Celestun

The hubs and I made a trip to Celestun with my brother and his fiance.  

Before we reached the city puebla, we pulled off the road and drove towards the water.  There, we were able to take a boat out to view the flamingos, mangroves, and crocodiles.  Our captain was knowledgeable and friendly, and told us about the beautiful nature of that area.  I took a few hundred photos of this day and choosing which photos to showcase our day, was difficult.

First crocodile sighting

Flamingos!

Males and females are the same color.  They turn pink because of their diets which are high in alpha and beta carotene.  The younger ones are not as colorful because they have eaten as much, but as they get older and eat more, their color becomes darker.

Flamingos live in swampy areas and lakes.  They like to stay near the shore where the water is shallow.

Flamingos are social animals and live in groups called colonies.  Typical colonies contains thousands of birds.

50,000 flamingos live in this area.

These flamingos are the American Flamingo and are considered the most-colorful of the species.

Boating through the mangroves 

Second crocodile sighting!

Picturesque entrance to the Petrified Forest

The Petrified Forest is really a dead forest.  It is said to be caused by a hurricane.  The high salinity of the ocean water killed the trees and changed the contents of the water table so trees can no longer grow here.

It looks like a scene from a sci-fi novel.

My attempt at being creative.  This is the ground of the Petrified Forest.  Here you can see the salt crystals left after the water has evaporated.

The walkway back towards the boat and the mangroves.