Palms and the towering Gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) or “tourist trees” were among some of the common types of vegetation at Vista Alegre. The Gumbo limbo tree is known to locals as the “tourist tree” due to its red, peeling bark – in reference to tourists who come to the Yucatan and get sunburned.
Gumbo Limbo
Image courtesy of Proyecto Costa Escondida Maritime Maya 2011 Expedition, NOAA-OER. Download larger image (jpg, 4.2 MB).

Palms and the towering Gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) or “tourist trees” were among some of the common types of vegetation at Vista Alegre. The Gumbo limbo tree is known to locals as the “tourist tree” due to its red, peeling bark – in reference to tourists who come to the Yucatan and get sunburned.

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