‘Quaint former fishing village’ and ‘picturesque little beach town’ are lines often used to describe many of the smaller beach destinations along the coast of the Yucatan, but will never be used when talking about Celestun. This ramshackle gritty village, located on the Gulf of Mexico just an hour and a half drive (less if you drive like a Mexican hell-bent on getting to the beach for the weekend) west of Merida is as unpretentious as they come. It doesn’t have any hip vegan cafes, boutique hotels or a craft brewery. It does have a long stretch of white sand fronting the beautiful blue water of the Gulf and it also has flamingoes. During the season, which we visited during the tail end of, thousands of American flamingoes make their winter home in the estuary of the Ria Celestun Biosphere Reserve, just at the edge of town. This is what brought us here for a couple of days.

Being close to Merida, the largest city on the Yucatan, means Celestun is packed with beachgoers on most weekends. We happened to pick the busiest of all weekends, Easter, to visit. To beat the crowds, we elected to make an early start to our flamingo-spotting tour. We drove out to the edge of town just after 8 am and arrived at the official tour office and dock – before the office had even opened. Fortunately a few boatmen were around and we were able to strike a deal directly with one and were quickly on our way. The only other activity on the water that early were a handful of local crab fishermen who had already strung their nets along the mangrove-lined shore or dropped their traps into the river (blue crabs are the catch here – we sampled their meat packed into crispy empanadas at a seafood restaurant on the beach the previous evening). We motored about ten minutes downriver before we caught sight of a pink line on the water. Then we were amongst them – hundreds of flamingoes in various flocks, stalking the shallows, honking and hooting while feeding on the shrimp larvae that produces the pink coloring of their feathers. With the engine off we drifted silently past as the birds stuck their long necks into the water to feed, strolled through the river on their spindly legs and occasionally took flight by first running on the waters surface before getting airborne. When we had our fill of pink birds, we motored over to a small islet to see dozens of roosting cormorants, frigates and albatross. Our last stop would be to a small freshwater spring which bubbled to the surface to create a crystal-clear pool amongst the mangroves. Back on land, we explored a bit more of the Biosphere Reserve by car, driving dirt paths through mangrove swamps that led us to salt ponds holding mineral-laden waters with orange and pink hues.

Prior to our visit to Celestun, we drove from Campeche inland to see the Mayan ruins at Uxmal. Situated along the Ruta Puuc, which contains several other Mayan sites, Uxmal is one of the only archeological sites still open to visitors in this area (the others have mostly closed during the last year – COVID casualties). Most visitors come to Uxmal on a day trip from Merida or Campeche, but we couldn’t resist the chance to stay at the Hotel Uxmal Maya Resort, which was located within walking distance to the ruins, had a large swimming pool (perfect for cooling off after a day in 90 degree heat) and rooms that looked out over the surrounding jungle with views of the tallest structures of the archeological site. We made our visit in the morning and were able to beat the day-tripper crowds, who were just arriving as we left around mid-day. Uxmal’s most impressive structure, the Pyramid of the Magician, greets you immediately upon entering. Behind it lies a quadrangle of temples surrounding an expansive courtyard, the stone facades decorated with highly elaborate carvings of human faces, animals and other objects. Uxmal also features a fairly intact ball court, where a crude game of Mayan basketball was played in front of spectators, who got the added benefit of occasionally seeing the losing team suffer the indignity of having to buy the winners beer before being sacrificed. Okay . . . I’m joking about the beer part.

After our visits to Uxmal and Celestun, we made our way to Merida for a few days in the big city. Merida is one of those places that rubbed us the wrong way at first. The central plaza, while architecturally attractive, was crawling with numerous vendors offering the same stuff, so you couldn’t sit for a minute without being offered yet more shirts, necklaces and handbags. We found the recommended restaurant offering traditional Yucatecan cuisine to be overrated and disappointing. We had an underwhelming breakfast at our hotel. And it was hot – really hot (93). We were dispirited thinking we had another whole day to spend in town and we weren’t looking forward to it. But then something magical happened. Merida revealed its charms to us. We skipped the hotel breakfast and sought out a bakery cafe in the neighborhood where we enjoyed fresh flaky croissants followed by a quiche and fresh fruits with yogurt and granola. We strolled along the wide sidewalks of the Paseo de Montejo, admiring the beautiful architecture of the mansions that once were homes to Merida’s elite, now housing banks, museums, offices and cafes. In the evening we dined at Apoala, which is situated on a small plaza, where we feasted on Oaxacan-inspired dishes like shrimp ceviche with grilled avocado and roasted pumpkin; a fresh salad of greens, fava beans, green beans, toasted corn and tomato; and shredded roast suckling pig piled on housemade tortillas with Oaxacan cheese, cilantro, pickled onion and chicharrones. We lingered over craft cocktails and Spanish wine before strolling to the main plaza and ended the evening at the outdoor bar of an old classic hotel tucked into a small plaza, chatting with a new friend. Merida had won us over.

Another week of our Yucatan road trip is in the books. Next, we’ll head inland from Merida to visit a very unique small town, another Biosphere Reserve on the northern coast (yep, more flamingoes) and one more small city before ending our trip at a couple of our favorite beach towns.