Campeche

November 19, 2021 to November 21, 2021

November 19th , 2021

Getting away this morning was even more difficult than yesterday. Not only because we really liked the little village of Seybaplaya but also because with the tide out there were a whole lot of waders to keep us occupied. The three smallest waders we would expect to see on the gulf coast of Central America (Least, Western ans Semipalpated Sandpipers) are known as "peeps" and are notoriously difficult to tell apart when in their non-breeding plumage. We have no experience of any of them but we may have spotted at least two of them today. The majority of the photographs I took were of poor quality making ID difficult so we are going to have to try again. I had inadvertently bumped the image stabilizing switch on my lens to the off position and only noticed it just before we left the village. I had also forgotten to charge the camera's battery so it eventually died on me later in the morning. We will probably be heading to a number of the Yucatan Peninsular birding hotspots over the next few weeks which should give us a few more opportunities.

Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), first lifer for the day.

Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus)

Tricoloured Heron (Egretta tricolor) hiding in a boat (second lifer for the day).

After that we had three headlands to climb over on our way to Campeche.

After the first headland we cycled along this pretty little bay. It was the last we saw of the sea until we got to Lerma.

Campeche is preceded by another fishing town called Lerma and here we came upon a small flock of Frigatebirds. I had just enough time to fire off a few shots before the camera's battery died.

A young female Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)

Entering Campeche from Lerma was quite a shock to the system. First of there was a dramatic statue that had us scratching out heads as to what it was all about.

Leigh ponders the statue - is that a flower, a flaming torch or an old handkerchief that he is holding up ?

After that the road into the south-western side of the city that hugs the coast first gave us a few kilometers of quite expensive looking mansions and then a very modern beachfront boulevard. Leigh commented that it felt as if we were riding along the Durban beachfront. All this seems so different to the rural Mexico through which we have been traveling lately.

We are staying in the old city for the next three nights at the Hotel El Navegante. The old city is quite different from the modern area just a few blocks away. Not much of the city wall is still standing but our first impressions of the old city are very positive. More on that later.

November 21st , 2021

We have spent the last two days relaxing and working in Campeche. It's a city of many parts and though we haven't ventured further than five kilometers from our digs it has been interesting to see the gulf between the ultra modern parts and the areas that seem stuck in the past. The pictures below are from the areas in and around the Old City.

On Saturday morning there was a parade to celebrate ... well, we never ever found out what but it might have been for the folk who have worked so hard during the pandemic

All the streets are one way, narrow and cobbled so traffic has to travel slowly.

The very touristy Calle 59, a pedestrian street with many restaurants.

Just outside the Old City is the modern beachfront.

There are a number of statues like this placed around the Old City.

Tomorrow we head for Tenabo, on our way to Uxmal.

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 2,450 km (1,521 miles)

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