Nuevo Durango´s Famous Golondrinas

We were lucky enough to arrive in Nuevo Durango at the right time- just before 6 in the evening. Every day around 6 o´clock, between the months of May and December, one of the major natural wonders of the village occurs. Watching the descent of hundreds of swallows (in Spanish- golondrinas) into an old well near the center of town was a great start to a great stay in this Maya pueblo.

 

Turkeys on the road to the sparrows` well.

The well, just past the church from the town´s center, has a raised limestone lip and, like the nearby cenote, decends at least 20 meters before arriving at water. We peered in and were able to see 5 or so meters down in the late afternoon sunlight, enough to make out several resting birds, which I wasn´t able to identify (and, unlike Jenny, still wasn´t sure what the ``golondrina´´ signified in English).


The well, with Pedro about to show
depth with a match.

Pedro, who lives across the street from the well and took us there from our cabanas in the town´s center, indicated that we could watch the show sitting on some nearby cut tree trunks. These seats were less than ten feet from the well. I asked if we wouldn´t scare off the birds from our vantage point. Apparently not. And right then, the first four or five swallows arrived, flying in circles around the well.

Jenny and Pedro approaching the well. In front, the
audeince seating.


Occationally, on their loop around the well, it appeared that some of the swallows were going to dive into the well, but at the last minute they swooped upwards, and towards us. More than once, the birds came so close to me on their ascent back towards the other side of the well that their individual wing-flapping sounded loud. Eventually, more birds joined the initial few. And soon, we saw the first bird make an actual descent into the well. This would be the first of hundreds we would see enter the well that evening. We did not see a single swallow leave the well, which according to residents only happens in the morning, either very early or towards midday.




Couldn´t hold off eating the seeds
of the passion fruit before snapping a photo

 As more birds joined the circling flock, and we watched with delight as 3, 4, 5 and sometimes many more birds at a time gracefully dropped in the well (video below), we got a preview of the generosity of the people of Nuevo Durango. First, some young girls brought us several bunches of guaya fruit, which Jenny wrote about in a previous post, from a nearby tree. Delicious. Then, someone else handed each of us a freshly picked guava (guyaba in Spanish). The rind and pith are the edible parts of this somewhat sour, green fruit that looks similar to but is nothing like a lime. We were told to avoid eating the seeds. Next, another villager arrived with a passion fruit (maracuya in Spanish) for us to share. Here, the seeds are the edible part, and their delicious, sweet flavor is somewhat well-known around Chicago because the artificial flavoring of passion fruit is common. It was recommended that I try eating the fruit with chile powder, which later I did, and I now recommend to anyone reading.

For the next hour or so we enjoyed our fruit, the spectacle of the golondrinas, and conversation with the villagers. We heard that these swallows are unique to the area- Nuevo Durango has the only known nesting site around. There was some dispute about how many sparrows there are, and some laughing at the prospect of counting each individual (one local tour company claims there are 5,000- which seems a bit high to us). And there was interesting speculation, like the idea that the golondrinas descend simultaneously as family units, or that the last golondrina to enter the well is dominant among the entire flock. Watching thousands of birds circling and entering a well less than a meter in diameter right before sunset has a way of generating lots questions in one´s mind. One of these, for me, was, "How can Nuevo Durango out-do itself after these unforgetable first hours?"