"Something different" Top 5 Page for this destination Mexico Things to Do Tip by TheWanderingCamel

The Yucatan isn't only about Mayan ruins and the colonial past. Whilst I was quite happy to give the beach resorts a miss - seen one beach resort town full of high-rise hotels, bars and clubs, you've seen them all - a day spent going to see the flamingos of Celestun was another matter. It was a bit late in the season and we knew we wouldn't see huge flocks of these amazing birds but it was a magic day, and we saw enough to keep us quite happy.
We hired a boat on the beach and were taken around the spit - past huge numbers of pelicans and other seabirds - and around into the shallow lagoon where the flamingoes gather. They were an extraordinary sight - glowing iridescently shrimp-pink in the sun - they almost seemed to hold the light in their feathers, the way a full balloon does.

This was a really memorable day - fishermen pushing their boats through the shallow waters of the lagoon, a petrified forest - ghost tree trunks rising out of the swampy ground, a swimming hole fed by a hot spring, the sleepy little township with its long beach of white, white sand - and a delicious lunch of fish and crab claws, visiting a Mayan lady in her simple thatched house - admiring her garden, her chickens and the beautiful embroidery she was working on a huipil for her daughter. Sadly, I've lost most of the photos I took that day, but the memories of what I saw are still clear in my mind's eye.

leyle

Directions: Celestun is 195 km from Merida. Our hotel organized the trip for us through a local tour company - an excellent arrangement.