a brown pelican

a brown pelican

preening on the dock lifts her

long neck to the sun

Brown Pelicans are common all along the Yucatán coast, often perched on a post or diving into the turquoise water for fish. While waiting for the ferry on Cozumel island, I watch a female on the dock preening her feathers, lifting her long neck and opening her long beak, as if she's serenading the sun. Under the dock, a white-headed male paddles around, dives for a fish, then gulps it down. These sea birds are so large, I am amazed that they can lift their bodies up into the air, but they do fly, usually low over the water, often in single file like a line of bombers. When they spot a fish, they dive, folding their wings and hitting the water beak first with a huge splash. 

children of Cozumel

children of Cozumel,

surrounded by turquoise sea,

tourists with cameras

Their mothers sell braided bracelets and belts to tourists who come to the island for diving, shopping, seaside cuisine. The children of Cozumel, surrounded by a sea of turquoise water and tourists, play like children everywhere, exploring their little patch of land, enjoying a cold drink and the gift of a bracelet made from balloons. The balloons may not last longer than the crushed ice, but the moment is innocently sweet.

sugar sand, silver

sugar sand, silver

waves, brown pelicans diving,

blue and yellow ferries

Our first sight of the beach at Xaman Ha' (Maya for "waters of the north") is on a cloudy afternoon in early March. Xaman Ha', renamed Playa del Carmen by the Spanish, was originally a small fishing village and rest stop for travelers from the great Mayan cities to the island of Cozumel. Today, Playa is a busy balneario, a seaside resort on the Caribbean coast in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It's a popular tourist city, though not as crowded as Cancún. We're staying in Alhambra Hotel, right on the beach, so naturally the first thing I do is walk in the lapping waves, laugh at the antics of brown pelicans diving for fish, and watch the blue and yellow Cozumel ferries pulling in and out of the dock.