Una mas noche… again!
We woke up today without a plan. After chatting to friends on Skype for most of the morning (we are well practiced at procrastination when it comes to decision making) we decided to stay one more night in our hotel and drive up to Rio Lagartos.
Rio Lagartos is famous for flamingos. The region has one of the highest concentrations of flamingos in the world. Many head to the region for bird watching tours on the river. We weren't quite sure what we were going to do when we got there, as the bird watching tour prices quoted in the LP were prohibitively expensive and would put us over budget for the day, but we thought we'd still head there and check it out.
As we entered the town we were greeted by a boat captain who outlined the tours available on the waterfront. We quickly learned that the town was pretty quiet and we guessed it was probably off season, as the boat captain almost chased our car down to the riverfront to offer his services. After talking it through in jilted Spanish, we realized he was offering a private tour for the two of us for half the price quoted in the LP. We decided to take him up on the offer.
It was definitely worth it. Though we were there late in the day (more lunch time than early morning when its best to spot the birds) we were still able to see crocodiles, pelicans, white herons, blue herons, hawks and of course, flamingos. We also stopped at the salt lake for a swim, which was a rather strange experience. The water was so salty it was difficult not to float. Most of the body bobbed above the surface and we spent most of our swim giggling away at the hilarity of it all.
The trip back was a little too eventful for our liking. About half an hour away from Valladolid we blew a tire. We'd been told not to drive at night in Mexico, particularly on rural roads, as car jackings are not uncommon. We found ourselves parked on the side of the road at dusk, just outside a rural town on carnival day, trying to work out how to change the tire on an unfamiliar car. It was taking a while to work out how to get the nut covers off, the spare tire off the back of the car and to find the jacking plate. Meanwhile it got darker and darker. We were parked right near a speed bump and as each car slowed down my heart beat a little faster, the imagination working overtime, expecting the car jacking to take place! "At least they'd have difficulty driving it away. They'd have to change the tire first before they took it!", was my only comforting thought. And then a car stopped. A man got out and asked us in perfect English if we needed any help. Our helpful local was a taxi driver from Playa del Carmen, used to driving gringos around town. He'd come to town to play baseball, but the match had been cancelled because too many people were drunk (it was carnival day). He saw us on the side of the road and said he was worried. His words were something along the lines of, "there's going to be a lot of drunk people coming through here later and I just wanted to make sure you are safely on the road before they arrive". So, after we worked out how to get the nut covers off, he pretty much changed the tire for us. To the friendliest Mexican we have met on our travels - THANKYOU! We made it safely back to Valladolid.