José María Morelos, Q.R. — José María Morelos Mayor Erik Borges Yam says his municipality is filled with natural wonders. He made the comment after exploring town of Kantemó as a tourist.
“A natural wonder is found in this small town in the municipality of José María Morelos,” he said after the guided tour. The cave of hanging snakes where thousands of bats come out at night is an attraction for people who enjoy natural events.
On the roof of the cave live snakes that have developed the ability to feed themselves by descending from the heights and hunting bats on the fly. This event is rarely seen due to the way they behave, making it a privilege to be able to be on site.
Mayor Borges Yam went with his team of collaborators on a tour of the Chichankanab lagoon in a 4-kilometer section under the mountain. The group of 10 arrived with three guides around 7:00 p.m.
“The caves are only 1.5 km from the community of Kantemó and you have to go down almost 10 meters to reach and see this wonderful site, although at that time of night it is already in complete darkness,” he said adding that the guides carry all the necessary equipment to live the experience.
Baltazar Borges, a cave guide for 20 years, explained that bats belong to six different species. Some are insectivorous and others are frugivorous and every day at sunset, they leave en masse in search of food for an hour and a half. In the cave you see about a hundred bats a second.
The guide, accompanied by his companions Edgar and Adrián Pacheco, said that there are 52 members that make up the Béej Ka’ax Ha Cooperative, which in Mayan means road, mountain and water.
“After the tour under the mountain and reaching the lagoon, a crocodile could be observed in those waters that belong to Chichankanab (small lagoon). The lagoon runs for 30 kilometers with a deepest depth of 100 meters,” he said.
Upon returning again and at night, the group entered the caves where they observed the snakes in their natural habitat and experienced the masses of bats. Due to the number of bats, Baltazar Borges said the snakes live in the caves around half of their lives since there is always food.
The guide commented that spotted rat snakes are very common in the forests of the Yucatan Peninsula, but no other has developed this peculiar way of feeding in the dark. “They are not poisonous, they are constrictors,” he said.
Baltazar Borges said that the area has been a popular tourist site since 2002 when the Kantemó company was formed. Mayor Borges Yam invites tourists to visit the site after dark “since it is wonderful to live the unique experience.”
He said nearby, other popular attractions close to the Chichankanab Lagoon are Dziuché, Kantemó and Bulukax, which he referred to as “paradisiacal places”.
Borges Yam says that while José María Morelos may not have beaches, it has places that cross boundaries and offer privilege sightings such as the Cueva de las hanging snakes of Kantemó Quintana Roo.