20 Feb. 2009 Bus departed Mérida at 7:00 a.m. Reserva de la Biosfera Ría Celestún is a wildlife sanctuary west of Mérida. It is a brackish estuary where much of the water is only knee-deep over sandbars. Mangroves line the shore. We saw roseate spoonbills, pelicans, egrets, herons, terns, cormorants, coots, storks, and FLAMINGOS on our two-hour boat tour. The horizon line was PINK 
Bus departed 7:00 a.m.
It was a three-hour drive to the crowded most-famous Mayan site, Chichén Itzá (Mouth of the Well of the Itzáes) (Everyone wanted to check off seeing one of the new Seven Wonders of the World). We passed into the state of Yucatán on the way there.
We arrived at 10 a.m. and it was already 95 degrees. Our tour guide was Abel, a young man with a gift of persuasion and a trusty backpack binder. He contrasted “urban legends” of bloody sacrifice with compelling alternate views. We walked around the pyramids trying to imagine the history of this powerful city.
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