08 March 2026

Flamingos of Celestún – lagoon of spirits in Yucatán

Hola! Buenos Dias Amigos,

I hope you have missed the Bamboo Stories.
A lot has happened in the past few months and I had to focus on my health. Everything is fine now and I can resume weaving the stories...

And now, sit back comfortably and imagine the sunrise over the Yucatán Peninsula.

Here, mornings have a special flavor. The air is heavy with salt from the Gulf of Mexico, it smells of damp earth, and the first light of day slowly awakens the lagoons hidden among the mangroves, gradually changing the color of the earth to that of heated copper.

Today I am taking you on a journey to a place that transforms in winter into one of the most extraordinary spectacles of nature in Mexico.

This time my journey – as always in the footsteps of the bamboo forests of the world and the history written in the landscape – led me to a completely different place.

To Celestún, where thousands of flamingos gather in winter, and the mangrove forests hide more secrets than many jungles.

This small fishing village is located about ninety kilometers west of Mérida and it is here, at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, that there is a vast lagoon where flamingos winter every year.

The journey from Mérida – through the land of salt and wind

I start my journey before dawn in Mérida. The city is just waking up, and the streets are almost empty.

It’s only about 90 kilometers, so the drive doesn’t take too long. The road leads through the flat landscape of the Yucatán – villages with pastel-colored houses, old plantations, and salty plains that look like dried lakes in the morning light.

You can reach Celestún in several ways. The easiest is to rent a car – then the trip takes about an hour and a half and costs around 150 PLN. You can also take a bus from Mérida or join an organized tour. In this case, it will take over 2.5 hours.

But the most important thing is this – to arrive here as early as possible.

Because it is in the morning that the lagoon shows its true face and the flamingos are most active.

Fishermen's dock and motorboats

Celestún is a small fishing town where time flows slower than anywhere else in the Yucatán. At the entrance to the town, just by the bridge over the lagoon, there is a dock from which motorboats depart to the biosphere reserve.

The boats usually accommodate 6–8 people, and the trip lasts from two to three hours. The simplest version of the tour costs around 350–400 pesos per person, if sharing the boat with other tourists, while a private trip can cost around 1200–1500 pesos for the entire boat.

The captain of my small skiff started the engine and in a moment we were gliding over the calm waters of the estuary.

And then the real adventure begins.

The flamingo lagoon

At first, we saw them from afar. A delicate pink streak appeared on the horizon.

As we approached closer, it turned out that it wasn’t a streak…

It was thousands of flamingos standing in the shallow waters of the lagoon.

Celestún is one of the largest flamingo colonies in America. In winter, even tens of thousands of birds, which feed on small crustaceans from the lagoon – it is these that give their feathers the intense salmon color.

As the boat approached the shallow part of the lagoon, I saw whole flocks of birds wading in the water.

The flamingos moved slowly, almost ceremonially. They dipped their beaks into the water, and then lifted their heads as if whispering to each other. Sometimes suddenly one of them spread its wings and suddenly an intense flash of pink and black appeared in the air.

The captain turned off the engine.

For a moment there was silence…

From now on, all that could be heard was the sound of the wind and the soft splashes of water.

The flamingos looked like living flames reflected on the surface of the lagoon.

And again, only the splash of water and the rustle of wings.

Why flamingos are pink

This is one of the curiosities that always fascinates travelers.

The color of flamingos is not accidental. The birds feed on small crustaceans and algae living in the waters of the lagoon. It is the pigment contained in these organisms that gives the feathers their characteristic pink color.

The more such crustaceans in their diet – the more intense the shade.

When I asked local fishermen about the crustaceans, he, with a mysterious smile on his face, told an old Mayan legend.

The legend of the sunset birds

According to it, flamingos are the guardians of the sunset.

Long ago – the legend goes – the Gods sent birds to the Earth that were to guard the gate between the world of humans and the sea. Every evening they take with them the last rays of the sun, and that is why their feathers are the color of a burning sky.

When thousands of flamingos take off simultaneously, it truly feels like a fragment of the sunset is rising above the lagoon, and it’s easy to believe this tale.

Into the depths of the mangrove maze

After meeting the flamingos, the boat turned into a narrow channel.

We were surrounded on all sides by mangroves– trees with tangled roots that look like they are walking on water. Their branches formed a green tunnel above us.

The channel is getting narrower.

Light filters through the green leaves, and the air becomes cooler.
At this place, the reserve truly begins to show its other face.

Mangrove forests are home to many animals.

You can see herons, ibises, pelicans, and cormorants here. Under the tree roots, colonies of bats often sleep.

And sometimes – if you are lucky – you can spot a crocodile basking in the shade.

This entire ecosystem is incredibly rich – dozens of species of birds and other animals associated with the aquatic world of mangroves live in the reserve.

A freshwater spring in the middle of a salty forest

The most extraordinary place of the cruise is a small lagoon hidden among the trees.

Here, the water suddenly changes color – from the murky green of the lagoon to a clear turquoise. It’s a natural freshwater spring, which flows from underground right in the middle of the mangrove forest.

The captain explained that the water comes from the underground rivers of the Yucatan – the same system of cenotes that has been a sacred place for the Maya for millennia.

In the place where sweet water mixes with salty, an extraordinary ecosystem full of fish and birds emerges.

The Maya believed that such places are portals to the spirit world. Some say that they have seen the aluxes – small spirits, guardians of the forests and cenotes living there. If someone disturbs the peace of the mangroves, they can make boats lose their way among the channels.

This can happen even to the most experienced fishermen.

Return through the lagoon

As we returned to the dock, the sun was already high. The water sparkled like a mirror.

The lagoon shimmered with silver light, and the flamingos slowly moved towards the shallower waters.

Celestún is not spectacular in the classical sense. There are no high mountains or jungles here.

But there is something else.

The tranquility of the lagoon. Thousands of pink birds. And the mangrove forests that have hidden their stories for centuries.

And when you drift back towards Mérida, you feel that somewhere between the roots of the trees and the shadow of the water, the ancient spirits of this place are still watching.

Maybe that’s why flamingos return here every year?
Because some places in the world simply remember more than others.

As if the ancient world of the Maya still existed here.
Hidden in the shadow of the mangrove forest...