Day 6: Cozumel

December 18, 2023

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We woke up at 5 a.m. and left at 5:45 a.m. with the idea of getting to El Cedral just as any birds might be waking up. It was of course totally dark, since the sunrise is not until 7:15, with usable light coming about 1/2 hour before that. The town, however, has very effective street lighting, and our bikes are well lit as well.

Before we could ever get on the street, however, we needed to get out of our hotel compound. We find that the poorer a country is the more the concern with security against robbery and the less the concern with personal safety. So in this case were were facing up to three locked gates between us and the street. In case of fire - it's game over! But at least we had been provided with some keys, so with presence of mind and time to sort them out, we freed ourselves.

Well lit streets, and good bike lights make an early start feasible.

We passed by the central town square, where Christmas lighting was elaborate and cheery.

Lighted tunnels are common in town squares at Christmas.

We headed down the inland side of the island, through the hotel zone, which is used by the tourists, and where the cruise ships park offshore.

We have been thinking how great our hotel is, what with all the outlets and the little fridge, but as we cycled we could peek into the lobbies of the "real" hotels, with the expansive space and marble floors. While we have stayed in such places, we feel more comfortable in the kind of place we have now. We just lack class, I guess.

We now entered into what has to be (for us) one of the greatest selling points of Cozumel. There is a wide bike lane all the way around the island. What's more, for 3/4 of the distance, the "lane" is a full width road, parallel to the car road. Not only can you ride right up the middle of this, but the cars are on the inland side, and the cyclists get the beach views!

Later, signage is even more explicit!

Beyond the hotels, there are some beach bars, and even one beach chapel.

For the entire ride, one is beside the sea, with the views of different types of beaches, and with varying water colour.

The road all around the island is in good condition. Here it runs through moderately tall jungle. Further on, it's mangrove, and finally palmetto and shrub land.

We reached the turnoff for El Cedral, the town we had read about as being a good birding spot. Beyond that, we had no idea where around the town to go, so we just pedaled in and pedaled out. So it was not a case of 10 new flashy finds for us, but we did come up with something!:

We saw dozens of Tropical Mockingbirds throughout the day.

See the green Hummingbird - we shot another one much better down the road. It's a Cozumel Emerald.

At the centre of town is a statue commemorating a couple who survived a Caste War massacre here, around 1847, and went on to rebuild the town.

We cycled around El Cedral, and found it very well tended and landscaped, with beautiful flowers all around.

We were leaving El Cedral when we scored our great find - the green Hummingbird whose picture we later found at the South Point eco reserve, naming it a Cozumel Emerald.

Here are some more scenes form around El Cedral:

Back on the circle road, you can see how the bike road is separate from the car road.

Pedaling slowly down the middle of the bike road, we listened to a bird call. Dismounting from the bikes, we walked along trying to spot the singer. And we found him. Again, we are thinking its a social flycatcher, but will be interested in other opinions. (Further research several weeks later seems to call this bird a House Wren).

Another area where we thought we could spot some birds was eco beach park at the South Point of the island. There are some large lagoons there that looked like good candidates. Any other time we have been here, we saw lots of dune buggies heading for the area, and we assumed it was just a drag strip type wreck. But when we arrived, we looked at the map (which is actually distorted and cartoon-like) and thought it could be nice. Only thing, there was a 360 pesos each entrance fee. I said no way, but Dodie still thought it could be good, so in we went! (She turned out to be right, of course).

Seemingly the instant we turned the corner and entered the park, the land changed dramatically. Suddenly there was low brush and other plants we had not seen before. And there was an intense scent like honey.

Saw palmetto and other low plants by South Point

Although we were primarily on the lookout for birds, there was also this butterfly:

Right at the Point there is this lighthouse, now being used as a museum of navigation. It contained loads of information about navies, pirates, lighthouse designs, and much more. Sadly, we only ran through it.

First up for us as we neared the Point was an observation tower. Often warning signs about wildlife refer to things that used to be there, or that are super rare. They are anyway fun to photograph. But guess what, these signs are real, as we will show soon with some photos.

Near the tower, a large termite nest. Although it looks like hard mud, it is actually papery.

15 A Magnificent Frigate Bird over flys the area.

16 From the tower, at quite a distance, a Roseate Spoonbill!

See the water coloured by the mangroves.

Also using the top of the tower for observation were these two Black vultures. Later we got buzzed by one of the red headed variety, but the camera could not come out fast enough.

18 Also by the tower, a Black Necked Stilt.

We set off toward the light house, but first encountered what may have been a sort of Mayan lookout station, shrine, or lighthouse. The adjacent sign was not sure. but the structure is dated 1200-1500 a.d.

Also on the way to the lighthouse, an endangered Cozumel raccoon, which is endemic on this island.

It turned out that a boat cruise on the lagoon was included with our admission. All we had to do was to cycle down a 6 km dirt road to the dock. So, we were on it.

But hey, watch out, what is that coming?

The crocs may be a bit crabby, because the weather here has been so "cold".

This was just by the dock, so no swimming, eh.

On the boat we had the guide "Jorge". He passed along a lot of information, including about the crocs' nesting and mating habits. As we have seen before, he was a proud Mayan and tried to teach the Mayan words for some of the stuff. He also mentioned that Mayans can not grow beards, and he seemed to say their hair does not turn grey. He said he found this a bug, because without grey hair he can not get respect on the street.

20 A very big White Ibis. Jorge said it was being foolish for hanging out, because of the two crocs just nearby.

How about these Brown Pelicans flying by.

21 One of the best bird "scores" of the day, at a great distance, was this Osprey on its nest. The guide had called it an Eagle, but no, Scott has correctly identified it.

In the Lighthouse there were several portraits of birds of the area. And yes, there was our Hummingbird.

There were a lot of Jeeps here, and also these cut away VWs.

In addition to the racoons, there are Coatimundi here. Our stealthy bikes encountered this one on the road out.

Also by the road, another Great Egret looks on.

22 And with the black beak, we take this to be a Little Egret (Snowy Egret).

Now on the long stretch back up island on the inland side, Dodie spotted this Brown Pelican.

23 I tried to stir this Brown Pelican to action, but he never moved an inch.

I thought I could use a shot like this for a computer wallpaper, but the composition is not great.

24 There were lots of these Least Sandpipers on the beach. They run quickly up and down.

It seemed to take forever to reach the left turn for going back across the island to the town of San Miguel. After our long quiet day, the increasing traffic hustle was unwelcome, as we got closer. Finally there seemed to be cars and scooters rocketing everywhere. Dodie crossed one street (most have no lights or stop signs) and as I made to follow a large pickup came blasting out of nowhere. I hit the brakes hard and stopped fast. It made me think how the cheap rim brake parts had just probably saved my life. I'm glad I had them well adjusted. I was either so tired or so calm from the long day by the beach, that my heart did not even bother raising its tempo on this incident.

Today's ride of over 90 km was a bit much, but we were eager to see everything, and also to complete the circuit. Now tomorrow we have to wake up equally early, to catch the ferry back to the mainland and then ride busy 307 way down to Tulum. This restful vacationing sure is fun!

Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 174 km (108 miles)

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Angela NaefAmazing wildlife, great photos, really enjoying following along. Thanks!
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4 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Angela NaefSo glad you are along for the ride.
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4 months ago

Janice BranhamA stellar bird day. Great pictures!
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4 months ago