Traveling to Yucatan has been an adventure full of surprises. Leaving Mexico City for the little fishing village of Celestún on the northwest coast of the Yucatan peninsula meant leaving the highlands for the Gulf of Mexico and finding an immense emerald sea, pristine beaches and an abundance of nature.

We had heard this area was popular with photographers, sport fishermen, birdwatchers and flower spotters, but the reality exceeded all our expectations. This is one of those spots on our planet where you can disconnect from the Internet and forget about the hubbub of the everyday world. With no buildings or electricity poles, this town's point of entry and exit for visitors is the Eco Paraíso Xixim hotel.

Eco Paraiso Xixim is an ecological hotel. In Mayan language, Xixim means sea shell. It is a symbol of untouched nature.

On arrival, we bathed in the sea with the sun setting on the horizon. On our way back, we saw a huge object on the sand -- a turtle leaving the water and crossing the dunes to lay her eggs. We stroked it, and when the miracle of life was completed, it turned back to the sea. It was a unique and unforgettable welcome.

The next day we breakfasted on Xixim shrimp omelet, a local specialty. As we ate, we admired the hotel’s exotic gardens with its wild orchids, of which more than 300 varieties grow in the soil of Yucatan.

From here we took a tour to see the nearby pink flamingo sanctuary and a two-hour roundtrip in the estuary. The sight of incredible numbers of pink flamingos taking off and landing, free in their natural habitat, was a real spectacle. Afterwards we saw other land and sea birds in an "eye of water" where we swam in a kind of crystalline freshwater spring.

The effect of this tropical, vivacious atmosphere stimulated us to know more so we headed for El Palmar, an area where duck hunting is allowed. From the top of a lighthouse we gazed out over a landscape of swamps, jungle, palm trees and petenes -- characteristic formations in the coastal regions where huge trees grow up around a freshwater oasis in the middle of a swamp. You can dive in them and sometimes find birds and animals that come in search of water.

We were told that the fringe of wetlands that rings the whole peninsula is one of the world's most important ecosystems, providing a refuge for hundreds of resident and migrant species, especially the pink flamingo, the Loggerhead turtle, the jaguar and the spider monkey.

Our third trip took us into the realm of culture. It encompassed a visit to the archaeological site at Oxkintok, which gave us an idea of the importance and aesthetic sensibility of the Mayan civilization. A short journey brought us to the caves at Calcehtok, where a guide helped us to descend into the subterranean passages to see its petrified formations. It is said that there are more than a thousand of these caves in the area, some dry and others flooded.

The most impressive event for us was a night ride up the inlet in search of. . .alligators! The atmosphere produced by the jungle sounds and the fireflies made this an unforgettable trip. As our boat glided along the inlet, fluorescent fish accompanied us, while the crab and shrimp fishermen cast their nets under a sky filled with myriad stars.

To end our trip, we discovered the best news of all. Along its 378 km of shoreline, Yucatan for over a decade has been undertaking a crusade to preserve its wildlife sanctuaries and  protect unique species. The villages and beaches of Palmar, Dzilam, Río Lagartos, San Felipe, Coloradas and Celestún could well become a huge stage -- its background decorated in leaf-green and sea-blue -- on which the Mexicans of the next century rediscover nature and life.