Category: Uaymitun 2013

It was a perfect day for a boat trip up the estuary to the Ria Celestun conservation area.

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We paid $1250MXN for a 1-1/2 hour tour for the four of us, which converts to ~$25CDN per person… not bad at all!

When we reached the main flocks, our boat slowed and stopped so as to not disturb them. The water was only 2-3′ deep there so they congregate to wade and feed on the baby shrimp that are there in the millions and millions. The flamingo’s distinctive pink colouring comes from a diet based on these shrimp.

The next pictures are just the best of the many, many pictures we took of this amazing sight!

What an amazing sight that was!

On our way back, the first stop was at a favourite pelican roosting spot.

Then our pilot took us for a spin through the mangroves…

… to the nearby cenote, which is deep natural pit or cave in the limestone that’s filled with clear, sweet water and is very common across the Yucatan.

Back at the jetty, we thanked our great pilot for the trip!

It was a terrific day at Celestun! We enjoyed the town and its sites and really enjoyed the seeing the flamingos!

One last picture that really speaks volumes about life in rural Mexico. On our way in and on our way out, we noticed many, very unique and distinctive collections of odd things beside the road. These are personalized identifiers to allow those taking the bus to recognize where they want to get off! There are no ‘bus signs’ of course! Our favourite example…

I hope you enjoyed Celestun! Keep an eye out for “Stepping out at the Hotel Yakunah!” in the coming days!

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Until then… love to all!

-doug and elaine
-mom and dad
-nana and papa

On Monday, we took a trip to see the flamingos at the conservation area at Celestun on the west side of the Yucatan peninsula… about a 2 hour drive for us. Here’s link to Celestun on Google Maps!

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Our drive took us around Merida and through the town of Uman, which we will be sure to revisit and spend some time there, as Val and Elaine saw a couple of nice dress shops. The town square and church also look very inviting.

We did take a short break on our trip when we found an abandoned hacienda in the village of Oxholon.

After traversing the many, many topes (speed bumps) in the town of Kinchil, it was a very straight and long drive to the coast and Celestun.

We had some lunch at a beach side restaurant called “La Palapa”, which had a great selection of fishy stuff… not so much on the non-fishy side!

After lunch, we took a short walk around the town before heading back to the bridge. That’s the best place to catch the boats to see the flamingos.

Given the number of pictures we took on the boat ride… you’ll have to wait for my next blog to see them all… but here’s a teaser!

Until then… love to all!

-doug and elaine
-mom and dad
-nana and papa

As much as this place can be slice of heaven… quiet, secluded, beautiful… there is a fly in the ointment.

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A beautiful morning’s view…

The morning sun just caressing our chairs by the pool…

I can’t suppress the desire to just head to the beach…

But what’s that sound? … the sound track from Jaws? … dundun, dundun, dundun…

Noooooooo! It’s all back again!

The accursed Yucatecan seaweed has returned overnight!

As far as the eye can see… to the West…

… and to the East…

By my approximation… I raked an ~10m deep swath ~1m wide from the sand to the waterline that was ~1/3m deep = ~3 cubic metres. Our house is at Km 17, so from Progreso to our house there is ~50,000 cubic metres of seaweed…

…every morning… sigh!

Bryan has provided me with a link to the potential answer to this problem, which only really occurs during the winter months down here.

Is seaweed the future of biofuel?

Really, once you cross over the seaweed barrier through my path, you’re into the warm Gulf waters! There’s always the pool, too! 🙂

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Next blog will be about our trip to Celestun and the Flamingo sanctuary!

Missing you all,

Love,

-doug and elaine
-mom and dad
-nana and papa

Today is Sunday… Super Bowl Sunday!

Go San Francisco!

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This blog post is about what Yucatecan living for us so far…

Missing you all greatly and wishing you could be here!

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Love to all,

-doug and elaine
-mom and dad
-nana and papa

Sorry for the delay in this post, but, you know, things can get very busy down here 🙂

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Here are a few shots of the interior of Uaymarima (aka Casa Gabriela)… the front hallway and the staircase leading up to the bedrooms.

