Finding our travel groove in Isla Mujeres

Trip Start Sep 10, 2006
1
6
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Trip End ??? ??, 2007


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Flag of Mexico  ,
Friday, September 29, 2006

After spending the night camped out in our own corner of benches in the airport, dozing and becoming nearly hypothermic from the extreme air conditioning, we boarded the plane for the mysterious cheap flight that has been the subject of so much speculation. We are happy to report that we left on time, had a delicious breakfast, and even watched a movie! Stepping outside the Cancun airport, we were instantly drenched in sweat and haven´t stopped sweating yet. We took two buses to reach the ferry to take us to the island of Isla Mujeres and walked to our hostel on the edge of town where we quickly discovered that it isn´t quite the tropical paradise the webpage made it out to be (www.pocna.com), but not so bad all and all. We set up our tent among a courtyard of hammocks and spent the night sleeping in our underwear (it´s see-through mesh by the way) and sweating like pigs. The tall cinderblock walls that make it secure also stifle any cool breeze coming off the ocean. Our first activities on this beautiful island were less than glamorous (finding an ATM, buying water, etc.), but after a late lunch we got around to enjoying the beach. Our first dip in the warm Caribbean sea was everything we had been anticipating and more! We explored the colorful town and I was especially happy to find a dinner spot for fish ceviche, while Matt set into his routine of pork, chicken, beef (repeat), with beans and rice of course. We were the first ones to bed (10pm) at the hostel by at least four or five hours, but we slept like rocks thanks to our audiologist-friend Julie hooking us up with custom earplugs. 01 Our little nook in the Airport
01 Our little nook in the Airport
 We were also the first ones awake by at least a few hours because the night before I convinced Matt that we should take advantage of an offer to go on a time share tour and walk away 200 dollars richer afterwards. Heck, we pretended to be married in Vegas in order to be let on a time share tour and came away with free gambling vouchers and show tickets. Surely we can convince them we live together (without proof of it) in Mexico. Turns out the standards are a little stricter than in Vegas... After a ferry ride and 45 minute taxi ride courtesy of Mayan Resort, we were rejected at the check-in desk, and immediately reversed the journey (courtesy of Mayan Resort) back to the island. At least we didn´t lose anything but our time, and we´ve got plenty of that...oh yeah, and my sunglasses. I knew I would lose them at some point on the trip, but on the second day was a bit disappointing. After recovering from the time share fiasco with a nice lunch and beer, we grabbed our snorkel gear and rented bicycles for the remainder of the afternoon. To continue the trend of our anti-suave exploits of the day, we set out at the hottest point of the day, which quickly gave way to a windy rainstorm just before we reached the southern tip of the island. Already drenched and covered with blown sand, we waited it out in the shelter of a porch, then explored the area. Earlier, we stopped at a ¨granja de tortugas¨ (literally sea turtle farm) where they breed them for conservation purposes. There was a tank with thousands of hatchlings and even some albino ones! Last stop before biking back to town was snorkeling. Highlights included seeing a manta ray and getting mobbed by angelfish (?) when we released some fish food we bought into the water. We biked about 16 kilometers round trip, but the amazingness of this feat was not the distance but rather the fact that our bikes made it the entire way. My first time biking in years, I rode a rusty grape colored cruiser with a wobbly back wheel and tendency to make squeaky and popping noises on every small incline. Since Matt is alto, the owner of the bike shop picked out a full suspension bike that frequently switched gears on its own volition. We enjoyed tropical drinks on the beach until sunset, cleaned up at the hostel, and ate dinner at a local´s spot. Tomorrow we will be moving on in search of cheaper tropical paradises, but Isla Mujeres has been the perfect way to find our travelin´groove.
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daniellefagre
daniellefagre on Oct 6, 2006 at 02:13AM

good times
my goodness, only the first day and you two are already having a blast! i'm jealous. take a dip in the ocean for me!

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