On our last day in Merida we drove to a wildlife sanctuary near Celestún.
It was an interesting drive on some very flat terrain.
We drove through a couple little towns renowned for their Cochinita Pibil.
And churches:
There was a feast day going on, so I didn't get a good photo. But you can see the flowers.
Doreen had read that you want to go all the way to the beach and get a boat. So we did:
It was a very nice beach. The weather was not too hot, and it was not raining. Two very good things.
So we negotiated for a boat, and headed off to look for flamingos:
That's our boat. The captain was Jose, and I think he was about 17 years old.
We were really booking as we headed to the "Ria Celestún" or the back bay.
The water was warm as well. I took off my shoes, of course.
It was quite a fun ride.
We saw a lot of birds on the way out. Gulls and brown pelicans, to start with.
Then we saw pods of wintering white pelicans as well. Jose said that they came from Canada. Could be, but white pelicans are pretty broadly distributed in the US as well. But we saw at least one bird with a band, so they may very well be from Canada.
It is fun to watch those while pelicans feed. They all dunk their heads at the same time.
We also spotted some flamingos in the open water. They are not swimming, they are standing:
And some more as well:
We saw a small cayman. Not such a big deal for us, as we see alligators around Houston all the time.
But we did see an American bittern, much to Gaye's delight:
I didn't get too good a photo due to a) my incompetence as a photographer and b) noisy french tourists.
We saw these things all over the place. Termite mounds!
I love the auto-awesome that Google does for me:
The Ria is on top of an artesian fresh water aquifer, which allows for these fresh water wells pouring into the salt water:
As we headed back to the beach, we spotted these guys:
They were walking about, looking very imperious.
Then they took off.
Very cool
We had lunch at La Playita:
The fish was delicious. Every time I have fish on a beach I think about my friend David. While he was visiting me in Venezuela, we went to a beach and ordered fish on the beach. He related a story about an uncle of his who was eating a fish, and then got a bone stuck in his throat. It got infected, and after several miserable days in unbearable pain, he died. So David was always reluctant to order fish with bones.
He wasn't my uncle, so I didn't have that particular aversion.
It was very pretty.
and relaxing.
On the way home, we stopped at a friend's hacienda where we met the horses.
Doreen especially got along well with them:
We also saw a goat:
And this is Tony, our driver:
His real job was working with horses. He really loves the horses.
It was a good trip.
It was a good first Expedition for 2015.
It was an interesting drive on some very flat terrain.
We drove through a couple little towns renowned for their Cochinita Pibil.
And churches:
Doreen had read that you want to go all the way to the beach and get a boat. So we did:
It was a very nice beach. The weather was not too hot, and it was not raining. Two very good things.
So we negotiated for a boat, and headed off to look for flamingos:
That's our boat. The captain was Jose, and I think he was about 17 years old.
We were really booking as we headed to the "Ria Celestún" or the back bay.
 |
We saw a lot of birds on the way out. Gulls and brown pelicans, to start with.
Then we saw pods of wintering white pelicans as well. Jose said that they came from Canada. Could be, but white pelicans are pretty broadly distributed in the US as well. But we saw at least one bird with a band, so they may very well be from Canada.
We also spotted some flamingos in the open water. They are not swimming, they are standing:
And some more as well:
The back bay was a mangrove swamp. Very spooky when you get into it.
We saw a small cayman. Not such a big deal for us, as we see alligators around Houston all the time.
But we did see an American bittern, much to Gaye's delight:
We saw these things all over the place. Termite mounds!
I love the auto-awesome that Google does for me:
The Ria is on top of an artesian fresh water aquifer, which allows for these fresh water wells pouring into the salt water:
As we headed back to the beach, we spotted these guys:
They were walking about, looking very imperious.
Very cool
We had lunch at La Playita:
and we may have had a beer or two.
The fish was delicious. Every time I have fish on a beach I think about my friend David. While he was visiting me in Venezuela, we went to a beach and ordered fish on the beach. He related a story about an uncle of his who was eating a fish, and then got a bone stuck in his throat. It got infected, and after several miserable days in unbearable pain, he died. So David was always reluctant to order fish with bones.
He wasn't my uncle, so I didn't have that particular aversion.
It was very pretty.
and relaxing.
On the way home, we stopped at a friend's hacienda where we met the horses.
Doreen especially got along well with them:
It was a good trip.
It was a good first Expedition for 2015.
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