Think pink

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I didn’t get too much sleep last night...I now have Ian’s cough! We are both awake around 6am and had planned to get the 8am bus...but since we are now awake we decide to make an early start.

To add to the long list of complaints about the crummy hotel we are staying in, there is no electricity or water this morning so we can’t even have a shower. Not they ever have any hot water anyway!

We arrive at the bus station and purchase our tickets to Tizimin...we are on the 7.30am service. The bus itself is not too bad. It has comfy seats, reasonable legroom and efficient air con. It’s free seating, but we are at the front of the queue so we choose seats reasonably near the front. We depart at 7.45am. There are two main stops on the way but no massive detours so we arrive in Tizimin at 8.45am.

Now we must change buses. The Noreste bus terminal is right next to the ADO station so it’s not hard to find. Plus there are four other tourists on the bus heading in the same direction. To be honest, it’s one straight road to Rio so not too many other places they might be going.

We are heading towards Los Coloradas, some pink salt lakes. It’s not an easy place to get to by public transport - there are only two buses a day. The first is at 10.30am and it detours just about everywhere. Since we are early and the bus goes via Rio Lagartos, we decide to take a ‘semi-direct’ bus there first. That will give us an hour or so to explore the town and we can then pick up the slow bus there.

There’s a twenty minute wait so we nip out to buy some fresh fruit and a take away from the cafe next door for our breakfast. The freshly squeezed orange juice is lovely but the tacos are a bit heavy.

We return to the bus station. Our tickets are checked and we are shown into the ‘first class’ waiting room. This is sounding promising...until the bus turns up that is! It’s the usual scrum for seats and this time we’re not at the front of the queue, so inevitably our seats are quite near the back. It’s a complete rust bucket. There are a few stops, but thankfully no detours. We arrive in Rio Lagartos at 10.30am. The Colorados bus will be here around 11.30am.

The minute we step off the bus, we are approached by several boat tour touts. We knew this would happen so we politely say we don’t want the tour and make our way to the marina. Here there are more boat guys trying to sell their boat tours. It turns out that they are now including a stop at Los Colorados as part of their package. This sounds a better bet than the bus as we will also get to see the local bird and reptile life...in particular the flamingos, for which this area is best known. The only problem is that we must hire the whole boat and we are expected to haggle. We wonder if there will be any other solo travellers?

The first boatman demands 1200 pesos but very quickly comes down to 1000. But then he cheekily tries to fit us in on a boat that already has five Mexicans on it. The boats are supposed to be for six only and he wants us to sit on a bench instead of a proper chair. I am not going for it. Alright, alright, he says, 300 pesos each...what? So that’s 600 for the two of us on a bench seat and 600 for five Mexicans in proper seats with life jackets? You’re having a laugh mate! Ian is dithering but I walk away. There are loads of other boats and I can see another two tourists up the road being hassled by a tout...I am going to go to see if they want to share. Our man does not like this at all and is trying to call me back but I just ignore him.

I meet up with the two tourists who turn out to be a very nice French couple from Reimes. They tell me that their tout wanted 900 pesos for his boat. That sounds much better, especially if we can divide it four ways. They are interested in sharing and go off to get their sunscreen whilst I negotiate with our boatman. Yes, he will take four of us for 900 pesos for two hours, including the pink lakes...well maybe two hours! Definitely two hours I insist, and I want to see those pink lakes! OK, he grins. You pay me now. No, I will pay you on our return. No, it’s not possible. OK, we will pay half now and half later...to make sure that our two hours is not a maybe! He grins and agrees.

We all get into the boat. It has sturdy plastic seats and a cover to keep the sun off. That’s good. First we go downstream to see some flamingos. The birds are a dark orangey pink colour. These birds actually have white plumage naturally, but the colour changes to pink from the pink shellfish and nutrients from the salty water that they eat. Because of the very high salt content here, the birds are particularly pink!

Now we zoom off in the opposite direction. Our man stops at various places on the way to point out the different bird species. He is very knowledgeable. There is a very large population of herons and pelicans. We also see black eagles and crocodiles. Our man has a large bag of fish onboard which he is using to feed the crocs and the pelicans. At one point we even have a couple of pelicans on board the boat! The flamingoes are shy creatures so we don’t get terribly close, but we see them strutting in lines on a sandbank in the distance.

We finally reach the place of the pink lakes. This is actually land owned by a salt mining company. They have been mining salt here using these traditional methods for centuries. We are not allowed to paddle or swim, but it’s fine to take photos. Unfortunately, it’s very overcast so the lakes don’t appear as pink as usual. It’s slightly disappointing, until a burst of sunlight changes the whole vista, turning the water to a bright pink colour in a matter of seconds.

The only thing left to do here is to take a mud bath. We’ve seen a few people returning covered in mud. It’s supposed to be very good for the skin. There is a shower back at the harbour, but we didn’t bring our swim kit or towels so we are excused this experience. The French couple aren’t interested in doing it either. Our boatman speeds us back to the jetty and we arrive back in 1 hour and 45 minutes - OK, we’ll let that go and pay you the remaining half. And don’t forget my tip, adds our boatman! To be honest, it’s been a great trip and he’s acted as our driver, guide and ornithologist, so he gets another 50 from us. :-)

It’s 1pm and we are all finished. We have no idea what time the next bus back to Tizimin is due. But the French couple have a hire car and offer us a lift as they are returning to Cancun and are going that way. That’s a really kind offer which we happily accept. We enjoy some good conversation on the way back - the couple have just been scuba diving in Cozumel.

Back in Tizimin, we buy our bus tickets back to Valladolid - a bus left ten minutes ago but there is another one in twenty minutes.

Back in Valladolid, we treat ourselves to a nice cold drink in the plaza. Ian has a melon shake and I have strawberry. Then it’s back to the hotel for a much needed shower. Guess what...we still have no water, although the electricity has been restored.

We finish our day with a typical Yucatan meal in the plaza. That’s after a cold shower when the water finally comes back on. The square looks very pretty tonight with the fountain and cathedral all lit up. We will be leaving Valladolid tomorrow. We have really enjoyed seeing the area but we’ll be glad to see the back of this hotel!

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