Our Evening Jungle Tour Just Outside Playa del Carmen
After exiting the cenote, we stepped back into the jungle and made our way back toward our group on the main path. Dusk had set in, and the leafy canopy above blocked out what little illumination remained with the twilight. All around us, lightning bugs began to glow, slowly drifting between tree trunks and lighting the way back to our ATV. Our Riviera Maya jungle tour was drawing to a close, but it had all begun with an afternoon adventure.
The smoky scent of copal incense first welcomed my husband Jorge and me, along with the rest of our group, to Emotions Native Park. A Maya shaman performed a quick cleansing ceremony, giving a blessing in the melodic Mayan language and purifying our energy so we could enter the sacred caves and cenotes throughout the rest of the tour that day.
A walk through the jungle took us past a bat-filled cavern and lush natural surroundings before we reached the first zip line tower. After strapping on our gear and hooking up to the line, Jorge and I glanced nervously at one another; a simple but terrifying backwards fall was followed by a rush of adrenaline that faded into serene relaxation as we glided over the low jungle of the Riviera Maya. (Then, back up another tower to do it all again!)
But my favorite part of the day had to be the ATV ride. I elected Jorge to drive as I hopped onto the back, grabbing onto the side handles for dear life when we started our ride along the winding trails. Alternating between relaxing stretches of straight but slightly muddy paths to sinuous S-curves around tree trunks and suspension bridges over deep ravines, the ATV part of the tour made us realize just how immersed we were in the jungles of the Riviera Maya, with not a sign of civilization in sight.
The tour ended after dark, as we rode back into the park’s entrance area, welcomed by warm twinkle lights strung among the palapas and the flash of more lightning bugs along the edge of the trees.
The tour at Emotions Native Park had even more surprises and attractions than what I have mentioned here, but I’d rather you experience it all for yourself instead of just my words and pictures.
The park entrance is located along the main Riviera Maya highway, only 5 minutes south of Playa del Carmen. The tour is run by local tour company Alltournative, and I recommend the 3:00 pm tour because the evening atmosphere at Emotions is truly amazing. Click here to visit the Alltournative website for more details and to book your spot.
Thank you so much to Alltournative for all of the photos!