Sparky, the almost famous divo of Isla Mujeres!

The Sparkinator, Sparky

It’s finally happened. I’m famous, or infamous, or something similar. Being a dog, I’m not all that familiar with the fine points of this language.

Just this week, my action adventure novel – Treasure Isla - was published on Amazon. Yep. That’s right, my novel. 

There are other characters in the book, such as the two women who are hunting for buried pirate treasure, dodging disreputable men, and a killer. 

There are good guys and there are bad guys in the book, but in my opinion, I am the main star.

Why can't I sit on the table? I'm famous!

My name is Sparky, or as I am known to my close friends, The Sparkinator! I am a pure-bred Mexican low-rider; a handsome combination of Jack Russel Terrier, a bit of Spaniel, and a touch of Dalmatian. I live on Isla Mujeres in a comfortable house right on the beach, and I have two well-trained employees who cater to my every need.

The first employee is Servant. She is the ghost writer for my novel. Servant also serves my meals, cooks my special requests, and takes me out for walks or golf cart rides to whatever location on the island I wish to explore. 

She also likes to teach me new things. Just this morning, while she was making me a very special meal of chicken bits and other stuff, the container slipped out of her hands and the hot ingredients splashed across the kitchen floor and onto the cupboards. She said some new words that I hadn't heard before. I need someone to translate for me.

Servant also frequently refers to me as a ‘divo,’ which I think translates to special, or very special. For some reason, she shakes her head and rolls her eyes when she calls me a ‘divo.’  

I shake my head when I get ear lice. Maybe she has ear lice.

Buffet for Thomas the Cat and me

My other employee is Driver. He gives me lots of pats and enjoys my company on any one of our sofas, or beside him in the bed. 

He also acts as my alternate chauffeur when Servant isn’t available. Until recently, Driver drove me around the island or in the city of Cancun in my dark blue Mini-Cooper S convertible. 

Sold the Mini-Cooper S

Then one day Driver sold my hot little car. He said I wasn’t using it enough to justify having both a car and a golf cart.

We still have the carito de golf for my daily excursions, but since he didn’t have my permission to sell my sports car, I am considering docking his pay for the next several months. 

It is so difficult to get good help these days.

My novel is only available as an e-book, so I won’t be able to paw-print a copy for my many fans. When my second novel is published in 2017, I am going to renegotiate my contracts with Servant and Driver. They just aren’t treating me with the respect that I deserve.

Hasta Luego

The Sparkinator    

(Lynda, Lawrie, and Thomas the Cat)

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or 

Death in the Vineyards

Elmo, and pirates Invade Isla Mujeres, Mexico!

Take three kids, add eight adults, toss in a few pirate hats, pirate wigs, swords and eye-patches, and you get - a treasure hunt!

On Monday afternoon, we marshalled the group at our house on Aeropuerto Road, starting with the first clue that directed them to the downtown area with instructions to "walk east to where lost souls gather" and to quietly look for the secret clue behind Pirate Mundaca's gravestone. Shhhh. Don't let him hear you.  And be very respectful of other residents sleeping there.
 

From there, Lawrie (Captain Elmo) led them through town, with clues to "walk south past the brightly painted building with a name that translates to either tomorrow or morning." 

Then they trekked along the seawall looking for clue number three, which then directed the group past the Naval base with various directions, including "look for a man named Benito. The fourth clue is behind the golden hands."

I had the easiest job. I kept fifteen minutes ahead of the group in the nicely air-conditioned car, setting out the next clues.  

One stop included the Casa de Gallo - "House of the Rooster" where Chuck and Marcy helped out with clue number five. They also provided a cooling drink of "grog" for the pirates.

Out on the road again, the next clue included "Drive south past: beer so cold it will make your teeth hurt, and turn right onto the road to the newest house of God."  

As it turned out, I had to amend that instruction to avoid that particular route, as various carnival rides were now parked smack in the middle of the road.  Oh well, this well-equipped pirate had a cell phone to communicate with the drivers to re-route the cavalcade of golf carts.

At the Hacienda Mundaca park, in the centre of the island, the group paid the twenty pesos per person entrance fee and stormed the park. The sixth clue was inside Pirate Mundaca's Casa, "behind the light that does not shine." I was waiting hidden in the bushes at the park, watching to see if the group would take the correct path to the next location. Lawrie had dropped off at our house to make sure that the treasure was buried on the beach in front of our house.  

 

Our neighbours snuck onto our beach after the pirate cavalcade left the area, and created a giant X on the beach, along with a terrific sand sculpture of a skull and crossbones!  

Lawrie then buried the three sacks of treasure in the sand.


 
Meanwhile, still back on the treasure hunt, the pirates were told to "walk into the Jardin de Mundaca and look for the source of water, then draw up your seventh clue."  

Finally, the hot, tired group arrived back at our house to look for clue number eight, which directed them to our rooftop.

