尤卡坦半岛没有地上河，湖泊也非常少，但是半岛上广泛分布的地下水为玛雅人提供了充足的饮用水资源。玛雅人主要通过天然井（cenote）来获取地下水，其中最著名的莫过于奇琴伊察的天然井。不过，天然井并不一定形成露天的湖泊，很多藏在地下的岩洞里。有些主题公园还提供旅游项目，带领游人到地下的河流或是湖泊中漫步或游泳。

After we decided not to see Chichén Itzá in the late afternoon, we visited Cenote Dzitnup near Valladolid. Walked down a flight of steep stone steps, this cenote is at the bottom of a cavern. Tree roots grow through rocks and hang above the water. Cenote water is often very clear and flow super slowly. Many people like to swim in the water.

We saved the best for the last and went to see flamingos at Celestún Wildlife Refuge on our last day of the trip. It’s at 60 miles west of Mérida. After we were out of city, the road became 2-lane highway and we could only see jungles along the road. We passed small cities and villages every once a while. Most of the cities share the same colonial style as Valladolid and Mérida. Unlike the bigger cities, many people, especial woman, were in their traditional costume.

It took us almost 2 hours to get to Celestún. Right after passing the bridge over the lagoon, boats were waiting for visitors by the shore. We shared the boat with another Chinese couple. From the bag that the man carried, I knew that both of us came here for the same reason, to photograph birds. Once the boat started moving, we took the camera out of the bag, switched to the long-zoom lens. The sound of ‘click’ never stopped throughout the ride.

The lagoon is 30-mile long but only half-a-mile wide. The water is feed by 80 cenotes underground. It’s very shallow and ideal for flamingos and other waterfowl species. After about 20-minute ride, we got to the north end of the lagoon. The flock contains thousands of flamingos here. Looking from afar, they made a pink line along the horizon. To protect their habitat, boat is not allowed to get too close to the birds. Luckily, it was barely in the reach of my 200mm lens. Other stops after watching flamingos were less interesting, but we could see other birds, such as pelicans and egrets, in much closer distance.