cover image Yucatan Peninsula

Yucatan Peninsula

C. C. Lockwood. Louisiana State University Press, $39.95 (150pp) ISBN 978-0-8071-1524-4

The Yucatan peninsula, famous for its resorts, beaches and Mayan ruins, is bordered on two sides by the Gulf of Mexico and on a third by the Caribbean Sea. With deciduous rain forests and offshore reefs, it is a naturalist's paradise. Lockwood ( The Gulf Coast: Where Land Meets Water ) spent eight months exploring the peninsula in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Campeche, avoiding the tourist areas. The text is an informal account of his adventures while shooting film on land and underwater, in the jungle, on beaches and cave-diving. His photographs--whether landscapes, people, birds or ruins--are stunning. This is a sumptuous book, one that can be enjoyed repeatedly. (May)