“Long live Art, Love and Freedom!” Muralist, Barbara Siebenlist

Mural across from Casa Sirena Hotel 

Barbara describes herself as a nomad, a self-taught painter, a tattoo artist, and a muralist. 

Her creations on Isla Mujeres are all vastly different and stunningly beautiful pieces of art, many containing a message from the artist to the viewer.

Photo provided by Barbara Siebenlist 

One painting is splashed across the white, curved building that overlooks the malécon, across the street from Casa Sirena Hotel. It is an eye-catching collage of underwater creatures, land inhabitants, and two dark-skinned beauties. To my eye, the partially submerged goddess on the right represents Mother Earth, with fish swimming around her shoulders and lizards adorning her hair. 

Mural on Poc Na Hostel - L. Lock photo

Another mural with a diving theme flows along the street-side wall of Poc Na Hostel. 

Fish, jellyfish, and sharks float past the divers. The ocean inhabitants swim among discarded plastic bottles, aluminum beer cans, and plastic bags. 

Poc Na mural Photo from Barbara Siebenlist

In the centre of one diver’s regulator is the green-arrowed symbol for recycling. Clever!

Two other murals decorate the inside refuge for stray kittens and the main entrance at Clinica Veterinaria, locally known as Delfino’s.  Grinning cats, big-eared pups, and wide-eyed kittens play amongst colourful wildflowers and butterflies. Their expressions seem to say, “Please give me a home and love me forever.”

Clinica Veterinaria - L. Lock photo

Born in the city of Viale, Entre Ríos, Argentina, Barbara’s passion for art began as a young child; it was her form of refuge, her secret obsession. 

After finishing her high school education, Barbara went on to study medicine. 

With little time for anything but studying and classes, Barbara let her artistic talents lie dormant for a number of years. 

In 2008, around the time that she first discovered Isla Mujeres, she created her first island mural for the Poc Na Hostel.

Clinica Veterinaria - L. Lock photo

For Barbara, capturing images on murals allows her to convey her message to the public. Her creations are not locked inside museums or art galleries for a few people to enjoy. They are outside, available to all who pass by. Her paintings help her to continue traveling, discovering new stories, and ideas for future murals.

In a month, she will be leaving Isla again, going on a trip.  But as she says, “I never go, I always come back.”

We’ll be waiting to see what’s next from Barbara Siebenlist and her dazzling creations.

Hasta Luego  

Lynda, Lawrie, & Sparky

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The evolution of Bobo’s almost gourmet Bar & Grill

Bobo's Bar & Grill on Matamoras in Centro

Bobo’s Bar & Grill started as a pocket-sized, take-out location on Isla Mujeres; a place with fish so fresh it was swimming an hour before it hit the plate, and chips so yummy we couldn’t stay on our diets.

Now it’s a two-level eatery that spills out onto the street, with a quirky wooden sign ‘torn’ in half. 

On one building, the sign reads Bo, and on the adjacent building, Bo’s. The sign is a humorous improvisation to placate a neighbour.

Cocktail time with friends

In the summer of 2009, Brian Kerr leased the former location of Lolo Rapido on Matamoras Avenue in Centro. Employed as a wine sommelier at Sutton Place in Vancouver, BC, Brian discovered this little piece of paradise while on vacation. He decided to take the plunge, to be an entrepreneur. Isn’t that every man’s fantasy? To be self-employed on a tropical island in the Caribbean Sea?

In the beginning, the business was primarily take-out, until Brian managed to squeeze a couple of tables and eight chairs along the edge of the narrow, busy street.  Then he expanded to a neighbouring property to add a bar and additional seating, and the two-part Bobo’s sign. 

The newest expansion upper level

A year later, Ben Coleman and his partner, Vicki Dupuy, became entwined with island life. The boy from Birmingham, Alabama, and the girl from New Orleans had originally met at a Saints football game in her hometown.  

Both worked for AT&T, Ben in outside sales and Vicki as a manager. Frequent visitors to Isla Mujeres and regular patrons at Bobo’s, they struck up a friendship with Brian Kerr.

One Sunday afternoon, while immersed in the warm Caribbean water at Playa Norte, near Fenix Restaurante, Vicki asked Ben that life-changing question.

“Why can’t we live here six months a year?”

Almost gourmet!

Becoming partners with Brian Kerr in 2013, Ben and Vicki moved to Isla Mujeres and became full-time islanders. Bobo’s Bar & Grill went through another transformation. 

The rooftop junk-collecting, storage area was converted into comfortable open-air seating. More stools were added along the upper edge, giving patrons a view of the action on Matamoras Avenue.  The kitchen was re-done, and the downstairs bar was enlarged.

Next, mixologist Lory Manzo was hired to update the beverage menu and train the bar staff. Bright and bold murals were painted by islander Barbara Siebenlist Palomar.  

Summertime special drink

And on Wednesdays and Fridays, live music is provided by The Caribbean Beats Band. With the recent addition of Chef Nick Altringer from Minneapolis, the modest little fish and chip take-out has become, in Ben’s words, almost gourmet, and a very happening place. 

Check out their signature drinks and their tasty new menu. We’re still fans of the fresh fish and chips.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

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The Silly Social Side of Paradise

Turquoise water and sunny skies  

Isla Mujeres has an eclectic mix of residents. 

There are the folks who were born on this island nestled in the Caribbean Sea, as were their parents, grandparents and several generations before them. 

