442: Viva Mexico 2019 - Mérida day trips

We did two trips from Mérida. One to Uxmal and one to Celestún. Uxmal is one of the world heritage sites and some parts are very well restored, also we could climb things :)

Uxmal.

NIce details restored.

It was big!

Climbing stairs again.

View from the top.

Palace.

After the ruins, we were ready for a cooldown. The best husband had done some research and took us offroad, a couple of miles through the jungle to end up in front of a gate to pay some 50 pesos per person to jump into a hole ;)

Relatively smooth sac-be. I realize that this picture does not give the road any credit bc it was rough at times...

The walk down the hole.

Cenote :) - clear water and soooooo refreshing

Our second day-trip brought us to Celestún. The place is famous for its flamingos and besides that, there isn't much. There is a large place to rent a boat right at the entrance of Celestún claiming they do eco-tours to see the flamingos - we did not go with them but instead parked the car near the city center and beach, walked down to the beach and we hired a local to ship us to see the flamingos. I would never walk to the beach anywhere to pay some guy - in advance - 2000 pesos or in fact anything, to take me somewhere. But the best husband had done some research on the internet - so it must be safe ;). And, in fact, it was. The guide was knowledgeable and if our Spanish would have been better we would have learned more. - So learning more Spanish ended on our check-list. And trusting the flow and just go with your gut works out :)
As for the eco-tours, they have the same boats than the guys at the beach and do the same tour - so we are not sure what the eco stands for. The fuel is the same they put in the boats :/ But they do have a counter where you can pay and probably get a receipt.

Anyhow, we saw flamingos!!! They are awesome!!! The tour also included a short ride through a natural mangrove channel and a short swim in a cenote.