Funny things that are so very ‘Isla’ Unfinished government projects!

Living in a foreign country can be downright comical at times, and doubly so when living on a small island off the eastern coast of Mexico.

At the southern end of Isla Mujeres, there is a security wall with shards of broken glass cemented into the upper edge. The wall protects an almost empty piece of land, a replica of a Mayan ruin, and a collection of derelict boats.

Three-sided glass-topped security wall

Recently a squatter decided to set up housekeeping inside the windowless concrete shack. The property owner, rightly so, had the person evicted and the street-side entrance bricked over. Then shards of glass were added to the top of the wall as a further deterrent to trespassers. 

Because of the sharp embedded bits, the iguanas lost a handy spot for sunbathing, and the birds had to find other places to rest, but other than that, not much has changed. Strangely, the wall only provides security to three sides of the property.  

The Tower - at the refuse transfer station

Another source of amusement is located inside the municipal refuse transfer station, also near the southern end of the island. 

A large concrete structure was built in the early spring of 2013 under the direction of then Presidente Hugo Sanchez. The three-story high edifice is imposing. 

It towers over the empty building located directly behind it. We’ve never figured out the purpose of the fortification, but it now has a veritable garden of plants sprouting on several levels.

Hacienda Mundaca - new, unused entrance

Then on the western side of the island is the beautiful new entrance to the federally controlled Hacienda Mundaca, the historic home of the island’s most well-known pirate, Captain Fermin Mundaca. 

From the fall of 2014 to the spring of 2015, construction crews slashed a path in the jungle and erected a tall concrete block wall to surround the estate. 

Stone-faced sign for new entrance

Their final job was to create the stunningly beautiful new entrance with two soaring hacienda-style gates, a decorative iron fence, and a stage for community performances. 

Well-signed and ready to go, the new entrance still remains closed and idle, a repository for wind-blown litter.

Part of the sewer line project 

And another head-shaking bit of island trivia. In 2014, the municipality contracted to have Rueda Medina re-paved on the western side of the airport from about the naval base to the Coca-Cola plant. 

Several business owners in the area petitioned the city to work in conjunction with the water/waste corporation, Aguakan, to install sewer lines before paving the road. Good idea. Very forward-thinking of the business folks who struggled in the busy tourist winter season with almost daily pump-outs of their wastewater holding tanks. The companies ante-upped the fees to Aguakan for the new sewer lines, and the project got underway. The road was dug up, lines installed, and detours around the work changed daily. 

It was a huge project that lasted for months, creating a financial hardship for several companies located along that piece of road. However, the consensus was that in the end it would be well worth it. Except, the sewer lines have never been connected. The school, homes, and businesses must still have their holding tanks regularly pumped.

Rueda Medina the 2010-2011 project

But the biggest ‘oops’ that provided hours of entertaining speculation is the construction project that began in the fall of 2010 and continued for at least eighteen months, if not longer. 

The multi-level proposal aimed to beautify Rueda Medina, the main entrance to the island, to impress the arriving visitors. To that end, underground wiring was planned for all of the homes and businesses along Rueda Medina from the corner by the Aluxes Hotel to the car ferry terminal. The existing rough pavement was to be replaced with attractive stamped concrete. And to prevent unnecessary flooding during rainstorms, large drains would be installed at regular intervals along the street. Well, the contractors did lay the pretty new stamped concrete surface for the road.  

Paradise

Mexico has been our beautiful and charming home country for several years.  Sometimes, it can be very entertaining, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Hasta luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

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Isla Mujeres Mystery series

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Isla Mujeres: Un-Discovered, Un-Forgettable, Un-Cancun!

Fishing boats at sunset

“This is my favourite part of Cancun,” the woman sitting beside me said.

Quickly, I swallowed my mouthful of wine to prevent it from being snorted out through my nose. Perplexed, I turned to look at her and noticed her all-inclusive resort wristband.

“Cancun?” I said, my eyebrows rising up, questioning.

Sand art on North Beach

“Yes, we are on a day trip from the hotel zone. This is my favourite part of Cancun.”

Lawrie just smiled and diplomatically said, “This isn't Cancun. This is Isla Mujeres. We're a separate community.”

“Oh!”

Same location - next day, are we in Cancun?

A few days later, when I was walking along the shore of North Beach, I noticed a sign that someone had built in the sand. It said: Dream Trip! Yep, good assessment. The next day, I passed the exact same sign, and someone had changed it to read: Cancun. 

Apparently, more than one tourist is confused about where Cancun is located.

Casa Sirena T-shirts 

As Steve Broin, proprietor of the delightful Casa Sirena Bed & Breakfast located in Centro, is fond of saying: Isla Mujeres is Un-Discovered, Un-Forgettable, Un-Cancun. Just a twenty-minute ferry ride from the mainland, Isla is a small island hamlet where people generally know a little bit about you, or sometimes a lot, and even occasionally too much. 

Street vendor

It's a friendly, open-hearted community where ex-pats and locals co-mingle. Many long-term expats tirelessly help out with local charities, animal rescue, and student educational programs. Visitors and residents can choose to be very involved or can maintain a lower profile. It's a personal preference.

