I took LOTS of photos and videos of this wonderful Parque Nacional, the wintering place for thousands of flamingos. Unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to move them from my phone to my pad even though both are Android devices.

We took a boat ride that brought us within 4-5 meters of them. We were in the midst of 100s of them making and awful racket.

I think there is a definite correlation between a bird’s beauty and its cacophonic call. Peacocks also have a screechy sound.

But flamingos do soar gracefully and many passed just above our heads.

We then took an excursion into a mangrove forest that looked and sounded like every jungle movie I’ve ever seen. We alighted on a rather dilapidated pier and followed a narrow boardwalk to a swimming hole that had fresh water bubbling up from below and a little further on, as far as we could go before the gaps in the planks exceeded the walkable parts I saw a baby crocodile, about 20 inches long.

(everyone called it a ‘crocodilito’ but I was unable to tell whether it was an alligator or crocodile at that distance)

After our excursion (lots of pics later, I promise) we headed to the beachfront town of Celestun and a fantastic seafood lunch.

I have a lot more to discuss about this trek but have to get ready for my first day of work. Chao.

(btw- I know the Italian spelling is ciao but to Spanish speakers it is spelled as above)