We met Efrain Perez our Mayan tour guide at the eco canoe touring company in Celestun, just at the tailend of flamingo season. Winding our way through a restored thicket of mangroves in the swampy area of Manglares de Dzintun, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico – you find yourself at the edge between saltwater and freshwater, between land and sea. It is easy to imagine what this area was like before humans, and then later, before the Spanish and Europeans entered – where only Mayans lived here, perhaps making their living at fishing back then too.
Efrain comes from a family of fisherman and he is the 4th generation living in Celestun. A Mayan descendent, he knows almost everything there is to know about the area. Before becoming a tour guide he caught fish and shrimp for his living. Walking through the muddy abyss, he warns that catching shrimp is very hard work, and one must be careful not to damage their feet trudging through the muddy canal floor amongst the mangroves. After teaching us about the 4 types of mangroves growing in Yucatan peninsula (red, black, white & buttonwood), it is apparent Efrain not only knows everything about these spindley trees, but his love and devotion for them is great.
We enter the small white boat with Efrain at the rear, with his long pole made from white mangrove, called a guiding stick that he uses to navigate precisely each curve and bend. Moving into a mysterious otherworld, we float peacefully through the intensely green maze of mangroves and shallow, red canals (stained from the red mangroves).
“The role of this [mangrove] habitat is so important for other ecosystems, all because it prevents the erosion of the land, protects the coasts from the wind and sea, and it purifies the water that ends in the ocean.” (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC UNVEILS THE ‘MANGROVES OF THE MAYA WORLD’ By Fernanda Duque Hernández on Mexiconewsnetwork.com)
In his soft spoken voice, Efrain points out many different birds as we quietly glide past them staring back on their perch. The kingfisher, the Blue Heron, Egret, Osprey, magnificent Frigate, Buff-banded Rail and many more. (More on next post) #celestun #mayan #modernmayan #fisherman #mangroves @ Celestún
