Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has no rivers, lakes or streams so the Maya relied on the cenotes - the flooded entrances to the water-filled caves. These flooded shafts are the region's only source of open fresh water. The cenotes are, in effect, gigantic fresh water wells. Away from the life-giving rays of sunshine one might not expect to find plants. But in the darkness of the cave tunnels roots of giant tropical trees have pushed their way through cracks in the limestone to reach the flooded caverns. Without this water the Yucatan's forest could not grow so luxuriantly. The Maya knew that their lives depended on this water, but it's only with the help of today's technology that we've come to appreciate the full significance and scale of these flooded passageways.


墨西哥的尤卡坦半岛上没有河流，没有湖泊，甚至没有小溪，所以玛雅人要依赖灰岩坑也就是被淹没的岩洞的洞口，来获取淡水。这些被淹没的灰岩坑是这一地区唯一的露天淡水水源。事实上这些灰岩坑是巨大的淡水水井。没有生命之源的阳光的照射，你可能会认为这里不会有植物。但是在这些黑暗的洞中，巨大的热带树木的根却穿过石灰岩的缝隙伸进了这些水淹洞穴之中。没有这些水，尤卡坦半岛上的树木就不会如此繁茂。玛雅人知道他们的生命依赖这些水。但只有凭借今天的技术我们才能真正认识到这些水坑的重要性和它们的大小。