ISLA MUJERES our favourite place!

 

Cancun - Isla Mujeres

It was a simple no hassle journey from our apartment in  Cancun to the hotel on Isla Mujeres.  

We were just a mile from the ferry dock at Puerta Juarez, Cancun and the crossing to Mujeres takes only 40 minutes so we were installed in our hotel on the Isla just about 90 minutes after checking out of the apartment.

We'd previously left Mujeres in the middle of January -seems like yesterday - is it me or is time speeding up?      As a child, the 6 week school summer holidays seemed to go on forever but these last five months in Mexico have passed in the blink of an eye.   10 years since hurricane Katrina? 29 years since Chernobyl?...feels like I've just put down the newspaper after reading the first reports. 

Hopefully, I'm not alone.....h...e...l...p....

Our Hotel - the Francis Arlene

We are staying at this hotel again as everything about it is right for us.  A neat little hotel of 26 rooms.   The rooms are spacious with aircon, good views, decent beds and kitchen.  It is also tucked away from the main hustle and bustle but just a few minutes walk from the town centre, the seafront walkway, beaches, shops and restaurants.  A good spot.






Exterior of the Francis Arlene Hotel

                                  

Nothing like a bit of home cooking....

Our first night back on Mujeres we decide to eat in and sit on the balcony watching the sunset.  Just a few supplies were needed.   Yum! the fresh meat in the local store looked really good - especially the ribeye which seemed plump and juicy as William prodded it with his finger through the clingfilmed outer, nodding enthusiastically when the assistant asked 'Este senor??'.

Back at base, wrapping removed, we decided that a serious accident must have befallen this ribeye on its way to market as its scrawny length unraveled before us. 

...but it was tasty once we'd managed to separate the meat from the sinew and gristle!!

Meeting some old friends

In our time here we've got to know some of the locals more on a nodding aquaintence level than anything else. It's a small place and it doesn't take long before you find yourself bumping into familiar faces along the street.

Nice teeth, Senora........ 

A waistline to die for..... 

......habia dos hombres.....  Not sure if this is the Cisco Kid or Pancho - but was worth the photograph. 

OK - my turn

Out and about..........................



One of our walks takes us down the eastern edge of the island where several marinas  and a large anchorage are home to locals and visiting yachtsman alike. It's a large anchorage protected on three sides but if the wind is from the north it can become very umcomfortable.  William posing nonchalantly by the tree.....

At the top end of the anchorage sits this cement replica of an old fishing boat - a great photo stop for tourists.

Along the malecon....

The paved walkway runs just a few steps behind our hotel and along the waterfront for about a mile.  It's been landscaped with new plantings, eco-solar street lamps and is a great gathering place.  We usually take a walk just before sunset as the day starts to cool down, sit on the wall for a while and watch the world go by..    

The sun is just about to set clipping the top of the far buildings.  The tide is falling and often there will be people down on the beach hunting in the nooks and crannies for stray lobsters.

Sometimes you catch a glimpse of the local 'jardinero' at work

There are several of these planted beds along the malecon but unfortunately all the plants are in desperate need of water!!   There is no automatic irrigation system and it has only rained 3 times in the last four months.

William has taken pity on Bed No. 4 and every day, morning and evening, we attend to its needs by giving it several litre bottles of fresh water to help it survive.  
  

....plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions.  They thrive because someone expended effort on them  Liberty Hyde Bailey   
 

I sit, watch and wait patiently with the bottle carrier ready for the empties.

Then this guy from Missouri stops buy - tells us a joke about mad dogs and Englishman and takes our photograph!  He also took several shots of William in gardening mode for his blogsite!

Around Town the colours are just amazing.......

The town is as colourful as ever - no expense is spared when it comes to painting the buildings or decorating empty walls .

The Hotel Palmas is just a short walk from where we are staying.




This wall at the edge of a building site was a showstopper - my camera doesn't really present it in its full glory.

 

The convention centre off the main square

 

Two small cafes vie for attention at this street corner

No two houses are the same colour.




The unnamed cemetery on Isla Mujeres is probably the most colourful cemetery you will ever visit.   The walkways through the cemetery are now almost non existent, graves are just inches apart and most of the wooden crosses and statues seem to be homemade.



Spaghetti junction - overhead power lines criss cross the streets



This is the Shell House.  A rental property of an unusual type. 

Around the beach.....

Sometimes its just easier going under a dock than over it


Life isn't all about enjoying yourself - sometimes you have to take time out to do a bit of thinking and planning without interruption......

A lucky find!!  We had left all our snorkeling kit with Alexia but Isla Mujeres is snorkellers' paradise and it didn't take long before these treasures were spotted embedded in the shallows.

Palms heavy with ripening coconuts were found all along the beaches

 

A photo shoot of a photo shoot.....

Relaxing after our swim this morning a team of photographers approach us with cameras.....

We just weren't ready for this - we squirmed, we posed, we pouted and smiled trying to look our best but to our surprise they walked on by ........it wasn't us they wanted to photograph at all!  This was a magazine shoot for new swimwear.  The models looked stunning.


Palm fronds have been cut and laid on the beach, the models are having the final touches to hair and makeup and for the next 30 minutes we watch the action.

Can't be a better place for a photo shoot than here

Hopefully, our beach chairs will remember us when we return.

So, goodbye Isla Mujeres - next stop Washington DC.......see you there in the next blog post!