Friday I left Tulum and returned to the state of Yucatan. Rio Lagartos is a small town (1500 people) located on an estuary on the Gulf coast of Yucatan. Its estuary is one of the places that flamingos flock during the summer months to feed and breed. So I got to town on Friday night and arranged my boat trip for the following morning. I ended up at the only restaurant in town in search of food and later that night ended up on a free night boat trip into the estuary and mangroves where I got to see crocodiles, raccoons, needle nosed fish, blowfish, and crabs.
Day 8: More Rio Lagartos and the hacienda OchilSaturday morning I left on a 7am boat ride into the mangroves and the estuary to go see the flamingos. In addition to flamingos I also got to see boat-billed herons, white pelicans, and a bunch of other birds.
I returned to Merida that afternoon and went to an old hacienda to the south of town.
Day 9: Cuzamá and more cenotes
Sunday was my last day on vacation, but my bus wasn’t until 6:30pm, so I went to the small town of Cuzamá, that has an old hacienda with 3 cenotes on it. From where the bus drops you off you take a pedistrike to the old hacienda where you then take a horse-drawn cart to and between the cenotes (all underground, and all swimable). To enter the last cenote, you had to literally climb down a ladder (about 1.5 stories) through the limestone and then down into the cenote.
After swimming, I went back to Merida for a last meal of cochinita tacos (baby pig cooked underground in a banana leaf) and then got on a 19 hour bus ride back to Puebla.
