Flora and Fauna of the Yucatán!

I've spent a lot of time getting up close to the flora and fauna of the Yucatán lately -- mostly mosquitos. I don't think I've ever had more mosquito bites in my life. I'm not apprehensive at all about smearing toxic repellent all over my body anymore. Anyway, the bottle says that substantial blindness caused by repellent in the eyes is only temporary, so I'm good.

I'm primarily an expert on mosquitos these days, but I've had some opportunities to see some pretty cool animals lately as well. Check out the flamingos!


I saw the flamingos in Río Lagartos, a small fishing village a few hours from Cancún. The flamingo tour was definitely cool, but the town was nearly empty so I took off the next day for Isla Holbox. Holbox is a little paradise, as long as you can manage the mosquitos. I saw an amazing sunset the first night I arrived, then joined a few others for a midnight swim to experience the magical phosphorescent plankton. So cool! Someone who had done more research than I can probably explain, but my understanding is that the millions of little plankton reflect moonlight when they get stirred up. I felt like a ribbon dancer (and a giddy six-year-old) making waves in the ocean and watching sparkly light follow, or standing up to watch glitter roll down my body.

Ha. Just kidding! Someone else says it's bioluminescence, or some other equally long word, and is some kind of plankton defense mechanism. I really have no idea... it's just night time sea sparkles to me.

The wildlife tour of the Yucatán continues tomorrow with my whale shark tour! So excited to swim with fish the size of a bus.

Back in the states on Thursday!