Some things never change: life in Isla Mujeres Mexico!

Longer days - beautiful weather

Huh!  I’ll be darned!

Scrolling through 20,472 photographs of Isla Mujeres we have taken in the last few years, I realized there definitely is a repeat pattern to life here on the island. 

June is prime time for the boisterous political parades. The campaign for Governor of the State of Quintana Roo was in June 2009. The campaign for Presidente of Isla Mujeres occurred in June 2010, and it is happening again in June 2013. State and federal elections are held every six years, while local elections are held every three years.  The mandate for our local Presidente, Hugo Sanchez, was a bit shorter as the election officials wanted to synchronize the dates statewide.

2009 State elections

The political parades are entertaining, so we don’t mind the noise of the various campaign slogans and accompanying music. The PRI party seems to like rap music similar to Pit Bull, and the PAN soundtrack sounds like One Night in Bangkok, or maybe it’s Putting on the Ritz – one of those.  I find myself humming along as the boom-box golf carts pass by our house, again and again and again.

June is also the time for torrential rainstorms interspersed with silky smooth seas and brilliantly sunny days.  In June 2011, Tropical Storm Arlene paid us a visit, flooding many parts of the island.  

This year, a storm sat over Isla for about a week before grudgingly moving on to Florida, where it became Tropical Storm Andrea - the first named storm of 2013. TS Andrea set rainfall records in various parts of the USA, and probably here on Isla. I have seen reports of up to 2 feet of rain for the week. That’s a lot of water!  

2011 TS Arlene flooded streets in Centro

So much water that two separate sightings of crocodiles swimming on roadways were reported; one in the hotel zone in Cancun, and one in the area by the Hacienda Mundaca Park on Isla.  

Strange areas, such as Captain Tony’s front yard at the higher southern end of the island, were turned into lakes. He and his dog went kayaking - on the front lawn.  

We were wet and cranky, experiencing a bit of cabin fever as we huddled in our house, staring out the rain-drenched windows as sheets of rain obliterated our ocean view. 

 

Lawrie, clearing the street drain near our house

And predictably, every year the heavy rains cause migraine-sized headaches for store and restaurant owners in Centro. Even though we are an island made primarily of sand and coral, the water doesn’t dissipate rapidly enough. The various pumps just can’t handle the flow.  This time, there was also a problem in the electrical panel for the pumps, causing a further delay in reducing the water buildup. Many drainage trenches were clogged with sand and trash.  

In the summer months, we frequently check the two large drains a few hundred feet south of our house. We have, on occasion, been out there in the pouring rain, rakes in hand, clearing the debris, reducing the accumulating water to a few inches instead of a few feet. I wonder do we qualify as city workers? Maybe we will get an invitation to the annual Christmas party?

Swimming with whale sharks, June 2009

On the upside, June is one of our favourite months because the ocean is teeming with sea life. It is turtle mating season, and the beginning of their nesting season. June is also, in my opinion, the best month for enjoying a swim with the whale sharks, those graceful forty-foot long submarines that are in truth neither whale nor shark, but the world’s largest fish. Fewer tourists equal a better experience when swimming with these gorgeous creatures. In June, most Canadians, Americans, and Europeans are enjoying fine weather in their own hometowns. Later in the summer, when crowded cities heat up, we will see another uptick in tourism, particularly from European countries.

Turtle tracks on our beach

June is also the beginning of the migration season for various species of rays, including the Golden Rays and Manta Rays. We were fortunate a few years ago to watch as a large group of rays passed our house on the east side of the island. The females leap high into the air, contracting muscles, and expelling a cylinder-shaped live baby ray. The babies’ wings unfurled as they entered the water, and away they sped following the family group.  Pretty darn cool to see!

It’s comforting to know that some things never change. Next year, we’ll be doing most of the same things again: viewing the turtles’ mating season, swimming with whale sharks, watching for the migration of rays, and enjoying life with our friends and family. 

