Ancient Mexico: Exploring the jungle ruins of Palenque, abandoned a thousand years ago

The jungle ruins of Mexico’s Palenque bear an otherworldly beauty which conceals the wider region’s struggles

The ruins of Palenque, a once powerful Maya city state

The sound is strange, and it is close. Our eyes struggle to adjust: overwhelmed by our verdant surroundings, we scan the thick growth for a tell. The culprit stands feet away from us, nibbling nervously on something hard, but we just can’t see it.

There are some beautifully weird creatures in the jungle surrounding Mexico’s Palenque archaeological zone. Keel-billed toucans and a multitude of rainbow-coloured birds; bright and noisy amphibians that revel in the damp; Yucatán black howlers and a coterie of monkey species that swing from high branches.