Some of the fine artwork throughout the house, with a glimpse into the main living room below.

The ceiling at the top of the stairs is filled with coloured skylights giving the whole area a beautiful feel. The view is toward the back (i.e. away from the beach) of the house with the 3rd guest room at the end of the hall.

This is our master bedroom, which has…

… sliding doors out onto the balcony overlooking the pool and the beach.

This is the 1st guest room which also has access to the balcony.

The 2nd guest room with nice sliders on both sides to allow cooling breezes to blow through.

There’s a rather interesting staircase leading up to the roof, but there’s nothing to see up there except the mechanicals.

The view down the hall way to the front bedrooms. The TV comes with SKY service (mostly in Spanish) but does have the NFL Channel so we should get the Super Bowl on Sunday (go SF!). I’ve set up a small table by the little window to hold my laptop as we can get internet signal from there.

Here’s the more formal living area; dining room and …

… living room.

The dining room with a glimpse into the kitchen.

The fully functional kitchen with a great gas stove… wishing you were here to cook, Bill!!!

And the infamous refrigerator… they say it’s the salt air that does a number on things, but it looks like it was salvaged from a dumpster! George thinks it has leprosy!!!

That’s all for Blog post 3… Val & George arrived Tuesday night on time. Will show you pics of that in the next post!

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Cheers from Uaymitun!

Wednesday morning, we repacked the few things we had taken out of our bags and then had “Hot Cakes” at the Cafe Club across the street from the Luz en Yucatan. After saying farewell to Tom, as we’re coming back to the Luz again, we caught a cab out to the airport to pick up our car… felt bad as the tiny and elderly Mayan cabbie struggled to put our luggage into his little car!

Hopping onto the Periferico (ring highway around Merida), it wasn’t long before we were cresting the last knoll and jittering across the rows of topes (used for speed bumps… you have to see them to believe them) into Progreso.

We met up with Marisa who was our friendly ‘greeter’ from Progreso Vacation Rentals at the Pemex gas station. She and her erstwhile companion (we thought bodyguard 🙂 ) then drove us out to Km 17 to the beach community known as Uaymitun…

… and into our beach house called Uaymarima (aka Casa Gabriela on PVR website).

The short drive through the courtyard led us to our new home for the next 2 months!

What a welcoming entrance with a little view through the side pathway to the Gulf!

This the view of Uaymarima from the beach. Our bedroom is on the balcony to the left…

… where we are greeted with these views each morning!

The outdoor space is fabulous with lots of sun and shade spots for resting and enjoying a good book and a cold beverage!

So, today is Sunday. We’ve been here 3 days already. It still really hasn’t totally sunk in that we are HERE!

Today is the first day that we’ve been settled enough to take the time to sit by the pool and relax. The weather has been warm (flip flops every day) but a bit windy. We have neighbours from Comox, BC to our left and from North Hadley, PQ to our right. We met up with Dave and Diane Barnhardt from Sarnia who are about 1 Km closer into town the other day and had a nice visit. We’ll likely walk down there in the next day or so.

We also met a gentleman, Charles Doering, who’s been coming down here for 16+ years so he’s a fount of knowledge. Small world… he was a radio announcer for CHOK in Sarnia back in the 50’s and his ancestors came from Germany and settled in a little place now known as Wellesley, ON where Kerry, Bryan, Jack and Ben live!

We’ve been getting reacquainted with the Bodega Aurrera in Progreso (think mini-Walmart) and had dinner at the Casa del Faro restaurant in Chixculub where Ron, the BBQ guy from the Bamboo Beach Club, has opened up right on the beach beside the pier.

Special note for Bill(y) … we made Achiote pork chops and rice for dinner last night. Just wait for my next blog which will show you the inside of the house and you’ll drool over the stove!

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Signing off for today… only 2 more sleeps and Val and George arrive!