Celestun, Flamingos and Ojos de Agua

Our last tour was to Celestun, a small seaside town on the gulf of Mexico which was about a two hour ride from Merida. Celestun is famous for the flamingos that concentrate there from January to March. Surrounding the town is a national park which serves as a wetland preserve for the flamingos and other birds.

Here's a  video of our boat moving through a flock .  It doesn't give  a very good sense of how strikingly pink these birds are. Not like this interesting poster from the outside of a Merida hotel.

After the flamingo fiesta our boat unexpectedly entered a small opening in the mangroves at full speed.  This seemed to be a calculated move to give the tourists a thrill in case they weren't that excited by the cackling pink hordes.  The boat slowed down and glided silently through the mangroves.

We drifted to a narrow docking area and were shown an ojo de agua.  This is a place where fresh, clean water from the underground rivers which course through the Yucatan bubbles to the surface.  These freshwater ojos have a major impact on the ecosystem and also provide a fun place to swim.

Next post - Mexico City!