Sian Ka'an, Part 2

by FERENC IVANICS On the eastern shore of the peninsula there's rocky coast as well. If you look closer, many of these rocks are dead corals. Sian Ka'an features the third longest coral reef of the world. Unfortunately we don't have the means to scuba-dive watching the colorful fishies underwater. On the other side of the peninsula there is a series of mixed-water lagoons. The water is crystal clear, so it's another preferred destination for scuba-divers. We managed to walk to Punta Allen in two days. Bu there came the twist: How to get across to Playón, which is nothing but a wooden stage, a small harbor for boats. To our surprise we found a volunteer almost immediately. After crossing the bay (one or two miles) he mentioned that he wouldn't reject a small payment. But we couldn't give him anything, we were broke. Literally. But he did take it well. From this point forward it was 40 miles of forest, totally uninhabited forest. Practically it was a 40 miles long tunnel. We lived on biscuits, milk powder and canned beans. We did have enough food for three days but definitely not enough water. On these parts of the reserve there's no coconut palms, so we could have gotten into trouble. There was almost no traffic on this road. On the second day we ran out of water, but then the skies opened up and small ponds began to form on the middle of the path. Thanks to our friend, Drew we had a water filter with us, so, we were saved. Trees, trees, trees. The longest walk we've had under trees. And these trees gave us some headache when we were looking for a camping spot. But since there was no traffic, we camped on the road. Not on the middle of it, but on the road. And on the third day we reached Felipe Carrillo Puerto. It was a great relief. Was it worth it? Sure!!Sian Ka'an, Part 1