Many people take advantage of the summer vacation to visit tropical places where the temperatures can reach over 100 degrees, but temperatures like these can put you at risk for heat exhaustion. One thing we have to remember when we travel is to keep hydrated at all times, including when you go swimming. 
On a recent visit to Yucatan, Mexico, the weather there was about 95 degrees with a heat index of about 108 degrees each day, so it was super hot and humid. People in Yucatan are used to the hot humid weather, but visitors need to be very careful about limiting the amount of time they’re outside because this is considered dangerous weather, especially if you’re not from there. Yucatan has beautiful beaches and gorgeous clear water from the Gulf of Mexico, it’s a great place to visit because it has a lot of fresh seafood, beautiful beaches, and tons of historical sites.
On one occasion, we visited the Zona Aqueológica de Dzibilchaltún, which have some beautiful ruins and a cenote or a natural well that is 144 feet deep. According to Mayan legends, bathing in a cenote is like bathing in the fountain of youth. This location has several ruins that you can walk up to and even climb. When we arrived we had the idea that we wanted to go swimming inside the cenote, so upon arriving we changed into our bathing suits and checked in our stuff at the front desk, including water. We started walking towards the ruins and there was no shade. You felt the heat from the hot sun and with no water, it felt even worse. 
We decided it was too hot, so then we went straight to the cenote to cool off. All of our family and friends took a dip in the natural well and since I was wearing a hat, I decided not to wet my hair. We spent about an hour inside the cenote and then went to our hotel. I felt tired, thinking it was probably from the walk and from the temperature outside. 
One of our friends was leaving so she kissed me on the cheek to say goodbye and she said that I felt hot. My eyes were burning and I did feel a little flustered. It wasn’t until later that night, that my stomach started hurting, my eyes were burning, and I had a temperature. I took a shower to see if that would help lower my body temperature and even took some Tylenol, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t until I grabbed a jug of water and placed it on my head and kept drinking cold water that I was able to lower my body temperature and sleep well. I suffered from heat exhaustion because I didn’t drink enough water and because I failed to wet my entire body, including my head when I went swimming.
The extreme heat and those hours I spent outside caused my body to overheat, especially since my body was not cooled off completely when I went swimming. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of hours and I was fine the next day. Other symptoms of heat exhaustion can include, heavy sweating, dizziness, fatigue, weak, rapid pulse, nausea, headache, muscle cramps, and cool, moist skin with goose bumps. I learned a very important lesson that day and unfortunately, it took a health scare to remind me of the importance of keeping hydrated.