Wander along the esoteric streets of downtown Chetumal, as the ocean breeze rustles through the palm trees, and you’ll discover a seashell conch-siderably larger than the rest. This, my friend, is El Caracol Immenso.
Or The Really, Really Big Conch Shell for us gringos – and I’m here to shell you all about her!
Serving as a tribute to both the vibrant local culture and the gleaming shells synonymous with the mystical Yucatan Peninsula, this Big features eye-catching artistry and mar-shell-ous attention to detail. Statuesque and suitably spiky, he really is the shell of the ball!
So colossal is this cowrie that, if you shell be fortunate enough to press your ear to his curvilinear whorl, you won’t simply hear the waves, you’ll hear the entire ocean!
So marvellous is this mollusc that one might expect a crab to scurry out at any moment. Clawdia, however, prefers sipping on mimosas up in Cancun.
Thankfully, there’s no need to shell out for this attraction, because it’s free to visit. And that’s cause for shell-elbration!
I’m on the highway to shell!
Despite his exquisiteness, El Caracol doesn’t enjoy the shell-ebraty status afforded to similar structures in Tewantin and Terrigal, Australia. Surrounded by rustic houses in a quiet back street, most who pass through the sultry paradise of Chetumal shell never revel in his glory.
Although I’m the world’s foremost expert on Big Things, I knew not of the shell’s existence upon arriving in México. In fact, I stumbled upon him whilst navigating the labyrinthine alleyways in search of a vegan tostada. You could say I was shell-shocked to find him! Nachi Cocom and Monumento al Renacimiento may command prime real estate upon the city’s world-famous harbour, yet El Caracol is perhaps the grandest of them all.
Be wary, Biggies, as there is a bikie gang in the area. But don’t worry, because the Shells Angels are more likely to steal a photo of their favourite Big Thing than you wallet. My visit did birth a moment that shell long hang heavy in my psyche, however.
As I was taking a cute shell-fie with El Caracol Immenso, I was approached by a swarthy Land of the Bigs groupie who invited me out for an alcohol-free margarita at one of the town’s vibrant seaside bars, but my cloddishness caused me to decline. Oh, the life of an involuntary shell-ibate!
Okies, that’s enough shell-arity for one day. Toodles!
