You know you are an islander when …

Crocodile round-up in front of new hospital main entrance

You know you are an islander when:

The recent round-up of baby crocodiles makes you smile knowing that they are being moved to a bigger and better location instead of being destroyed as a nuisance.  Their mother has already been moved to the Hacienda Mundaca Lake, and now it is time to catch the youngsters.  

You go get 'em!  No, not me!

A crowd of city workers stood on the edge of the marshy swamp near the new hospital, jockeying for a better view, but still keeping their feet on dry ground.  “You go get them.” one man said, playfully pushing his co-worker towards the dark foreboding water.  “No! You get them!” the other man responded, shaking his head, no!  Baby or not, crocodiles have sharp teeth and vice-like jaw muscles.  They can do a lot of damage to hands and fingers.  We didn’t stay to watch the round-up, but I was told they have been successfully relocated.

Stumpy prefers left over cat food.

You know you are an islander when:

Thirty-five iguanas of assorted sizes come knocking at our patio door every morning.  “Hey lady!  Where’s our fruit?”  We buy a steady supply of watermelon, bananas, papayas, and sweet peppers – anything red, orange, dark pink or yellow.  Those colours attract iguanas.  They wait impatiently on the back patio, pacing along the edge of our pool as I dutifully cut up the fruit and skins into iguana-sized pieces.  

Iguana fruit & veggie salad

They don’t have teeth, just bony ridges that can shred things to a certain extent.  A too large piece can result in choking problem, and I don’t really want to do the Heimlich Manoeuvre or CPR on a frantic lizard.  I chop and cut, slice and dice, then scatter the goodies over the back yard and rocks.  There’s a flurry of scurrying bodies, scrabbling claws, flicking tails and then the fruit is gone, leaving behind deposits of fresh iguana poop.  Stumpy the large one with the short tail tries unsuccessfully for seconds, following me back to the house begging for more.   He looks very disappointed that I don’t fall for his antics. 

Dolphins - photo by Bruce Roberts

You know you are an islander when:

A pod of dolphins cruises past in the late afternoon, cavorting and courting.  Their lithe muscular bodies flip out of the water, corkscrew through the air and slice back into the ocean.  All you can do is stop and stare in wonder at such beauty.  We were so preoccupied by the display we forgot to take photos.  The one included with this post was taken by our neighbour Bruce Roberts.  The pod played for several minutes in front of our house before taking their circus act further south, past where David and Diane Daniel are staying at Casa Toloc.  David has a fun new toy, a drone.  He filmed the pod at sunset.   You can see it on YouTube – link below.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1atIZycuSSc&feature=youtu.be   They also have an interesting FaceBook page, New Nomads, where they post videos taken from the drone.  Check it out!

Fishing boats at sunset

These are just a few of our daily experiences of living on Isla Mujeres.  There are many more amusing things that happen, but we have always tried to have photographs with our blog, and sometimes I just don’t have the right photo for the situation.  For instance: the police vehicles that cruise around the island 24/7 with their emergency light flashing - red and white and blue.  In most countries flashing lights on a police vehicle means one thing: pull over now! We want to talk to you.  In Mexico it means, yep, that’s a police vehicle.  When they want your attention they will “blip” the siren.  That’s when you know you need to stop, right now.

Island living has a personal quirky charm.  That is what makes living here magical.

Hasta Luego

Lawrie & Lynda

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