A wacky week of fun on Isla Mujeres – something for everyone

Hanging out with family and friends

It’s February in paradise, the high season for tourism, and there is fun for everyone.  

You can buy beautiful crafts, listen to Nashville performers, go deep-sea fishing, hang out with friends, or have a visit with a free-roaming crocodile. 

On Monday night, the Mexican Artesian Pavilion was officially opened by local dignitaries. This national exhibition is here on Isla until February 21^st.  

Beautiful crafts from all of Mexico City photo

The big white tent in centro houses an assortment of beautifully handmade items from several different Mexican states, featuring a tasteful assortment of pottery, hats, jewelry, and clothing.  

It’s a fun place to do a little shopping in the afternoon, especially earlier in the week when an unexpected downpour put a one-hour hold on many of the other activities, such as the Island Time Music Fest.

Hidalgo Avenue, after 20 minute down-pour

Now in their 7^th year, the Island Time Music Fest – and Island Time Fishing Tournament started rocking the island with music and Nashville singers on Monday, February 15^th.  

Originally a smaller, two-venue event it has grown to include a variety of restaurants and bars scattered around the island.  And for the diehards, there is still the exciting fishing component of the event – sailfish, marlin, wahoo, Dorado, and tuna.  

All proceeds from the week-long extravaganza go to funding the Little Yellow School House on Isla Mujeres.

Island Time Music Fest photo

For us, we have had a more personal, but very fun time with family members, first-time-to-Mexico cousins, and an assortment of Canadian friends.  

We ate, drank, napped, ate, drank, and napped our way through two laughter-filled weeks.  

If the fun doesn’t end soon, we will have to buy our clothes at Jones Tents & Awnings. 

Richard, Scott & Judy, Lynda, Linda, Lawrie

The margaritas at the Soggy Peso are now on the “that's-never-gonna-cross-my-lips-again” list for a number of our friends.  Something to do with memory loss, I think.

As for the visit with the free-roaming crocodile, Lawrie’s cousin Scott and I were driving back from taking the two pooches out for their morning swim, and I spotted a local woman standing beside the pond near the new hospital.  

“Ah ha, I bet she is taking a picture of the croc.”  

Smile - say Tequila!

I did a U-turn and we parked alongside the pond. Yep! There was a crocodile stretched out and sunning on a mat of vegetation.  

The crocodile didn’t seem at all concerned at the attention, just continued to sun itself, although I think it was keeping a hopeful eye on the two dogs. Perhaps it was hoping a little morning snack would just happen to come its way.

Just another fun week in paradise!

Hasta Luego

Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

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You know you are an islander when …

Crocodile round-up in front of new hospital

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, enjoying a free meal.

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 a 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 in front of our casa

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 with the display that we forgot to take photos.  The one included with this post was taken by our neighbour.  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   

Fishing boats at sunset L Lock photo

These are just a few of our daily experiences of living on Isla Mujeres.  Many more amusing things 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 mean 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, Sparky, and Thomas

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Tropical creepy crawlies, Isla Mujeres Mexico

Sign  low to the ground so that dogs and cats can read it

Scorpions, spiders, ssssnakes and a lonely crocodile – these are some of the creepy crawlies that call Isla Mujeres home.

A recent post on a community information Facebook page piqued our interest. 

A tourist was aghast at finding a scorpion in a house that they were renting on Isla. The family left the island because they were terrified of scorpions. Someone quipped that maybe they should go back north if they wanted to avoid nasty critters. Well, unless you are in the far-frozen north, up near where Santa Claus lives, that won't work either. 

Canadian scorpions are smaller than this one

Scorpions are found in every country from the tip of South America to central British Columbia, Canada, from Australia north to France, Spain, and across all of Europe and China. There are more countries where they live than countries where they don't live. 

You can run, but you can't hide.

Black Widow & Brown Recluse spiders

And spiders, they live in almost every habitat on the earth. The only places where there are no spiders are the north and south polar regions, the tops of the highest mountains and in the oceans. 

 A few spider species have even adapted to living in the rock and coral crevices of the intertidal zone.

A Scorpion-hunting snake, looks like those on Isla

Well then, what about snakes? The 2900 species of snakes are found throughout the world except for Antarctica, plus the islands of Greenland, Ireland, Iceland and New Zealand. They live in forests, prairies, grasslands, and several species live in lakes, rivers and along the ocean shorelines. The two types of snakes that I have heard about on Isla are both non-poisonous, including a native boa constrictor that typically is not a concern to humans – small pets maybe, but not people.

Scorpion habitat - National Geographic map

As for your chances of dying from a bite or sting? According to the internet statistics for just the USA, out of 140,000 reported snake bites per year, about 5 people die. 

Other stats include about 11 people a year die from scorpion stings, and one or two a year from spiders. The death rate for car crashes, on the other hand, is 3297 people per day in the USA.

Common sign on golf courses in southern BC Canada

For the most part, these critters are more afraid of you than you are of them. They will scoot, slither and crawl away to avoid confrontation with predators and humans. Don't get me wrong, some of these guys can be downright nasty if they bite or sting, especially if you are allergic to their toxins. If you do have a close encounter of the bad kind and are having an adverse reaction, you should get to a medical clinic as soon as possible. Knowing what bit you will be a big help in getting the proper treatment.

So, how can you avoid these bad guys? If we are working outside, we always try to wear a pair of gloves and never put our hands into crevices where we can't see what we are touching - that includes gopher holes on golf courses!

Lonely 14-foot crocodile escaped for 1 day

Before putting on a pair of shoes, we give them a vigorous shake to dislodge unwanted visitors. Give them some warning that you are headed their way, and they will scurry off in the opposite direction.

Usually, we find a few scorpions in our courtyard every year. After my first encounter with a scorpion in southern France, I perfected a live-capture method. 

I place a wide-mouthed drinking glass over the critter, and then slip a piece of paper or thin cardboard underneath. This traps the scorpion or spider inside the glass. I then walk over to an empty lot and set it free. Killing them just doesn't work for me.

A crowd of onlookers watching an escaped crocodile

Stepping on a nest of fire ants – now that can be very unpleasant. These tiny guys are aggressive and like to build nests underground. The entrances are usually an inch or two across and hard to see until you step on it. Then look out! The soldiers will swarm your legs, biting as they travel upwards. I am allergic to their venom and must apply ice packs, plus take an antihistamine as soon as possible. The bites take about two weeks to disappear.

Crocodile captured and returned to its habitat

But what about that lonely crocodile, you ask? He (or is it a she?) lives in the swampy lake at the old Pirate Mundaca Hacienda located in the middle of the island. Two years ago, during a particularly rainy October, it made a break for freedom, scooting down the road past the big church, right on by the new cemetery, and into the ocean.

Free at last! Except someone reported its breakout. Soon there was a gaggle of curious people, the police, the marines toting big guns, and a boatload of fishermen chasing the reptile while it swam towards Playa Norte and a buffet of tasty pale tourists. It swam so quickly past our house that I couldn't get a decent photo, so I hopped into the golf cart and drove ahead of the swarm of onlookers. Eventually, the crocodile was netted in the bay near Centro and returned to the lake at the hacienda. Occasionally, I wonder what exactly that crocodile feeds on, all by itself in that not-overly large lake?

Crocodile habitat at the Pirate Mundaca Hacienda

So you see, we do have lots of interesting and somewhat dangerous things living on Isla, but changing your vacation plans just to avoid the creepy crawlies seems like an overreaction. 

Come back! Give us another chance, you'll love it here.

Hasta luego, 

Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Thomas

~

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Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

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