GQ South Africa — May 2017

MAY 2017 GQ.CO.ZA 33

WORDS BY JESSE KATZ, NICHOLAS MARINO, NILS BERNSTEIN AND JEFF VRABEL

Bike, hike your way to the pyramids

Togetafeelforthebonkerstopographyof

Chiapas, where pines battle palms for real

estate,signupforJaguarAdventours’bike

excursiontotheRíoTotolapa–itstartson

amountaintopandendsatawaterfall.Or,

if you’re more into hiking, visit the Mayan

siteofToniná,thetallestpyramidinMexico,

at almost 71m. All the structures (and their

360-degreeviews)canbeexploredwithout

aguide.adventours.mx

Kayak, dive or go white water rafting

Chiapas may have the most aquatic diversity

in Mexico, with countless freshwater bodies

and 290km of secluded ocean beach. So

kayak your way through Lagunas de

Montebello, a network of 59 lakes, each

a vivid colour due to its mineral content. Or

raft Agua Azul, a series of stepped waterfalls.

Or plunge into Cenote Chucumaltik, a

crystalline lake (a sinkhole, really), and dive

above petrified trees, a quartz deposit and an

altar to the Virgin Mary.

HOLBOX ISLAND

Idyllic island vibes

A short, spray-in-your-face

boat ride of the Yucatán

coast on the Gulf of

Mexico, Holbox Island is a

cigar-shaped spit so

narrow you can practically

heave a coconut from

shore to shore. With golf

carts for taxis and sand for

pavement, it is literally

where the streets have

no name. All you do is

sunbathe and swim, taking

daily lunch breaks to eat

the life-changing ceviche

at a mom-and-pop stand

called La Chingada. At

night you swim again,

only this time the water is

bioluminescent; turquoise

sparks ly of your

ingertips as you wave

them through the water

and realise that you don’t

miss civilisation even one

little bit.

SAA, Lufthansa and United

Airlines offer long-haul flights

to Mexico City.

If you’re into wilderness adventures,

thesouthernstateofCHIAPAShas

muchtooffer.Andmostoftheaction

is around San Cristóbal de las Casas.

A place to trip out underground

Head to Sima de las Cotorras just before

sunrise, when the thousands of green

parakeets that live in this sinkhole – about

160m across and deep – rise in spiralling

f locks in search of food. Rappel to the bottom

and gawk at wall paintings believed to be up

to 10 000 years old. Chiapas is littered with

other dramatic caves, including El

Chorreadero, a vast network of caverns with

underground springs (think Tomb Raider).

ENCUENTRO

GUADALUPE

Freaky solitude

What you see here is not

some new glamping

situation in Marfa. It’s not

Mars 100 years after Elon

Musk plants his lag. It’s

Encuentro Guadalupe,

a design hotel that’s easily

the strangest, most

exhilarating base for

exploring Baja California’s

burgeoning wine country.

Each of the 20 eco-lofts is

a freestanding pod,

reachable only by shuttle

and/or hiking trail. here’s

no TV, no ice machine.

Just you, a view, and the

realisation that you’re doing

Mexico the right way.

grupoencuentro.com.mx