Mingo Flamingo
Flamingus Distraidus · A flamingo from the coasts of Yucatán
“What could go wrong?”
Hellooooo! I'm Mingo! And… WHOOPS! Who put the ground so close to my eyes? Hee hee hee! I think I tripped again! But it's totally fiiine! Ahem… what were we talking about? Oh, right! About me! The most dynamic, determined and dazzling flamingo on the whole Yucatán coast!
I live on the beautiful coasts of Yucatán, in Mexico, where the water is calm, the sun is nice and warm, and I share my home with thousands and thousands of flamingos. Like eleventy-bazillion! When we all gather together, it looks like someone painted the whole landscape pink! Although, to be honest, I'm not sure it's really eleventy-bazillion: I've always wanted to count us, but I get distracted and never make it to the end.
And you know something suuuper curious? I wasn't born pink! I was born little and gray! As I grew up and ate algae and tiny little crustaceans, I slowly turned pinker and pinker… until I became this handsome flamingo! I'm like a painting that colors itself in bit by bit. And that taught me something important: not everything has to go right from the start. If something doesn't work the first time, breathe, shake your feathers and try again!
Oh, by the way… have you met Choco yet? He's my best friend, my partner, my teammate! And I'm his sidekick number ONE! The most loyal, the most devoted and the most… distracted! Together we're a legendary duo, a pair of geniuses about to conquer the world! Well… maybe not the WHOLE world. Maybe we'll settle for conquering the whole lagoon and scoring a few mosquito pizzas.
The thing is, sometimes, right in the middle of a mission, my little head wanders off: I trip over a pebble and end up saying hi to a bush, I press the wrong button, I forget the plan right when I was about to explain it… Oops! But you know what I've learned? That making mistakes isn't the end of the world! The important thing is not to be hard on ourselves over a slip-up, to figure out what happened, and to think about what we could do differently. So I shake my feathers and say: «Here we go again, buddy! What could go wrong?».
And to celebrate our adventures, I've got a song you'll love: «¿Qué Puede Malir Sal?» (What Could Go Wrong?), with a cheerful, fun Caribbean rhythm, perfect for the days when nothing goes as planned. Because if something goes wrong… at least let it find us dancing!
And now a game: think of something you tried today that didn't work the first time… Got it? Then repeat after me!
Because you don't have to do everything perfectly to live extraordinary adventures!
Mingo in action
For grown-ups
The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), or Caribbean flamingo, is one of the most iconic birds of the Yucatán coast. In Mexico it uses wetlands like the Ría Lagartos and Ría Celestún reserves to feed and breed.
Chicks are born with grayish plumage and gradually take on their pink tone thanks to the carotenoids in their diet. It's a natural metaphor for growing up: many skills are built with time, practice and experience.
In the series, Mingo is Choco's inseparable «sidekick number one». He represents perseverance, flexibility and the ability to learn from mistakes. Little ones discover that making mistakes is part of learning and that humor helps us handle frustration. Because growing up is like Mingo's feathers: we take on our color little by little.
