Palm Trees and Sunshine on the Island of Women
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
10
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Isla Mujeres,
Mexico
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
We walked the two blocks to the Cancun Bus Station and looked at the schedules for the day. We stood there and stared at the schedule for 10 minutes. Still no idea where to go! Such a problem to have, huh? We finally narrowed it down to either an inland route towards Chitchen Itza, or to the beaches on Isla Mujeres. Exploring old Mayan ruins or lazing on a beach? One look at the line forming for the ticket booth was all we needed to make up our minds. To Isla Mujeres it is! We caught the local (no ticket needed) bus to the sea port, and from there caught the high-speed ferry to Isla Mujeres.
An hour later we settled into what out be our 1st of 3 different hotels/hostels during our 4 day stay
baby pool
. The hostel that Lonely Planet raved about, Poc-Na hostel, was sold out. Tired from lugging our packs around, we settled into the closest cheap hotel nearby - Hotel Carmelina. Large comfy room with enough beds for a family of 10. But at $37 per night was out of our backpacker budget. After hearing rumors of bedbugs in the Poc-Na hostel from other travellers, we moved into the Urban Hostel for the 2nd night. And moved out as quickly as possible the next morning. The double private room we booked was more like a prison cell. No windows, no fan, just a mattress on the floor with barely enough room to open the door. I won't bother mentioning the cleanliness... Next, please! By the 3rd night, we found a great little hotel called the Hotel Carib Maya. At $28 US per night, it was in our backpackers budget. A large private room with big bathroom, window and fan, and pleasantly furnished. We were so happy at last! Newbie travellers we are...learning as we go!We originally planned to stay for just a couple days, but found it too hard to leave the sun, surf, and laid-back lifestyle of the Island of Women (Isla Mujeres). Isla Mujeres is a cool little beach town. Touristy, yes. But very different from the high-rise zone of Cancun. Isla Mujeres is very laid back - flip flops, sarongs, swimsuits, and maybe a t-shirt if a breeze comes in. There are a couple nice beaches in town
beach
. The main town is cobblestoned, with lots of restaurants, bars, shops, and of course tacky-touristy stuff thrown in. The food was fantastic - we had several amazing seafood meals for very cheap. The town was festive with Christmas decorations and lights all over.Most days we just lazed under a palm tree reading a book, or strolled through the cobblestone streets. One day, we ventured out to explore the rest of the island. We rented bikes for about $7 a day and drove around the entire island (about 15-20 kilometers total)
First we stopped at the Hacienda Mundaca. The hacienda was built in the 1800s by a crazy old man (and former slave trader) named Mundaca. He was in love with a lovely local gal and thought he could entice her into marraige by building a lovely hacienda. Smart woman that she was, she had no interest in this crazed guy and was actually in love with and married a local guy. Jilted, Mundaca became even more crazy and lived in reclusion. He left his home, crops, and animals to wither and die. The hacienda fell into ruins, and is still in that same state. There is not too much to see here, but it makes a nice stop to stroll around and shake the legs a bit.
Jumping back on our bikes, Frank's seat fell right off onto the ground
Beautiful Beach
! Flipping it over, we noticed many breaks and pieces missing. Clearly this seat had seen it's share of use. I grabbed the seat and went to the ticket booth at the Hacienda to see if any of the maintenance men had a screwdriver we could use. They did not, but the guys at the booth tried to fix the seat. Instead of a screwdriver, they tried fixing it with the Mexican version of a Swiss Army Knife. Apparently Machetes are the fix all for everything. One guy held the nut and bolt from the seat IN HIS MOUTH, while trying to use the tip of the MACHETE BLADE as a screw driver. He tried this every which way, in his lap, bent over sideways, all different directions. Finally, the nut and bolt came off. Yeah! But, after all that work, it ended up not fixing the problem. So they found some 3/4 inch rope and tied the seat onto the bike instead. I think Frank may still have rug burns today (weeks later)!Moving on, we next stopped at the Tortugranja Turtle Farm. This is a sea turtle sanctuary run by the Instituto Nacional de la Pesca. During nesting season, sea turtles lay their eggs in a fenced off beach area. The sanctuary protects the eggs in an incubation pen. After hatching, the baby turtles are kept in several large pools until they are large enough to be safely released into the sea. We saw hundreds of turtles of various ages. From 5 days old (soooo cute and tiny!) to 1 year to 2 years old. A great cause and definitely a worth a visit if you are ever on Isla Mujeres!
Love, Kay
