It’s colorful, for sale, for rent, for lease and cheap too. It’s more of a tourist destination than I prefer but still it’s very pleasant, clean and ultimately hard to resist. It also seems a bit under attended at the moment which is probably a good thing for us. It took me a few days to warm up to Mujeres, it started with the turtles, but before that we had to clear in.
You might have thought that we were buying the whole island with all the paperwork we had to fill out clearing in; duplicate, triplicate, five and even six copies of many documents. Checking in here is serious business that costs hundreds of pesos, actually over a thousand. Fortunately with an exchange rate of twelve to one that turned out to be less than a hundred bucks US. The officials are polite, helpful and courteous. They wield stamps the way Olympic ping-pong champions wield a paddle; fast and with great skill. We maintain a respectful and serious bearing throughout the proceedings but I almost lost it at the health clinic when they asked if there were “any suspected rats on board?” I struggled to keep a straight face as I thought back to the other night when Susan cried out loud “RATS, we still seem to have rats” when I startled her in her sleep. That kind of humor or antidote usually doesn’t translate very well, so I struggled to keep my self in check.
I love the Mexican pangas with their full, graceful and seaworthy upswept bows. They are Spartan vessels, kept simple & light, narrow for their length. They move well, even with moderate sized motors. The local skippers handle these boats with grace and skill.
We both enjoyed strolling through the market and pondered Mexico’s apparent fascination with death. I would love to be here when they celebrate “The Day of the Dead” a holiday with ancient roots that originated in the Aztec culture.
It wasn’t until our third day here when Susan suggested that we take our bikes ashore and explore the island that the place really started to grow on me. We got away from tourist town and into a part of the island where the real people live. We drove down the western shore and came to an interesting looking place. With our limited Spanish it seed that it had something to so with fish but not much more so we turned in to check it out.
It turned out to be a wonderful place that’s mainly devoted to protecting and raising turtles for reintroduction into the wild. Who can resist turtles? They’re beautiful, endangered and they don’t ask you to buy anything. We took the self-guided tour but it was mostly in Spanish so we just strolled around the place taking it all in at face value.
The turtles are hatched in a protected sandy area and then raised in a series of tanks by the sea. We were amazed at the speed and agility of the young turtles. The older turtles are kept in large fenced in areas of the sound, just off the beach.
We continued on our bikes to the southern end of the island where we discovered a beautiful pavilion by the sea. Just past the pavilion, out on a narrow, cliff-lined point was a sculpture park. What great light and such a dramatic setting for art.
We made our way back along the eastern side of the island through more local towns and finally ended up back at our dinghy. We indulged ourselves with a cold cervesa and some nachos at the dockside restaurant. It’s funny how we take every opportunity to sit by the sea even though, living on a boat, we’re constantly “by the sea”. Once back on Gypsy we enjoyed a swim in the 77deg water. I cleaned part of Gypsy’s bottom and then we both took sun showers in the cockpit. Simple pleasures are sometimes the most fulfilling.
