Isla Mujeres

As we were planning our trip north, I viewed the stop at Isla Mujeres as a convenient place to stop and rest before making the last off-shore passage to the Dry Tortugas in Florida. I figured if we had the right weather I'd be ok with just an overnight stop: "I don't have a burning need to see Isla Mujeres."

I am glad that it didn't work out that way! Apart from the fact that I REALLY wanted a break after the trip to get here, once here I discovered - I like this place!!

Isla Mujeres is an island/town about 8 miles off the coast of Cancun. It feels a bit like the "Martha Vineyard" of Mexico... a playground for sun and fun on the beach.

From Isla Mujeres

There are souvenir and tourist shops filling the main drag, people wandering around in skimpy bathing suits (even those who really shouldn't be sporting skimpy bathing suits), and all manner of places to eat and drink.

From Isla Mujeres

The waters are filled with ferry boats running to the mainland, party-boat catamarans loaded with sunburned tourists, lanchas (water taxis) running hither and fro full of happy faces... Around the island are a myriad of tourists, both foreign and Mexican scooting around in golf carts, visiting the sites, etc.

One day we hooked up with Lynne and Todd on 'Blue Marine' (we first met them last September in the San Blas. We then ran into them again in Honduras and then in Belize) and rented a golf cart. We drove around the island making several stops along the way. First stop: the Mayan ruins. It was the site of a small Mayan temple to the goddess of the wind, and so the ruins weren't anything like the ones we saw at Tulum (a subject of a future blog entry), but they were surrounded by a nice sculpture garden set up on the headland.

From Isla Mujeres

There was no beating the views and as I looked down at the broiling seas I was awfully glad we decided to stick around Isla Mujeres and wait for better weather.

From Isla Mujeres

The second stop was a turtle rescue facility. At the facility they will dig up turtle nests and replant the eggs in sand on the facility to protect the eggs. They have tanks where they are helping the turtles get to maturity before releasing them into the wild. It was not a huge facility, but it was nice to see the efforts that are being made to protect these endangered animals.

Third stop was the ruins of Fermin Mundaca's hacienda. Mundaca was a prominent slaver and pirate in the early 1800's. In the 1860's he decided to "retire" to Isla Mujeres where he promptly fell madly in love with a young woman of about 18. In his efforts to impress her, he decided to build "the most lavish plantation in the region." According to one of our guide books, Mundaca and his servant set to building a two story house on a rise overlooking a valley. They dug a well, planted large vegetable gardens and a large formal garden. She, apparent was unimpressed and wanted nothing to do with the old geezer She married someone else and Mundaca ended up heartbroken. I didn't pull out the camera, but I must say if that was the most "lavish plantation" on the island, I'd hate to see what the others looked like. The two story house (as it has been restored) consists of two small rooms downstairs and one room on the second floor. The staircase to the second floor is closed off to tourists in favor of a wooden one now constructed outside. Not surprising when you consider that the steps were as steep as a ships ladder. I can't imagine climbing those in a long skirt!

Along the way we also stopped briefly to check out the Island Floating on Plastic Bottles.

From Isla Mujeres

If you're interested, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Island

From Isla Mujeres

Since we're "stuck" here (I haven't been in any great hurry to move on) we've taken advantage of the easy access to all sorts of restaurants. Lunch here, dinner there... No complaints! I've been working on getting to the point where I am sick of Mexican food. I figure here's my opportunity since at least here I know the food is really Mexican and not TexMex. I still haven't reached that point yet and I am thoroughly enjoying the fajitas, thetacos (meat, shrimp, fish...yummm), tons of guacamole...

C

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