Bacalar

Our guide Andreas, day tour Bacalar
Bacalar is a fresh water lagoon just north of Chetumal.  The waters colors range from emerald to turquoise. It is formed by 4 cenote and it is a special biosphere because the bottom of the lake is basically a desert.  No grasses or weeds apparent because the water is so high in mineral salts (but it is not very salty).  It has one passage called Pirates pass that leads to the Carribean.  Pirates would come to hide out here or later to cut the wood from its shores. Now it is a playground for the tourists that don't like the sea or sargasso grasses that clog up the beaches in the late spring on the Carribean side.  Sailing is a common sport here but there was no wind on the day we went.  Storks and spoonbills nest here on the mangrove islands.

The emerald cenote, Esmerelda.
Here are some views of our place just north of Bacalar.  Our taxi driver didn't want to take us all the way to the villa because the road was so bad so he dropped us off short and we have to roll our bags over a potted dirt road to this place.  It was worth the trouble.  Very calm and birds everywhere.

The afternoon winds are steady from 6 to 9:30 at night and I haven't been stung by a mosquito yet.  This is the end of the dry season and maybe that is why but I have heard that there are some mean mosquitos in the jungles around here.  Ciqule (the tree that gives us chewing gum and from where the brand name chiclets comes from) workers that score trees for sap were often stung by a special mosquito that will eat your skin,(leishman something).  None here so far. Some would end up without an ear because of one bite of this insect.

 

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