Isla Mujeres - A Paradise for Men?

Welcome back! It’s been a while since we last checked in…we thought we’d give you all a break.

Last Tuesday we left our first Mexican retreat outside of Puerto Morelos for our next location. After driving to the airport, dropping off our rental car, we took a shuttle to the port of Cancun. We got tickets for the ferry ride to Isla Mujeres, or the Island of Women. Isla Mujeres is across the bay from Cancun. This ferry experience was much easier and faster than our horrible ferry experience in Messina, Italy.

It only took the ferry about twenty minutes to reach the island. After leaving the ferry we stood in line with hordes of people trying to catch a cab.

Once we got to our condo, our host, Hector was there to greet us and show us the apartment and to give us the keys to our golf cart. Instead of renting a car on this tiny island, most people rent golf carts…it’s a golf cart frenzy during late morning and early afternoon as people head out to beaches, lunch, or grocery shopping. It’s also a bit crazy around 3:30 when those who drank their lunch at local restaurants hurry to get home.

Isla Mujeres is only 4 miles long and about 3,000 feet wide. In pre-Columbian times, the island was sacred to the Mayan goddess of childbirth and medicine. When the Spanish arrived, they called the island the Isle of Women because of all the many images of goddesses.

To the east of the island is the Caribbean Sea with a strong surf and rocky coast, and to the west the skyline of Cancún can be seen across the water.

East coast - West coast - a view of Cancun from our west coast deck.

We opted for the west coast, which is said to be excellent for snorkeling. Our place is very nice. It’s not very wide, but it’s long and has high ceilings. Our deck looks out at the Bay of Women with the azure Caribbean waters. There’s a beach club right in front of us at the water’s edge where you can snorkel. We haven’t yet because we’re in the midst of a cold front…it’s 75 degrees and overcast; whoops hold on, it just this minute started raining! We’ll wait to snorkel until it’s a bit warmer and dryer.

On our first day here, we arrived a little after 1 pm and were hungry. We headed up the street about 50 yards to “The Joint.” As we read later, Isla Mujeres has kind of a Caribbean vibe and The Joint proved it. Bob Marley images on the walls and a strong scent of weed in the air. But a great place with lots of happy people!

They have a band (or two) playing most of the day. When we arrived the band called a guy named Brad (whom they must have known) to come up and play with them. The first set was all 60’s and 70’s music with Credence Clearwater Revival songs and other well-known artists of that period.

The place was packed with people, mostly from Canada as was obvious by the Canadian flags and license plates that decorated the place. Later that night we could hear the band from our condo. We worried that it would go on until early morning, but strangely the bands only play each night until 9 pm.

Yesterday we ventured out to the grocery store to stock up on vittles (and the fixin’s for Manhattans). As we mentioned in an earlier post, Mexican stores carry Tequilla, Mezcal, and Scotch but little else in the way of hard liquor, plus the wine selection is terrible. When we travel, we each bring a carry-on suitcase and a smaller under-the-seat bag that fits on the top of our extended suitcase handle. But coming from the mainland to the island, John had a backpack and Nancy a reusable grocery bag filled with staples like salt and pepper that we had purchased in Puerto Morelos. The one important thing John carried in his backpack was a plastic zip lock baggy filled with about a third of the 5 lb. jar of cherries and the bitters he bought through Amazon.mx. Nancy carried the snacks to accompany the cocktails.

So far, we’ve had different kinds of tacos, but yesterday Nancy tried a dish Tikin Xiik, which is a traditional dish of Yucatecan cuisine that many consider to be originally from Isla Mujeres. Its name derives from the Mayan “Tikin” which means dry thing, and “Xiik´” that means the cut of fish. The dried fish, which is quite moist, was served on corn tortillas. Nancy enjoyed it, but considering we were at a beach club, she thinks it might be a quick and easy version of the real thing, since we’ve heard it takes about an hour to make.

This is a typical picture of Tikin Xiik. We were too busy eating to take a picture of Nancy’s Tikin Xiik tacos.

Speaking of firsts, the other night John had his first margarita. There’s not many of you out there who remember John’s first exposure to tequila, but it was his 21st birthday (yea, he knows that was a long long time ago in a Hess's bar far far away). If the late Kerry Hoffman were around, he’d tell you the whole sordid tale, and laugh as he told it. Anyway, the margarita came in a regular cocktail glass and not one of those wacky tall glasses you see in ads for Chili’s. And it was excellent!

Well, not much else to report. We’re sure there will be more adventures in the coming days. Here's a picture from our deck last night.

Until then,

Adios,

Nancy and Juan