I have already blogged about diving in Mexican cenotes and exploring Mayan ruins. This is my last blog about our trip to Mexico and focuses on the colourful Spanish towns and cities that we explored along with the bird life. In our first week we stayed in a very comfortable hotel in the jungle outside of Playa del Carmen. Playa is not particularly picturesque and has developed as an American tourist resort over the last 20 years. At a super touristy 'fun park' outside Tulum we find some rather fine herons but otherwise it is only when we head towards Merida and the nearby coast that we find more interesting architecture and wildlife.

First stop is the Villa Chichen Itza. The famous Mayan site used to be part of the property before it was taken over as a national (and world) heritage site. We arrange to go bird watching in the grounds of the villa on the evening of our arrival. Our entertaining guide, Bibiano, takes us and two other English guests out in the late afternoon and quickly finds us a magnificent owl - we suspect he always lives here. Yucutan woodpeckers are also pretty common and after a few attempts I manage to find one posing beautifully for me. The villa is surrounded by tropical forest and there are some splendid trees and flowers. Amidst this the villa staff have planted vegetable gardens and grow most of their own supplies. It gets harder to spot the birds as the light fades but we do find a beautiful turquoise-browed motmot and a different motmot sitting on a power line.

Grounds of the Villa Chichen Itza, Great Horned Owl  

Yucatan woodpecker, Turquoise-browed motmot

After exploring Chichen Itza we head to Mérida, the state capital, where we are staying in a friend's house for a week. Merida is laid out on a grid interspersed by plazas, museums and churches. We are only a couple of blocks north of the main square making it easy to explore on foot. This is helped by the temperature dropping for our last few days - polar winds have descended on on the US and we are getting the effects of it. 

Nearly all of the Mérida streets are single story houses. Some are lovingly restored while others are slowly fading and crumbling. Like so many Spanish buildings there is little to see on the outside beyond jolly paintwork, a door and grilled window but when you get a chance to see inside you are often surprised by fine decor and beautiful courtyards behind. Had we not been staying at our friends' house we could see that there are many pretty boutique hotels that you can choose from.

There are much grander houses from the belle epoque period when henequén (sisal) brought riches to the region at the end of the 19th century. Some of these have been restored and turned into museums while others are slowly decaying behind grills and high walls. We also track down some very fine bars and restaurants serving a bit classier food than the standard tacos and fried beans. Mérida also has a lot of regional clothing shops and some smarter boutiques alongside the tourist shops.

 

Mérida houses

An hour and a half's drive west of Mérida is the sleepy coastal town of Celestún. On the outskirts of the town is a wildlife sanctuary and we track down our guiding operation - the Guardianes de los Manglares de Dzinintún - the original ecotour in the area. Apparently there are now a number of imitators. We are slightly perturbed when we are given netting tops that cover us completely from head to waist (to protect from the mosquitoes). In fact the bugs are not quite as ferocious as feared. Our knowledgeable English speaking guide is soon poling us through channels in the mangroves. There has been a program here to replace mangroves over the past 20 years and they are clearly growing very well. All is pretty quiet to start with but soon we are finding owls, herons and even baby crocodiles!

Reserva de la Biósfera Ria Celestún

Intrepid canoe team - start and finish

Celestún is famous for big flocks of flamingos that congregate around the mangroves and inlets between February and April. We are here in November so only spot a few stragglers but we still see an amazing collection of water birds - some of which are pictured below. The normally white spoonbills are almost as bright as the flamingos due to a diet of crabs. We saw the same thing when we visited the Pantanal in Brazil a few years ago. Some of the birds are pretty common but others like the reddish egret is very rare and this is one of the only places that you are likely to see it.

Our guide poles our canoe out of the mangroves and across a wide, shallow channel to find birds on the other side. Speedboats full of tourists race up and down and we feel very tranquil by comparison. After crossing back across the channel we leave our canoe on a small jetty (above) and walk back on a long and very rickety (in places) walkway across the swamp. Eventually we reach a track where some wildlife photographers are recording. It is getting very hot and we are relieved to be picked up by a tuk-tuk who takes us back to base.

Bare-throated tiger heron, Green heron, Mangrove black hawk

Tri-coloured heron, Spoonbills, Great blue heron

Flamingo, Boat-billed heron, Reddish Egret

After leaving our birdwatchers we head into town and soon hit the sea. Los Pámpanos has been recommended as the best beach restaurant and we are delighted to find it almost empty. We take a beachside table and reckon that it is too early for most Mexicans to have lunch. By two o-clock things are much busier with large tables full of locals. The cevice and other seafood is delicious as are the cocktails. A fine way for me to spend my birthday!

Los Pámpanos restaurant, Celestún

The beach at Celestún

Our final trip from Mérida is about an hour in the opposite direction to Celestún. This is to the 'ciudad amarillo' or yellow city of Izamal. We are getting pretty confident driving our car around the Yucatan by now. The roads are not particularly busy and the toll roads are deserted - much too expensive for most Mexicans. Izamal is another town that was colonised very early by the Spanish and made its money back in the day from henequén. The convento de san Antonio de Padua was established in the 15th C and is still functioning. Some years ago a local mayor decided that he could rejuvenate the town and attract tourists by painting it yellow so this is what they did! After exploring the streets we visited a Mayan Pyramid - Kinich-Kakmó which was here a long time before the Spanish. Then we found a good restaurant in the square for lunch and watched horse drawn buggies taking tourists around the town. A small primitive art museum was also worth a visit before we headed back to Mérida.

Convent of San Antonio de Padua, Izamal street

Frida Kalo on Izamal house, Kinich-Kakmó pyramid

The Yucutan was a great discovery for us. Away from the tourist strip the towns were interesting and the people friendly and helpful. Interesting culture, fun nightlife and some great wildlife to see. We would highly recommend Mérida as a place to stay and as a base to explore this fascinating country. You can read more in Vicky's blog.

Mexican Christmas shopping site