I’m pretty sure I have an obsession, teetering on the brink of an addiction. When I travel, I spend more time observing the waxy leaves of a croton plant, a sea of bougainvillea cascading down a wall or palm fronds fluttering in the tropical breeze than I do watching where I walk.

I think I have a problem.

When I get home, my memory card is overflowing with photographs from every possible angle of a ficus tree rooted in the sand, but not one digital image to commemorate my son and husband’s presence on the beach. Oops.

But I digress.

Traveling along the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico is a nature lover’s dream come true, especially when it means escaping Lawrence’s recent blustery conditions. The region boasts a vast diversity of plant and animal species. In fact, 50 percent of the bird life in Mexico can be found hovering over the Yucatán.

The peninsula consists of 180,000 square miles of low-lying flat limestone formed into a rock shelf. Most people associate the area with pristine sand beaches dissolving into brilliant turquoise seas. Normally those panoramic beaches are the most memorable feature for tourists, particularly land-locked Kansans like myself. But no, not me. I’m much more interested in a nearby coconut palm and how the wind and unstable sands have created a bow in its trunk.

Aside from the spectacular scenes of earth marrying sea, the Yucatan boasts a slew of ecological interests, such as jungles, mangroves, coastal dunes and reefs. The area also brags of a labyrinth of cenotes (deep sinkholes in limestone with pools at the bottom) under the jungle floor. I took a dive in one of these freshwater mazes through stalactites and stalagmites, where you need a flashlight, no claustrophobia issues and a very good guide not to get lost. Often, when your gaze travels upward, the roots of hundred-year-old banyan trees stretch out above you. Once in a while, little alcoves where the cave is not fully submerged allow observation of bats in their natural environment and exotic orchids clinging to moist rock walls, splashing the slightest bit of color in this muted subterranean world.

The people of the Yucatan Peninsula and Maya Riviera are working hard to protect the area’s natural gifts. They have established a protected area on the peninsula’s east coast called Sian Ka’an, which translates to “origin of the sky” in Mayan. Sian Ka’an covers 1.6 million acres of lowland tropical forests, marshes, flooded savannas, mangrove forests, lagoons, bays and coral reefs, extending as far as the Mesoamerican Reef, the world’s second-largest barrier reef.

The Mexican casa makes for a relaxing and colorful retreat for visitors taking a break from cruising nature. Casas often have courtyards brimming with any number of beautiful plants: ficus trees, banana trees, palms, mango trees, papaya plants, heliconia, birds-of-paradise, crotons, plumeria, ginger plants, pomegranates, guava plants, calla lily, prickly pear, bougainvillea, agave and cactus, amaryllis, poinsettias, orchids and maybe even a coffee plant.

I adore the refreshing change of the larger-than-life leaves, their natural waxy texture and the brilliant hot colors that saturate the tropical environment.

During this last leg of winter, I thought we all could use a sultry holiday – even if only in our mind’s eye. Besides, it gives me a reason to perpetuate my deep sickness of being utterly and hopelessly addicted to tropical flora.