Weekly Photo Challenge – Illumination

Juan Carlos in the Cenote by Cathy Ulrich

For this week’s photo challenge, I chose a shot I took while diving in the Cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Peter and I did several guided cave dives with a certified Cave Diver – Juan Carlos seen in this photo. It was an amazing experience. This shot was taken during our surface interval between dives. We came up from the first dive called “Dream Gate” and dashed through the jungle, batting off mosquitoes to this small hole in the ground with the tip of a ladder emerging from the hole. Juan Carlos climbed down the ladder and as we’re continuing to bat mosquitoes who are winning at that point, I hear his voice coming up from the bottom of the ladder: “It’s okay. Come on down. You’ll really like it. Trust me!” So we did – and here’s what we saw…

These caves were the source of fresh water for the ancient Mayans. A huge underwater cave system that they viewed as the womb of Mother Earth. You can see roots of trees that have made their way from the roof of the cave into fresh water at the bottom as well as stalactites hanging from the top of the cave. This shot was my interpretation of “Illumination” because this beautiful place lies hidden in the dark until we turned the light on…