American in Cyprus: Flamingos

The flamingos have arrived in Cyprus. Flamingos migrate to Cyprus in the winter months, and this year there is a record number. Approximately 15,000-20,000 have been counted. Their main destination is the salt lake in Larnaca, so today we took the short drive there to see if we could spot any. When we first arrived we drove around as much of the lake as possible and did not spot a single flamingo. Then all of a sudden we saw a small group out in the middle of the lake, and then more and more appeared. I have no idea how many we saw but it was at least hundreds. Even though they weren't that close to us, it was still pretty amazing to see. We saw some in flight, which gave us a greater appreciation for their size. The kids even seemed interested but also enjoyed throwing rocks in the water and taking little "adventures". There was an ice cream truck parked by one of the parking areas and Alex said, "I don't even care about the ice cream anymore, I just want to see the flamingos." Of course, he didn't completely forget the ice cream. We had told them that we would also go to a beach today, and after a bit Sofia said, "Can we leave the flamingo beach now and go to the people beach?" It was a good time to leave because there were almost as many mosquitoes as flamingos. Makenzi beach was our next destination. It borders the airport and has a great view of planes landing and taking off. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes followed us there, so we didn't stay long.