Ah, beautiful, peaceful June.

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

"Oh the noise, noise, noise: Carnaval, Island Time Fishing Festival, and a Pitbull concert!



Local cutie in parade

Carnaval is over! Finished for another year.  Damn, we miss it already. The loud music, whistles, honking horns, laughter and traffic-stopping parades created havoc for the five days, and we loved it. As the third annual Island Time Fishing Festival and country music acts were winding up, Carnaval was revving up.

There were events for everyone to enjoy.  You could watch the coronations of several kings and queens, starting at pre-school age, working up to seniors, culminating with the celebrity king and queen. Several dance competitions were held on various evenings at the municipal plaza.

 Or you could take your pick of three different parade nights, if you were patient and didn't mind the confusion of start times or start locations. 

Rio-style whistles, drums, horns



We decided to watch the first parade on Saturday night, before Lawrie and I headed into Cancun to see a concert.  We picked out a good viewing spot along the Malecón and settled in with friends to wait for the parade. One side of the Malecón was blocked to traffic to allow for a staging area. However, the driver of the Corona bus apparently didn't get the memo and tried to enter the parade line-up from the wrong end. Part of the problem was that the bus was too tall to move under the electrical wires. These wires were scheduled, last year, to be rerouted underground as part of the new road work project. Instead, a Corona employee was stationed on the metal roof of the bus with a long piece of wood, assigned to lift the electrical wires up while the bus moved along the road.  

A logistics nightmare!

Then some floats, or pick-up trucks stuffed with dancers and celebrants, formed up at the head of the line, blocking the float for the carnival king and queen. The celebrity floats were then moved from the back of the line to the front, but someone forgot to tell the participants about the location change.  So, we waited, and waited, and waited for the parade to start. Eventually, the celebrities found their floats and the parade began. The enthusiasm of the dancers was contagious. The crowd joined in, yelling, whistling, clapping and cheering with great vigour. With the late start, we had to leave before the parade was over to catch the water taxi to Cancun. We had tickets to see Pitbull, a high-energy hip-hop Cuban-American singer. Lawrie's choice!

More Carnival parade participants

We checked into the Ibis Hotel in the business district of Cancun and had a tasty dinner at their in-house Italian restaurant.  Then we were off to the concert, scheduled to start at nine in the evening.  We got to the football stadium around 8:45, and hiked to the end of the extremely long line-up. Doing the ten-step shuffle for forty-five minutes, we arrived within a hundred feet of the gates - just as they were slammed shut. That side of the stadium was full, and everyone now had to run around to the other side and line up again. It's quite entertaining to watch young women run in skin-tight jeans and five-inch tall stiletto heels.

Amazing Carnival costumes

We found a good spot in the general seating section, costing around $25.00 as opposed to the floor seats, starting at $150.00, finishing up at $500.00. Then, yes, we waited, waited. Waited. Around 11:00 p.m., a warm-up act started, then another, and another and finally the main attraction, Pitbull, deigned to start his act at midnight. 

It was a fun and lively performance. And we had fun people-watching. In the expensive section, the seats were white leather sofas, with waiters attending to the needs of the audience. Several long-legged women strutted their stuff in sequined shorts or mini-skirts. We watched one couple take a tour of the stadium in the field every hour, showing off her sparkly shorts and long legs.

The final events of Carnaval wrapped up on Tuesday with the burning of Juan de Carnaval (in effigy) after the late-night mass service. We, on the other hand, couldn't stay up that late, opting instead to attend the very successful annual PEACE Mardi Gras fundraising event held at La Luna nightclub in Centro. 



Last night of Carnaval -wrapping up in Centro



Today we are back to normal. 

Quiet. Eating at home. Reading.  

 

Hasta luego,

Lynda & Lawrie



(We didn't take a camera with us to the Pitbull concert, thinking it might be confiscated at the gate.)

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