to swim in a cenote so Eric told them about Ik Kil. Then we told our tour guide our plans to jog there in the morning... he thought jogging sounded unsafe so he agreed to take us there and swim with us.
It is a well known fact that I don't enjoy swimming. I enjoy being in the water as long as I know my feet can touch the ground and nothing will bite me. I wasn't always afraid of the water. Growing up, we were avid swimmers and I took lessons every summer. One year at girls camp, we had to pass a swim test to be able to take canoes out on the lake. I thought to myself, "piece of cake!" Unfortunately, they didn't tell us the lake was freezing...it is much harder to swim in a freezing lake than a luke warm swimming pool. To make a long story short, I had a panic attack in the lake that left me clinging to a buoy for my dear life. Needless to say, I didn't pass the swim test and have been afraid of water ever since.

Eric still teases me about going to Hawaii on our honeymoon and not getting past my ankles into the ocean.

The point of that story is to point out I had no intention of getting in the water. I went there for the purpose of seeing it and do be the group's designated photographer.
Eric convinced me that I should at least touch the water... "Sit on the on the ladder and dip your toes in... you can wear the life jacket so you feel safe," he slyly said.
I decided he was right and I should at least stick my foot in the water. I was slowly and carefully making my way down the ladder when all of a sudden Eric grabbed me and pulled me in. (I know, I have been married to him for 7 years- I should have seen that one coming!)
I started panicking and hyper ventilating (yes, I do have two life jackets). Fish were swimming around me (I hoped they don't bite), I knew the water was DEEP and that I could drown in any second... then I remembered the tour guide telling us the Mayans used to sacrifice themselves in these water holes so I imagine bodies (2,000 plus year old bodies) floating up to the surface... I thought I was going to die!!!!!

Eric pulled me to the middle of the cenote and I finally came to the conclusion that my TWO life jackets would keep me safe so I was able to calm down and relax. I eventually even gave Eric one of them so he wouldn't have to tread water the entire time.

It was beautiful... so, so beautiful! At the time, I wanted to kill him, but now I can honestly say I swam (with a life jacket) in Ik Kil (and didn't die because dieing would have ruined the experience).
Proof that I was IN the water.

Ik Kil was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
(Ik Kil is about 90 feet below ground level, 200 feet in diameter, and 150 feet deep. There are vines that hang from the top to the bottom, and many small waterfalls throughout the cenote.)