Ecotourism in Yucatan
Country: Mexico.

By Miguel Angel & Sofia Briones

Travelling to Yucatan has been one of the most pleasant experiences of our lives: an adventure full of surprises. Leaving Mexico City for a little fishing village on the Yucatan coast called Celestún means leaving the highlands for the Gulf and finding there an immense emerald sea, pristine beaches, sandy paths and a lot of nature to look at and enjoy. We had heard of these places as an attraction for photographers, sport fishermen, birdwatchers and flower-spotters, but the reality exceeded all our expectations. This is one of those spots, which our planet provides, where you can disconnect from the Internet and forget about the hubbub of the everyday world. With no buildings or electricity poles, this town's point of entry and exit for visitors is the Eco Paraíso Xixim Hotel.

On arrival we bathed in the sea with the sun setting on the horizon, and as we returned we saw a huge object on the sand - a turtle leaving the water and crossing the dunes to lay her eggs. We stroked it, and when the miracle of life was completed it turned back to the sea. It was a unique and unforgettable welcome. The next day we breakfasted on Xixim shrimp omelet, a specialty of the local cuisine, as we watched the colors of the hotel's emerald sea and the gardens around it full of exotic species such as wild orchids, of which more than 300 varieties grow in the soil of Yucatan. From there, we took a tour to see the pink flamingo sanctuary, only ten kilometers away from the hotel and a two-hour roundtrip in the estuary. The sight of incredible numbers of pink flamingo birds taking off and landing, free in their natural habitat, is a real spectacle. Then we saw other land and sea birds in an "eye of water" where we swam in a kind of crystalline freshwater spring. The effect of this tropical, vivacious atmosphere stimulated us to know more. We headed for El Palmar, an area where duck hunting is allowed and from the top of its lighthouse we gazed out over a landscape of swamps, jungle, palm trees and especially "petenes" - characteristic formations in the coastal regions where huge trees grow up around a freshwater oasis in the middle of a swamp. You can dive in them and sometimes find birds and animals that come in search of water. We were told that the fringe of wetlands that rings the whole peninsula is one of the world's most important ecosystems, providing a refuge for hundreds of resident and migrant species, especially the pink flamingo, the Loggerhead turtle, the jaguar and the spider monkey.

Our third trip took us into the realm of culture. It consisted of a visit to the archaeological site at Oxkintok, which is being consolidated and which gave us an idea of the importance and aesthetic sensibility of the Mayan civilization. A short journey brought us to the caves at Calcehtok, where a guide helped us to descend into subterranean passages and we discovered its petrified formations. It is said that there are more than a thousand of these caves in the area, some dry and others flooded. But the most impressive event for us was a night ride up the inlet in search of…alligators! The sensation produced by the jungle sounds and the fireflies made this an unforgettable trip. As our boat glided along fluorescent fish accompanied us, while the crab and shrimp fishermen cast their nets under a sky covered with myriad stars. And to end our trip - the best news of all: along its 378 km of shoreline, Yucatan has since a decade ago been undertaking a crusade to preserve these wildlife sanctuaries and to protect unique species. Palmar, Dzilam, Río Lagartos, San Felipe, Coloradas and Celestún could well become a huge stage - its background decorated in leaf-green and sea-blue - on which the Mexicans of the next century rediscover nature and life.