A Flamingo Boat-trip
in Celestún Estuary

Host: Feliciano Pech When: all year, except during bad weather; greater number of flamingos during winter. Length of tour: Three hours Group size: Minimum 2, maximum 4 guests Fee charged: US $50 per person, which includes the cost of the boat, Feliciano's fee, snacks and drinks (or a picnic breakfast if the party leaves very early in the morning) Tour Description: Visitors just arriving at Celestún are assailed by men with motorboats offering trips to see the flamingos. Though officials try to keep the men from approaching so close to the beautiful birds that they fly away, often the temptation to do so is too great. The boatmen know that the better pictures their clients take, the higher any tip may be. Therefore, EarthFoot is a little wary of offering any flamingo-seeing tours at all. However, we believe that if local environmental groups and the government itself is monitoring the situation, and supporting the efforts of local people who make their livings from flamingo viewing -- and we have seen that this is the case with our own eyes -- EarthFoot should support the efforts as well. Nonetheless, anyone wanting to view Celestún's overwintering flamingos should hire a boatman who has been trained properly, and who is known as a responsible and knowledgeable individual. EarthFoot is confident that with Feliciano Pech, who speaks English, we have found someone we can work with. Feliciano will take the visitor by boat into Celestún Estuary to visit the main feeding area of the American Flamingo. There may be as many as 18,000 birds to be seen at one time, creating an incredibly brilliant sea of pink. Other interesting species of bird will also be seen, such as Anhingas, Ospreys, Cormorants and Frigate birds. The trip begins traveling along the coast, paying special attention to sand dune vegetation. Then a place called The Petrified Forest is visited, near the entrance of the estuary. Then we continue into the lagoon, where we have plenty of chances to see pelicans, egrets, ospreys, cormorants, etc. The rest of the trip is to find the flamingos, passing though the famous "mangrove tunnel," and we end up at the freshwater spring named Baldiosera. This three-hour trip by boat covers about 70% of Celestún's estuary. The flamingo is one of the most graceful and spectacular birds, but also one that depends on a fragile ecosystem -- hypersaline lagoons -- for survival. The Northern Hemisphere´s only mainland flamingo population lives along the north and west coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The flamingo feeds and nest in flocks of several thousands birds, huddled together in knee-deep water or wading along muddy salt flats. It feeds on small organisms that it filters from the water through a complex mechanism in its large, specially adapted bill. If flamingos are forced to fly too often, they will not be able to feed enough and may weaken and die. If disturbed while nesting, they frequently abandon their nests or even entire colonies. Your boat trip will take you through one of the most productive ecosystems on earth: the mangrove forest. Feliciano will show you the swamp's unique freshwater springs. The Yucatan Peninsula´s mangrove forests are more extensive than those found in Florida´s Everglades and are much less explored. APPENDIX Appendix 1: Notes on Celestún Biosphere Reserve