Feb 9-10

We have spent the last two days exploring the Si'an Kaan Biosphere. Yesterday, we enjoyed the large surf with some boogie boards for a couple of hours. We also went to Vistors Centre and toured their small museum. The kids loved the concrete animal park, which involved a flamingo, ant eater and jaguar sharing a small space. There were also models of two manatees, which was great as the kids knew what they were when we saw some today. At the visitors centre and here, we also went and looked at the laguna, which at this point in the biosphere is the major ecosystem.It is a series of lakes with mangrove islands. From the two docks, you could see multitudes of big and small fish in the turquoise water. We also took a drive to the Boca Paila bridge, which marks the point when the road goes from bad to worse.There were a few people fishingoff the bridge, some on the old wooden structure and some on the new (crumbling) structure. We even spotted a crocodile in the water below, which made me slightly nervous about the bridge and its missing guardrails!
Today we started off with a great swim, although the surf just keeps getting bigger which is fun for adults, but slightly crazy for kids. We then returned to the visitors centre (5 km or 30 minutes the first day - it is a very bumpy road) where we met our guide from the local Mayan tourism cooperatuve for a tour on the laguna by boat. We had a fascinating tour. We started out exploring the mangroves and saw many fish and stingrays on the bottom. We passed under the Boca Paila bridge and went to the sea to see how one element enters the brackish laguna environment. Then we visited mangrove islands and rose spoon bills and opreys and numerous other birds. We went to see an underwater cenote which looked very cool and this is how freshwater enters the lagoon environment. It was a 10 m dark blue hole surrounded by the teal coloured laguna. Pastor our guide also showed us a Mayan ruin, that was an place to make offerings when Maya people were travelling to trade between Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. There are at least 25 through the laguna system. It is amazing to think that these structures may have lasted as long as 1000 years in the face of hurricanes, the laguna environment, etc.. Then we travelled over to another cenote and were blessed to see numerous manatees. I had always wanted to see manatees and wasn't sure that I would ever have a chance to in the wild.We also saw a crocodile! (but not near the manatees)
Speaking of things that go bump in the night, I should also report that the kids found two dead scorpions. They reported these findings to the guides, one of whom impressed them by picking up the scorpion, talking about it and then tossing it to a bird.
I am typing in our dark tent by latern. Heather is winding our wind up flashlight. I have enjoyed being by the sea but the lack of electricity and the ensuent moisture level in our tent has resulted in everything being damp for days, including humans. Can't beat the sunrises though. The food has also been awesome and the kids were obviously sick of us feeding them the same old thing and have eaten with gusto.
On to Merida tomorrow....