Yucatan Rebirth: May 10, 2009

Or, road trip part 2.
Once we finished "El Camino de Diablo", we hit the main highway and headed west for 20 kms to Celestun, home to the 147,000 acre Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicano or the Celestun Biosphere Reserve as it's also called.
We headed into town and to the beach to enjoy a picnic lunch before looking for the flamingos.
The beach...

Then we worked our way back to the ecological park which is easy to spot from the highway..

There, we were greeting by a nice guy who spoke English. He took us into an area that had a topographical map of the ecopreserve and he offered us the choice of a two hour or one hour tour. At this stage of the game, we opted for the one hour.
He then led us to the dock where there were many boats, no waiting.

The Skipper Gilligan

We headed up the estuary for about 20 minutes and then they came into view.....(note: click on pictures to enlarge for best viewing)

Hundreds of flamingos feeding on the special plankton that are nourished in this area by the unique combination of salt and fresh water. The Skipper cut the engine and then the breeze caused the boat to silently drift towards the birds.

After about 20 minutes of observing, we continued on our way and into a passage that led us through the thick mangrove jungle surrounding the estuary.

I mean thick...

Where termites build their nests in the trees....

After a short cruise through here, we headed on to a fresh water spring area where we docked and walked through admiring the crystal clear, fish rich sweet water.

As we were leaving, this beautiful bird came walking by us. The skipper told us it was a "Mangrove Chicken" although since we weren't allowed to eat it, we cannot confirm this name. We'll have to take the skipper's word for it.