There are the long-time resident expats, arriving in the early 1970s to add their flavour to the island mix. A number of the younger expats married islanders and started families of their own. Some tourists return year after year for an annual holiday.  And there are the newbies, the folks who have just discovered Isla Mujeres.

Mary & Charlie, Bloody Mary Goodbye Party 

Among the mix are a few hundred foreigners who have lived here part-time, or full-time for ten, fifteen or twenty years. 

Many of us have become friends as we sort out the intricacies of living in a foreign country. Learn the basics of the Spanish language. Or navigate the laws and bylaws of the municipality, the state, and the country.

A Super Bowl party at Charlie & Mary's

Right from our first year on Isla, Charles and Mary Simpson made us very welcome in their island home.  Well-known for their Bloody Mary Sunday morning get-togethers, or their spectacular Super Bowl Pig Roasts, Charlie and Mary were a fun-loving fixture at every gathering. 

Now, after eighteen years of island life, they are off on a new adventure. As of this week, they have sold their home and are moving to Florida, closer to their children and grandchildren.

Lawrie, Steve and Charlie - going fishin'

We will always have great memories of both Charlie and Mary. 

Memories of deep-sea fishing on Charlie’s boat. Calm seas, with not a breath of wind, gorgeous sunrises, sea turtles, dolphins, and tiny iridescent-blue flying fish skimming over the water ahead of the boat. 

And we fished, reeling in fat Tunas, sleek Wahoo, golden coloured Dorado, and Rainbow Runners. The first fish might be caught at nine in the morning, and a minute later, the first cold beer would be cracked open.

Charlie being the girl on their team

We have wacky photos of Charlie wearing a woman’s shawl as a skirt. His Cornhole bean-bag team, made up of him and Ron Berge, was required to have one woman and one man. Charlie circumvented the rules with panache. 

There are photos of Mary and Charlie in Halloween costumes sprinkled throughout our collection, as well as pictures of Charlie’s 80^th birthday and Mary’s 75^th.  

Mary’s trademark is her beautifully coordinated outfits. I have a chest of drawers full of shorts and t-shirts. Mary has dresses, shoes, shawls, and jewellery all organised by colour and style into easily accessible outfits. 

Mary and Charlie, Villa la Bella party

And who hasn’t noticed Charlie’s gold fishhook piercing his left earlobe?  

Our social gatherings will certainly be a little less colourful with their departure.

Your many island friends wish you fair winds and following seas. You will be missed.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

The Shoppers, Charlie, Gary, Dave, Barney, Lawrie

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Meanwhile back on Isla Mujeres Mexico…

 

Dinner at Rolandi's Isla Mujeres.

We’ve been away from our little beach house on Isla Mujeres a lot lately.  

First, we spent three weeks wine-touring in Argentina, returning mid-March, and then we were off again for a week to John and Maia’s wedding in British Columbia, Canada

Sparky, our almost-famous rescue dog, is still miffed at us for disappearing not once, but twice this year. He had two fabulous sets of babysitters while we were traveling, but now that we are back, he’s demanding a lot of attention.   

In mid-February to early March, the weather in Argentina was warm, much like Mexico, as it was late summer going into early autumn.

  

Sparky lying on my lap when we returned home 

British Columbia, Canada, on the other hand, in late March, was cold, damp, and chilly as the temperature struggled to rise above 10 °C (about 50 °F). We’re not accustomed to the low temperatures anymore! 

Sunset in March on Isla Mujeres

While island friends tortured us with Facebook photos of beautiful, sunny weather, we bitched and complained about being cold. 

Our discomfort was partly our own fault for not purchasing the necessary items to bundle up and stay warm. 

Lawrie wore sandals the entire time, except for the formal part of the wedding ceremony. 

He was unable to convince his feet that they should be stuffed into stiff, unyielding shoes. I kicked off my shoes at the wedding once the dinner was served. What a pair of beach-bums we have become.

Lawrie the MC at John and Maia's wedding

With only two days of sunshine among the fog, rain, and drizzle, John and Maia got lucky for their special day. Sunshine!  And a week later, the day before we left was also sunny and slightly warmer.  

Everywhere we went, people were hidden under cozy jackets, scarves, and hats. One restaurant provided fake-fur wraps to patrons who wanted to eat outside on their patio. 

At the end of the day, photographers gathered along the ocean shoreline, snapping pictures of the spectacular sunset similar to the eye-popping colours of an Isla Mujeres sundown. 

Fake-fur wraps for the outside patio

Meanwhile, back on Isla Mujeres, the temperatures were flirting with the lower thirties Celsius (mid to high eighties Fahrenheit). Hot, sunny, and breezy! 

Now we know what it feels like when we torture our northern friends with pictures of people wearing shorts and bathing suits in February. 

Doesn’t mean we will stop tormenting you; it just means we can empathize a tiny little bit…maybe, until we forget what it was like.

Lawrie - happy to be back on Isla

And as a last ‘gotcha’, our Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Cancun did not have heat inside the aircraft. 

Cold! Oh, my goodness, at the end of the five and a half hours, we were darn near frozen solid. When the doors opened on the aircraft, we were happy to be back in the land of warmth and sunshine.

Despite the chilly weather, we wouldn’t have missed John and Maia’s wedding for anything.  

John & Maia. We wish you endless happiness.

It was a beautiful ceremony connecting two extraordinarily happy people and their blended families.   

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

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