"Climb Up, up to where you can see the sea. Look to the east - then look down.  What do you see?"  

Pandemonium ensued while the three boys scrambled down the tower staircase to be the first to get their hands on the treasure.

Great fun for everyone. And a special thanks to everyone who participated. 

 

                                _________________________
 

In case you think that we don't do anything but goof around, well, you would be correct in making that assumption. 

This Wednesday week Elmo (Lawrie's secret alter-ego) made a guest appearance at the first anniversary celebrations at Barlito's on Hidalgo.  Judging by the many fans, big and small, clamouring for a photo with Elmo, he was a huge success!

Barlito's was jammed with invited customers and friends of Brad and Tiffany Wareing. Fabulous event, guys, especially the Piñata at the end of the evening. Evan and Ethan (the grand-kids) had a great time at their "first Mexican party."

Wednesday was also "Dolphin Discovery Day" for the guys.  They had a ton of fun there as well.  The Boyz head back to Canada tomorrow afternoon. We've had so much fun these last two weeks with Evan, Ethan, and John, but dear God, we are worn out!

Elmo gets the girl! Lawrie and Lynda

   

A very Merry Christmas, and a special Season's Greetings from all of us to all of you!

Grab your copy today!

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky



Ahoy! Dead ahead be pirates on Isla Mujeres, Mexico!

Garden area of Hacienda Mundaca.

The story of Isla's most famous islander - pirate Mundaca - could have been taken straight from a bodice-ripper romance novel, complete with the love triangle between a sixteen-year-old beauty, her childhood sweetheart, and a fifty-three-year-old pirate who yearned to make the young woman his wife.

The small fishing village on Isla Mujeres in the late 1800s must have been one of the most romantic settings imaginable for the melodrama of these ill-fated lovers.  Imagine: torch-lit nights, hammocks hanging in palapa-roofed houses, and whimsical paths winding between coconut palms to the gentle bay where the fishing canoes were pulled up on the sand-swept beaches.

Pirate Mundaca's home on Isla Mujeres

The pirate Fermín Antonio Mundaca de Marecheaga was born on October 11th,1825, in the village of Bermeo, Santa Maria, Spain.  When he finished his education, he shipped out to sea and eventually became a famous and wealthy slave trader in the Caribbean, selling Mayan slaves to Cuban plantation owners.  In 1860, when the British campaigned against slavery, Mundaca rented out his ships to the Yucatan Government, which continued to capture rebel Mayans and sell them to Cuba, nearly decimating the population of the Yucatan Peninsula.

 
Mundaca then set about building a large hacienda on Isla Mujeres that he named "Vista Alegre" (Happy View). 

It eventually covered over 40% of the island. There were areas for livestock, birds, vegetable gardens, fruit orchards and exotic plants that were brought from all over the world. Fermin Mundaca is said to have built the Vista Alegre using stone taken from the abandoned Mayan structures on Isla Mujeres.

While building his hacienda and expanding his giant estate, he fell in love with a young local girl, 37 years his junior, named Priscilla (some sources say Martiniana) Gomez Pantoja. Born in 1862 on Isla Mujeres, Priscilla is described as a slender, sensual woman with long wavy hair, deep green eyes and light skin tanned bronze by the Caribbean sun.

 



Isla statue honoring La Trigueña

He built her a beautiful garden with great stone arches where he carved her nickname, La Trigueña, above the apex. 

But the dark-haired beauty married her childhood sweetheart, and Mundaca became isolated, lonely, and slowly going insane, reportedly due to syphilis.

Even though he was still wealthy, he abandoned his estate, allowing it to fall into disrepair, preferring instead to live in various other locations on the island. 

Vegetables and fruits ripened and rotted, cattle wandered everywhere, destroying other people's gardens.  The locals feared Mundaca. 



Garden area of hacienda Mundaca

When he passed along the beach at sunset, the friendly chatter would suddenly die, as someone muttered in a frightened whisper.

"There goes Mundaca!"

He died at age 55 in Merida, still in love with La Trigueña. Before he moved to Merida, he built a tomb to be closer to his lost love, which remains empty and can be found in the colourful, crowded downtown cemetery. Etched on his headstone are the pirate symbols, a skull and crossbones, with the words he carved as his epitaph, "As you are, I was. As I am, you will be."



Empty grave of Pirate Mundaca

I wonder if there are any remaining descendants of La Trigueña on the island, cousins, or great-great-grand kids? 

A visit to the remains of the Hacienda Mundaca in the centre of the island costs about two dollars per person. It is well worth the time to see some of the amazing structures in the abandoned garden. Wear lots of bug repellent!

His empty tomb is in the original cemetery at the north end of the island.

Source of details: Alice D. Le Plongeon's book, written in the 1880s.

                     

 

Grab your copy today!

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky