Reconstructing Paradise in Quintana Roo After storm adventures in Mexico In the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma there was wide speculation that the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, better known as the Mexican Caribbean, would require months if not years of reconstruction efforts before the resort area would be returned to its pre-storm condition. And while that certainly affected travel plans for the average resort-bound traveler, adventure trekkers have been enjoying Quintana Roo's exceptional bio-diversity since the last winds subsided the day Wilma made her eastern exit. Of course, in-the-trench adventurers often had to settle for makeshift campsites or would spend the night in a damaged hostel or lodge, generally without running water or bathroom facilities and no hope of prepared meals. Sponsored Links Cozumel HotelsFind Great Deals & Exclusive ORBITZ Rates at Top Hotels in Mexico!www.ORBITZ.com Mayan Riviera On Sale NowCheapCaribbean.com Mayan Riviera All-inclusive 70% off Ends Sundaycheapcaribbean.com Cozumel HotelsGreat Deals on Mexico Hotels. CheapTickets® Makes It Simple!www.CheapTickets.com In fact, immediately following Wilma's dreadful lashing, there were many hardships visitor's had to endure, not the least of which was transportation to, from and around the region. As work in Cancun's popular hotel zone continues in early 2006, most of the popular destinations in the region including Playa del Carmen and Cozumel have largely managed to repair and rebuild in time for the peak tourist season, which began over the holidays. Even Cancun, where public beaches are still undergoing constant rebirth and some hotels still completing repairs, is mostly back to pre-storm capacity. Some really intriguing stories have come out of Quintana Roo since the late October, category IV hurricane ripped over Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, leaving behind wide spread damage in Cancun, Tulum, and other popular vacation destinations in the region. But perhaps none as interesting as the story of Thomas Eddington and Ruby Seiffert, stuck in the after-storm destruction of Wilma at the little known ancient Mayan site of Coba-Pac Chen. Communicating by e-mail, the pair of eco-travelers from the U.S. West Coast reported they spent six weeks in storm-ravaged Quintana Roo and the Yucatan State after Wilma did her worst, and in spite of discovering large areas of terrible destruction, the adventure eco-team say they have had "the time of their life." Eddington is a programming analyst and Seiffert a contract mainframe engineer with an IT background. But the pair teamed up together in 2003 for an eco-sabbatical and journeyed to Honduras to study ancient Mayan customs and traditions, a passion they have shared since college. After nearly a year in the Honduran jungles the pair returned to work in the U.S. only to embark on eco-adventure #2 in the Quintana Roo lowlands last summer. They were living in a crude jungle campsite when Wilma lashed the region with winds of 150 MPH. Eddington reported in a blog-post in December that primitive life in the region changed little after the storm. "There are simple palapa reconstruction efforts happening everywhere you look. Many lost their basic housing structures, but it only took a day or two to rebuild them. The biggest problems has been potable water as many of the cisterns (cenotes?) were contaminated with storm debris," he reported in the blog. "We have heard of a number of deaths in the villages, but except for a 10-day trip to Playa del Carmen (to contact family and friends via telephone) we have remained largely in the backcountry." Seiffert reports the experience has given her new appreciation for "travel-on-a-shoestring." "I am amazed how once you get accustomed to the fact that your next meal may be a few days off and that there's isn't going to be any mosquito netting for a while, you calm down and begin to enjoy the primitive experience. At no time did I feel we were in serious danger, and we bonded rather closely with a number of Mayan people, who often we couldn't even communicate with very well," she reports. Seiffert says adventure enthusiasts should consider visiting the Yucatan and leaving behind the hotel zone and opt for a primitive experience in the backcountry. "People don't realize - I didn't - that the Yucatan is full of little Mayan villages where the road doesn't pass through. You have to look for them, and once you find them you must be careful to make certain you aren't intruding. Most of these people are living the way they did 500 years ago - or longer." Eddington says his biggest thrill was discovering ancient uncovered Mayan sites. While a dozen such sites are open to the public across the region, archeologists report there are more than 5,000 significant sites that are still awaiting discovery and research. "There's nothing like spending the night in a pyramid where ancient history was once played out," he reports. "When you close your eyes, the sounds of the jungle - and the past - seem to take over and engulf you with dreams of what it must have been like at the height of its glory."