Isle of Women, Mexico
Blog
Not, apparently, an offshoot of either the Amazons’ homeland or the birthplace of Wonder Woman. But the translation of Isla Mujeres is, yes, Isle of Women. We spent a day there during our Cancun week.
We had learned a valuable lesson from the Chichen Itza pyramid site tour: These all-inclusive package events aren’t, take a lot of time, fit in too many activities, and have a tip box at every new event. This time we did the whole thing ourselves, thoroughly enjoyed it, and came away quite satisfied, not exhausted and overwhelmed or feeling way too hit-on for cash.
The 25-minute ferry could have been marred by its insistence on playing obnoxiously loud and twerky music videos on a large screen to drown out the boat noise for the handful of us who took this cheaper, slower alternative to the sexy, packed Ferrari ferry, which our bus driver had suggested we avoid. We allowed ourselves to be awed by the unnamable colors of the Caribbean Sea, again, the purity of the water and the approaching small island, a mere 650 m x 7 km in size, population about 12,700.
As with the mainland shoreline, here, too, hotels had their stretches of beach and shaded lounge chairs for a price. It was developed mostly in the same time-scale as Cancun itself, so, since 1970; but it has boomed from its ancient Mayan roots and a cult to Ixchel, the local goddess of medicine and childbirth.
The Isle’s buildings are beautifully decorated, many of them with murals of all types. Its main transport is rentable electric golf carts and scooters- quiet but pricey and needing a driver’s license for insurance coverage, which I didn’t have on me anyway; we went on foot. Of course, it’s a very tourism-oriented location, but we were in that category of people too, and enjoyed wandering around at our own relaxed pace. The sea has a very different quality on each of its long sides, the inland-facing one being less wavy than the one open to the ocean. But everywhere, those gorgeous hues of water, for which new names must be invented.
We were much more cautious of the sun now, still feeling its painful effects from our second day’s Cancun sea jaunt; more sunscreen, more than once, more covering up! But we were able to swim and really luxuriate in the water, which was just the right temperature. Who knows when we’ll be back? The sea off Vancouver Island is so cold I almost instantly turn blue in it!
Back to the free lounge, and lunch, including tortillas with fillings and a shared banana split. The narrowness of the Isle enabled us to cross and see both sides of it, and the far side, a bit rockier, has almost no tourists, though it’s quite swimmable as well. Best of all, we were on our own, not bound to a group and its schedule. Yes, we missed out on the swims with dolphins, the bike riding and all the too many other organized activities which came with the bus tour. But no time pressure. Indeed, by about 4 pm we were ready to take the return ferry and get supper in the vicinity of our hotel. And the Isle gave us a last glimpse as we left a few days later, glittering invitingly out of my airplane window, fitting in entirely.
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 1800 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:
www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
By Tony Hanmer