YUCATAN : A Ruinous Day – Tulum and Coba

Day 2 / March 2 – Don’t let the title fool you – ruins are spectacular places to visit! We began our morning with an hour of roadside birding, spending our time productively before the park opened at 8am. The road was buzzing with activity, featuring Groove-billed Ani, Plain Chachalacas, Ridgeway’s Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Yucatan Vaux Swifts, Spot-breasted Wren and a juvenile begging Red-throated Ant-Tanager. Orioles flashed brilliant orange and black from the treetops, enabling us to compare Orchard and the two similar looking Hooded and Orange Orioles. Flocks of Yucatan Jays (above) moved noisily through the trees, with several immatures showing their yellow bills and eyerings. We pondered a very sooty-looking Golden-fronted Woodpecker, realizing it was the Cozumel race, not often found on the mainland.

We drove several hundred meters back to the Tulum ruins (above), where we spent the next 3 hours. Archeologists believe that Mayans occupied this ocean-front location during 1200-1521 AD, where it served as an important port down. During its heyday, stout walls encompassed brightly-colored buildings overlooking sparkling blue waters. Today, the views remain spectacular, though occupied only by Black Iguanas and tourists of all nationalities. Steady groups of people filed down the paths, but we seemed to be the only birders!

We strolled the neat, stone-lined paths, enjoying great sightings of Yucatan Vireos (above) feeding on Gumbo Limbo berries, Gray and Black Catbirds, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Blue Bunting, Red-billed Pigeons, Couch’s Kingbirds, Grayish Saltator and Tropical Mockingbirds. American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia and Yellow Warblers flitted around the trees that dotted the ruins.

Making our way back to the parking lot we stopped to watch a group of Papantla flyers (above) putting on a show for the tourists. Four men dressed in colorful native costumes climbed a tall metal pole and perched on a wooden square at the top. They carefully wound 4 thick ropes around the top, then wrapped the ends around their own bodies. A fifth man ascended and played a lively pipe from the center perch. In a synchronized motion, the men pushed off the top and began to swirl steadily around the pole, dangling upside down and descending with each turn of the rope. They reached the ground about 3 minutes later amid applause and admiration. For a few pesos, Debbie got her photo taken with them!

Back at our hotel, we relaxed on the lovely rooftop terrace with fresh fruit and chilled juice for an hour. Rejuvenated, we embarked upon the second half of our day, driving about 30 minutes west to Coba. The area is known for its large permanent lake, as well as forested Mayan ruin, quite different from Tulum. We pulled over on the way to admire several Dark Kite Swallowtail (above) butterflies puddling in a roadside depression to take in minerals. Coba lake held a Morelet’s Crocodile, as well as Least and Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants. White-collared Seedeaters flitted in the surrounding reeds, while Mangrove Swallows swooped overhead. A grove of lakeside trees hosted many birds, including Yellow-winged Tanager, Scrub and Yellow-throated Euphonia, Clay-colored Thrush, and Social Flycatchers flying out and back over the water hawking insects.

Historically, Coba was settled earlier than Tulum or Chichen Itza, peaking between 800 and 1100 AD. It was among the largest of Mayan cities, once covering 50 sq km, home to 40,000 Maya. Coba’s architecture is a mystery, with it’s towering pyramids resembling those of Tikal, rather than the nearer sites. Some theories say that an alliance between Coba and Tikal was forged to facilitate trade. The ruins are extensive, with an estimated 6500 structures, only a few of which have been excavated. During our visit, we had just enough time to walk through the second-growth woodland forest and see some of the main ruins. Debbie and I climbed ‘Nohoch Mul’ (42 meters) the tallest pyramid (above) in the Northern Yucatan peninsula, where we enjoyed expansive forest views from the top, and aching legs on the way down – those ancient steps were very steep! We hired a tricycle ride to take us back 2km, where we found Bob investigating an ant swarm. Our bird list at Coba included Brown Jays, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Pale-billed Woodpecker and Black-headed Trogon. Driving out, we pulled over for flocks of White-fronted Parrots, screeching as they flew across the road. The sun set in lovely shades of pink and purple as we drove about one-and-a-half hours south to our evening hotel in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a lovely ending to the day.