Celestun to Merida

 Friday, Halloween, 2025

We all decided last night that we wouldn't leave until nine!  Breakfast begins at seven and everyone chooses their own start time.  We mostly tend toward the later part of that two hour time span! We've learned that our pet server is named Angelito and he has a book for us to sign! I later learn that he has only been working there for two weeks!

Jan and I are sharing - we've finally learned!!

My half!

There is time after Jan and I finish for her to show me the sauna and massage area behind the pool!  Oh my goodness!!

These are massage areas.

There's the sauna.

The roof is all animal skins.

Valerie painted her shoes!!  So cool!

Back on the bus and we're on our way to Celestun to take a boat ride through the mangroves and to see the flamboyance of flamingoes that nest here every year!  As usual Juan downloads an incredible amount of information about Mexico and, specifically, about the Yucatan and the towns we pass through.  We see the remains of old haciendas and one or two that are still functioning.  This area made most of its money from the production of sisal. Each hacienda made its own money, so if you escaped to another hacienda and spent any money they would know you were an escapee and put you in jail!

We pass through Becal, a very small town that is famous for the making of Panama hats!  We see the particular type of palm tree from which the hats are made and learn that they hand the fronds to tree in the sun but that they must retain some moisture so that they can be formed into shape without breaking.  Another town, Hilacho, also makes hat but theirs are much cheaper!

There are three states in the peninsula, Yucátan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.  Merida, Yucatan, is the capital of the state.

We see a number of the old style Mayan houses with the thatched roofs and learn that people replaced their homes with concrete block ones when they had the money or when there was too much damage to the original one.  The old houses are usually round or rectangular.  electricity for a small house in a small town is about 300 pesos a monty or fifteen dollars, and is paid every two months.  And water is free in small towns and villages.

Celestun is a biosphere preserve, protecting not only the thousands of flamingos that breed here but all the other fauna and flora.  And everything we see if flamingo pink!  Even the openings in the bridge!!  After a potty stop we head for the boats and divide into two groups, filling our two boats.  We start in a lagoon and head for the open water, the Gulf of Mexico.  There are lots and lots of flamingos and Juan had told us that most of the flock hasn't returned yet! He also says that this is the first time he has seen them on the Gulf side of the preserve. The ones we see are almost exclusively juveniles with even a couple of white ones that aren't old enough to have started turning flamingo pink!  The males are a darker color and have longer necks.

The little "Disney" train would be fun but our bus is more comfortable and faster.

Meat market

Typical Mayan house, except for the roof

There is electricity!

These people appear to have saved enough money to replace their original home
with cement blocks.

We must be close!!

So much pink!

Resident raccoons!

There go half of us!

And here are the rest of us!

And here they are again!  They've pulled up along side us to watch the flamingo show!

We're being scrutinized!

And now they're sharing their observations!

Reluctantly we leave the flamboyance only to discover a wood stork, some roseate spoonbills which are called spatula birds here, three eagles, an anhinga, and even a crocodile who is hiding in the mangrove roots.

Mr. Woodstork

Roseate Spoonbills or Spatula Birds

One of many, many termite mounds

Gulp!

We go through a mangrove tunnel and it is easy to tell which are the red mangroves! Juan has told us about the importance of the mangroves in protecting the shoreline and how there are areas where they have been removed to build houses and hotels - to the detriment of the adjacent land.

End of the tunnel

On the way back to the dock we stop to see an "Ojo de Agua" or freshwater spring which is bubbling up into the waterway.  And we could see the color change where the fresh water enters the salty Gulf.

Hey!  Was it something I said?

Of course you can fit four on a bike!

We head to the beach for lunch right by the water and seafood is the order of the day! Our restaurant is La Ramada de le Tía Candi and they have fresh caught crab and hog fish. I have the crab with garlic and someone else has had to extract the crab meat form the shells!  I just get to enjoy!

OOO Crab!

This monument is to all the peoples of Mexico

When arrive back in Merida during rush hour, but they are mostly going the other way, happily! Our hotel is centrally located and we will be here for three nights which is quite a luxury! On the way through town Juan takes us down the street where all the rich Europeans build their big and beautiful homes.  Most are now businesses or hotels and some are just abandoned.

Welcome beverage station in the hotel

We take up two of these.

It's as large as it looks!

It even has a wet bar!

Our room is huge!  We even have a wet bar! We settle in and then go down to the lobby to meet up and walk to dinner at La Chaya Maya.  We have two separate tables, so we're on our own!  Luckily Valerie and Wynne have some fluency with the language, so Ellie, Kathy, and I aren't completely at sea!

Fresh tortillas all the time!

Hibiscus tea!

Bread pudding, Maya style!

After dinner six of us walk to the square, Parque de San Juan, where the Dia de los Muertos festivities are taking place.  Ginger says it is not as spectacular and festivals she has seen in other parts of the country, but it is fun with people dressed in the best "dead" look and lots of illuminated skeletons.  And there is even a parade with the route marked in such a clever fashion!  There is a rope on either edge but it is not stationary, it is carried by people who march along with the participants to keep the crowd back!  They do make photography challenging because there are so many of them and the block the view.  But there's nothing to remove with the parade is over!  Brilliant! 

On the way back Karen and I take turns spotting photo ops and showing each other!  Such fun!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

Back home and we agree to meet at seven for breakfast and to be ready to leave at eight, swimsuit in hand for an afternoon visit to another of the eight thousand cenotes in the Yucatan!