Señor, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, July (Galu Comunicación) .- Used to receive tourists at the front door of their homes for more than a decade, Abundio Yamá and Crescencio Pat only ask those in charge of the community ecotourism cooperative Xyaat: “When are they coming”? They refer to visitors.
Tourists stopped arriving since last February, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that caused the closure of air operations, most of them from Europe, especially from Germany, which in addition to leave a profound economic impact has this mayan population “a little sad ”.
Abundio Yama (with accent in last a) is a 114 years old man, and Don Crescencio Pat is “only” 104 years old, as registered in their birth certificates.
Both live in the rural town of “Señor” (“Sir” in english), in the heart of the Mayan jungle of Quintana Roo province, part of the Peninsula of Yucatan.
Periodically, tourists used to come to their houses and with the help of two translators, one from Mayan to Spanish and the other from Spanish to English, German, French or the language spoken by the visitors, Mr. Yama and Mr. Pat dedicated themselves to recall the stories from their far away youth, to show off their culture, traditions and natural beauty of the region.
Since the tourists stopped arriving at their houses, the constant question they ask is the very same, when do they come?
On his hand, the president of the community ecotourism company Xyaat, Marcos Anastasio Cante Canul recalls that they began offering small tours in their community in 2002, but it was not until November 19, 2003 when they formally established themselves as an ecotourism company, a concept that was just beginning to be diffused.
“We are a group of friends who created Xyaat in the Señor community.
From 2002 to 2003 we began to receive visitors giving tours of flora and fauna observation, kayaking and environmental interpretation and we are part of Maya Ka’an as a tourist destination in Quintana Roo”, he recalled.
At the end of 2003, these persons integrated a new service that consisted of visiting “The Houses of the Grandparents”, to share their knowledge and culture”.
So, they recovered the ancient knowledge of traditional medicine, tales, mayan stories, henequen (local fiber plant) spinning, meliponas bees, music and dance. Mayan, traditional games and crafts.
Señor is one of the many populations in the indigenous rural area whose population have decided to completely close the entrance to foreign people as a measure to avoid the arrival of the COVID-19.
The members of this community company decided to support the decision made by its inhabitants, because it is the only way to care for the most vulnerable, such as Abundio Yama and Crescencio Pat.
According to their projections, they could analyze a possible opening towards the end of the year, depending on sanitary authorizations, tourist permits and above all, to comply with all sanitizing measures dictated by authorities.
Also, they should comply with the purchase of mouthmasks, disinfectant gel, signage, to mention some of the requirements.
It all represents an expense greater than $ 10,000mexican pesos (about $500 usd)
“We are dedicating this time to plan how we are going to return to normality, it is difficult to imagine these grandparents with a mask and face mask or through an acrylic.
We do not want to expose them for any reason; visits are something that will be done with great care and in proper time.
So far, you can now visit us in our Facebook page”, added a member of Xyaat, Zendy Euán.