Like Cancun, Isla does have four all-inclusive resorts: The Privileges Aluxes, The Mia Reef, The Isla Mujeres Palace, and now the Hotel Villa Rolandi has changed to an all-inclusive. However, most of the accommodations are located in condominiums, small quirky hotels, a large hostel, and private houses. The tourists who discover Isla usually have a more adventurous outlook on life, preferring to try something new rather than to ensconce themselves in an all-inclusive, this-could-be-any-beach-resort-in-the-world, atmosphere.

Golf carts are a favourite transportation

As soon as you step off the boat, you will realize this is very un-Cancun. The first clue is the number of golf carts on the road – about 800 are available for rent, and many more are privately owned. It's a fun and unusual way to explore the island. 

Then there are numerous tiny restaurants and bars scattered throughout the various neighbourhoods, augmented by street vendors with their mobile food carts. Another clue that this is not Cancun would be the dozens of small fishing boats pulled up above the tide line, festooned with nets, anchors, and bait buckets – ready and waiting. Or perhaps the coco frio vendors, who with the whack of a sharp machete will lop the top off a coco and hand you a cool, nutritious drink, all for around two dollars.

Nutritious coconut water 

Unlike Cancun, the island has a huge Naval base, just to the right of the passenger ferry docks. Several Navy ships, including the fast rescue boats, are often berthed in front of the base. There is a navy hospital, barracks for single personnel, and family housing as well. Frequently, the enlisted personnel can be seen exercising, practicing drills, or doing maintenance chores at the base. 

And the airport – well, that belongs to the Navy, but occasionally is used by visiting dignitaries or pilots who have connections. However, a word of advice: be discreet if you are taking photographs of the Navy base or the boats. For security reasons, photographers are not welcome.

Navy personnel

Isla is a tight-knit, family-oriented community. Many islanders have lived here all their lives, as have their parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents and so on.

Isla is not the anything-goes party-til-you-drop atmosphere of Cancun. 

Come visit. Enjoy. Be kind to our little island and you'll have a wonderful experience, one that will keep you coming back time and again.

Un-Cancun

And please, don't make me snort my wine through my nose by telling me this is your favourite part of Cancun. 

That's wrong, just so wrong.

Hasta luego,

Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Thomas

(Thanks to Steve Broin for his great quote: Un-Discovered, Un-Forgettable, Un-Cancun!)

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

Nothing remains quite the same, Isla Mujeres Mexico!

It’s been ten years since we discovered Isla Mujeres. Ten years! That’s a mere slice of time compared to a number of our friends who stumbled upon this island paradise 20, 30 or 40 years ago.  We are relatively newbies to this island.  Looking back through some of our many photos, I thought it might be fun to share a few of the older ones. 


The first time we visited, we crossed the strait between the mainland and Isla Mujeres on one of the Magaña boats, the dank and smelly Caribbean Miss spewing diesel fumes as it laboured across the water. The after-sunset taxi ride from Centro led along a bewildering series of dark streets, curving roads, and a potholed-almost-not-a-road, eventually depositing us at our rental house at Villa Makax, Steve and Lindell Lehrer’s cute little casita.  

Our first view, a few days later, of the famed North Beach was stunningly beautiful, sugar white sand stretching across the top of the island, with an unobstructed view all the way to the Avalon Hotel. Before the IxChel One and IxChel Two condo developments, before the Privileges Aluxes Hotel, the only other tall structure at the north end of Isla was the old lighthouse next to Jax Bar and Grill. Smitten with the island, we returned several times, either visiting family or introducing friends to Isla, finally purchasing our lot in June of 2006. 

The changes we notice most are funny little things, things that have personal meaning for us. For instance, the palm trees at Casa Luna Turquesa now almost obscure the house. We and two Canadian friends bought the first two palms for that yard. We purchased two little sticks with a few feathery leaves poking out the tops at a garden centre on the island.  

We hustled the palms back to Casa Luna in two taxis, with drivers who were competing to see who could get their passengers back the quickest. Big tip for the winning driver!

New UltraMar docks under construction 2006

Other changes that have affected us personally include a much better choice of grocery stores. On the first visit, we could only see a choice of eating at restaurants or shopping at the convenience store, Mirtita, in Centro.  

By the time we had built our home in 2007, a St. Francisco Super X-Press had been built in Centro across from the municipal plaza and the church.  

Opening Day at Chedraui Super Store December 2011

A second Super X-Press opened in Colonia La Gloria in 2009, and the Chedraui Super Store with a great bakery department, decent produce section and a good selection of wine opened in December of 2011.  

We still venture to Cancun at least once a month to get the other extras that are not stocked on the island.  This week, when we were doing the Cancun run, we met at least a dozen islanders in Home Depot and the same dozen people in Costco a few minutes later.  We all had a good laugh about doing the circuit of Cancun.

But for me, the best change is the choice in passenger ferry boats, or as we call them, water taxis.  

Instead of enduring the rolling, bobbing, smelly Caribbean Miss, we can ride in air-conditioned comfort on the twin-hulled UltraMar jet boats and make the crossing in fifteen minutes.  

Thank goodness nothing remains quite the same.

Hasta luego

Lynda and Lawrie

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Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

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The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky