Blogs from Celestun, Yucatán, Mexico, North America

Did you know Mexico has flamingos? I didn’t until I was looking at things to do around Merida and read about Celestun. This is an island about an hour and a half from Merida and I highly recommend going if you are in this area. The highway to Celestun is one lane each way but a very good road. There wasn’t a lot of traffic but I bet it’s busy in the hotter months with people escaping to the beach! Our goal for the day was to do a boat tour of the mangroves and spend time at the beach. We accomplished both. The tour of the Mangroves of Dzinitun was amazing! Our guide, Angel, was very knowledgeable about the wildlife as well as the entire ecosystem of the mangroves. We road in a punt boat, ... read more

Ein ruhiger Tag, wir fahren nach Celestun an die Küste des Golf von Mexico. Gegenüber auf der Nordseite des Golfes liegt New Orleans, Luisiana. Für die Anfahrt brauchen wir knapp zwei Stunden und wir wollen mit Aaron eine Bootstour zu den Flamingo-Brutplätzen in der Lagune machen. Wir kommen gegen Mittag an, viel Betrieb herrscht bei den Bootsverleihern nicht. Leider ist zur Zeit Flut und es gibt nur wenige Flamingos zu sehen. Die Flamingos würden bis zur Brust im Wasser stehen, was sie nicht mögen. Wir beschließen statt der Bootsfahrt den Tag am Strand mit Baden und Muschelsammeln zu verbringen. Am Strand finden wir ein nettes kleines Restaurant und quartieren uns da mal ein. Eigentlich waren wir vor 16 Jahren schonmal hier, Annett meint die Kellnerin sieht aus wie das kleine Mädchen, das wir damals fotografiert haben. ... read more

Photos of Reserva de la Biosfera Ria Celestun...... read more

Yesterday we had a lazy day.... Carol stopped by while we still in PJs and we arranged to meet for dinner. Bill and I headed out later for the market. Bill bought a hat and went home while I wandered around the market for awhile. I love markets...looking at all the stuff people sell and buy for their daily needs...many, many shoe stands and stores here. I tried to replace my sandals but I wear one size larger than they carry in women's shoes.... We all met for dinner (Carol, Martin, us and two of their friends) and then attended a free classical guitar concert at the University (a block from our hotel). The guitarist was 17! Today we took the public bus to Celestun, where there is a large bird reserve/sanctuary. The two and half ... read more

Today we made a day trip to the town of Celestún, which has a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. The town is mostly visited for birdwatching tours (notable for flamingos), since it is close to a wide, shallow river (Ria de Celestún) coming into the Gulf. This is the Celestún Bird Sanctuary. We took a bus from Merida for about 3h to the tiny town of Celestún, which looked deserted when we arrived. We were unsure of where to go to get to the beach and tours, when a man came running up, ascertained that we wanted a flamingo/mangrove tour, and told us how to get to the beach, and that he would come find us later. In fact, this is pretty much a rule when looking for tours in the Yucután; you´ll know where ... read more