A quick orientation walk around the centre last night revealed a vibrant lively city. We love the way Mexicans come out at night and stroll the plazas and streets. It is so much life and everyone seems so happy, chatting and catching up. Life is lived on the outside. Music everywhere. We have felt very safe every where. It is not as everyone thinks. Lots of cool bars with good music and reasonable cocktails! We have become quite the fan of Marguerite’s, Mojitos and Mexcal with Hibiscus to name a few! Very civilised.
We were up early to head out to the Flamingos at Celestun. We were anxious about whether we would see a flock at all. Shona was so full of anticipation and we were wearing pink and giving the universe our messages. Peter had brought a towel on this trip with three Flamingos so we felt sure it was a sure thing and we were rewarded with hundreds. We were scared Shona’s delight was going to frighten them away but she controlled her whoops of excitement and welled up with tears instead. It was so exciting to see so many.
On the way back we detoured through the mangroves to see baby fish and a fresh water spring. The termite mounds looked like monkeys but we only saw shag like birds and an osprey. The mangroves were really magnificent and not smelly!
We followed this up with a swim at a local beach ( Gulf of Mexico) and lunch. It was somewhat underwhelming after the high of the flamingos and very windy in the water. We had used our good luck!
We finished our stay in Merida with drinks and sunset in a very cool bar after checking out the art exhibition in the town hall.
The next morning was another very early start to beat the crowds at the ruins of Chichen Itzá. So glad we got there before opening because it was packed by 10 am when we were leaving. It is the most visited Mayan site. It is most famous for its ball court. The Mayans played a strange game where the goal was to get a 3-5 kg ball through a high ring without using their hands! It is thought it was a little like soccer, using feet, hips(!) arms and sticks but not hands and only the captain could take the goal. Very tough game because there were 7 players each side and the team had to get the ball up to the captain who ran along a raised edge under the goal. The field was very long and pretty wide. Anyway the winner was sacrificed! Their skulls are placed in the walls and the dead were believed to have gone to heaven to be reborn! It was an honour. The whole Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico stems from this sense of death not being an end to life but a transition to a better life.
fleetfootkath 