Riviera Maya...Flora and Fauna...

If you've been following my journal of our recent trip to Mexico, you've seen some of the beautiful plantings around the area.  Here, with the last post on this trip, we'll walk around the resort.

The grounds of the resort, are very well manicured.  Always clean and cleared of stray leaves.  Most of the work done by hand.  No blowers, here.  There were power lawn mowers, but most trimming was with hand shears......and, there is a lot to keep trimmed.

No plain old concrete bridges, here.

There is an area with flamingoes.

They showed off for us.

Beside the golfcourse cafe, where we usually had breakfast, is a crocodile area.  These small ones...

...and larger ones.

Iguanas are everywhere.

Look up!

And, birds we hadn't seen before.  This is a Chachalaca.  The photo doesn't really show his size.  They're about the size of a small chicken.

There were lots of these Yucatan Jays.

They swooped down to get some cookies, that we threw off the patio.

There were lots of other birds.  I'm terrible at bird photos, so didn't get any good shots. 

Another visitor, outside our condo, was this little guy.  The closest I could find, was that he's a Paca.  He doesn't have the right markings, though.  So, I'm just not sure.

He came out to drink out of a puddle, left by the water sprinkler.

Many of the plants, were ones we recognized.  Asparagus fern, coleus, Aztec grass, and purple heart.  Cordyline was used everywhere, as hedges.

I think, this is Oyster plant, or Moses in a Basket.  It was everywhere....

...used as a thick, lush groundcover.

There was even a lighter, variegated version.  At least, I think it was the same plant.  I want some of this.

Two different colors of Ixora.  These make nice hedges.

Lots of ginger, with big red spikes.

And, Plumaria.

This palm was starting out with crinkly leaves.

Some plants, I've seen before, but don't know the names. 

This is a similar shrub, with a bloom spike.

And, what kind of tree is this?

Is this a white version of our Goldenball leadtree?

This one has these flowers....

....and, these pods.

And, look at the size of these blooms.

In the rule section of the book in our room....yes, I read rule sections.....there was the warning:
'Do Not Touch the Black Poison Wood Tree'.
So, of course, we set out to find out what a Black Poison Wood Tree was.
And, we found it.  See the black sap.  That causes 'severe rash'.

So, don't touch the Black Poison Wood Tree.

There were many more plants.  More colorful foliage, than blooms.  It shows you don't have to have lots of blooms, to make a beautiful landscape. 

It was a great trip, with some great friends.  We learned new things, caught up with each other's lives...
and relaxed beside the beautiful blue sea.

Changes in latitudes....brought changes in attitudes.

We're ready to go again.