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| Abby and Neil Fox 2015 |
White
sand-swept beaches, emerald green palm trees, jewel-toned flowers and turquoise
water – how could they not fall in love with Mexico?
Vacationing
on Isla Cozumel in 1978 to celebrate their daughter Hilary’s 13th
birthday, her Bat Mitzvah, Abby and Neil Fox heard of a more primitive island,
one that was undeveloped and wild: Isla Mujeres.
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| 1979 Sac Bajo coastline - looking north |
Returning
home from Cozumel they made plans for a week-long adventure for the family on
Isla Mujeres. In 1979 flying into the Cancun airport was an adventure in
itself. Passengers wandered through a ramshackle collection of small huts
– cartónes – and a few chairs, picking their way to and from the
airplanes. Mexican customs and Immigration consisted of one sticky-topped
card table, a chair and an antique manual typewriter; a stamp in the passport
and you’re done. Bienvenido a México! A long
taxi ride to Puerto Juarez, then a slow crossing on the passenger ferry to the
Island and finally they had arrived. On the way into the harbour they
spotted a small sign on the west side of the island: Tortugranja, turtle
farm. Fascinated by turtles they made plans to visit the hatchery while
on Isla.
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| Hotel Berny - sand streets in 1979 |
Once
they settled into the Hotel Berny in Centro they explored the tiny community of
approximately 3000 inhabitants. The streets were covered in soft white
sand creating tricky driving conditions for the few island vehicles, especially
at the intersections. When Neil and Abby arrived on Isla there were only
a handful of cars and motos. Today the estimate is 1800 golf carts, 300
taxis, countless motos and who-knows-how-many cars and trucks. In 1979
the islanders were just starting to spread out into the Salinas Grande area, but
Centro was where the majority of homes, businesses and the only church were
located.
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| Tortugranja 1979 |
Anxious
to visit the Tortugranja, Neil and Abby were able to cajole one of the
three island taxi drivers into transporting them to the turtle farm at Sac
Bajo, along a rock-strewn bumpy one-car-wide lane. The taxi driver
continuously grumbled and complained about the road, the rocks, potholes, and
the bumps. Bad! Very bad for his car!
Turtle
meat was still a staple food for islanders, and a delicacy in restaurants
world-wide. At the Tortugranja the new hatchlings were corralled
in large concrete pools for a few days. At release time the squirming
baby turtles were doled out, a dozen or so in small buckets, to the island
kids. The children jubilantly set the babies free on the smooth sandy
beach at the facility, cheering as “their turtles” swam to freedom.
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| Sac Bajo looking south |
With
snorkels in hand the family ventured into the wilds of Sac Bajo, snorkelling
past Su Casa, the eight rental casitas built in the mid-1970’s by Joseph and
Miriam Greenstein of Woodstock New York. Swimming north of Su Casa
they spotted another sign: Lotes en Venta, lots for sale. They
exited near Steve and Lindell Lehrer’s newly built home, and headed back into
Centro. At the hotel they called the number listed on the sign, but the
number was not in service. For three or
four days Neil and Abby asked islanders if they knew how to get in touch with
the vendor of the lots on Sac Bajo.
Eventually they were pointed in the right direction. The salesman, who was authorized to sell the
lots for the owner, had a store on Rueda Medina where the current Señor Frogs
store is located. The sign outside helpfully stated: Broken English
Spoken Here.
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| 1980 - finally windows and doors! |
Neil
asked the salesman about the lots. The man pulled a map of the island out
from under the counter. “How deep do you want the land?”
Pointing
to the lot they were interested in, Neil replied, “We want one with an easy
entrance to the water.”
The
salesman nodded and shrugged, “I don’t have headlights on my car. I’ll
take you tomorrow morning.”
In
the end they settled on the lot, with the vendor asking for one half of the
purchase price as a deposit. Neil chuckled and replied, “No, I’ll give
you one hundred American dollars until the land changes ownership.” The
salesman shrugged again, “Si. Claro. Okay.”
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| Christmas - furniture stuck at customs until Jan 2nd |
And
then the adventure began. In 1979 all of their building materials had to
be transported to the island. Plywood cost $150.00 US dollars per
sheet. Cancun did not have any furniture stores so Neil and Abby arranged
for fans, mattresses, sofas, appliances, tables and chairs - anything and
everything necessary to furnish a new home to be shipped from Florida by air to
Cancun.
Their first Christmas on Isla they arrived with their two
teenagers and their parents only to discover that the house wasn’t
completed. It didn’t have any doors or windows! Plus the shipment
of furniture sent weeks before was stuck in customs until after the New Year;
everything was closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
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| Abby - hugging their new hot water heater |
Abby
laughs at the memory, “What did we know? We were all alone in this
adventure.”
The
only food stores were Super Bettino, where the Super X-Press is located in
Centro, and the Mirtita Tienda that is now Willy’s grocery store.
For many years Abby brought a variety of things to Isla Mujeres. She ingeniously froze chicken pieces in metal tennis-ball cans for easy transportation. Cat food was packed in suitcases, along with cream cheese and other necessities.
For many years Abby brought a variety of things to Isla Mujeres. She ingeniously froze chicken pieces in metal tennis-ball cans for easy transportation. Cat food was packed in suitcases, along with cream cheese and other necessities.
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| El Zorro - Abby waving from their boat 1984 |
In
the early years utility services were practically non-existent: water came from
a cistern that needed to be refilled; electricity was intermittent and of
exceptionally low voltage burning out refrigerator motors on a regular basis or
barely illuminating incandescent light bulbs; propane tanks had to be personally
transported via the passenger boats and refilled in Cancun.
And the internet or Wi-Fi! It wasn’t invented yet. No one worried about slow internet speed, weak signals, or checking their emails. In 1988 Hurricane Gilberto knocked down out the electrical system on Isla Mujeres necessitating an island-wide upgrade by the power company CFE. When the power was switched back on it was an amazing improvement!
And the internet or Wi-Fi! It wasn’t invented yet. No one worried about slow internet speed, weak signals, or checking their emails. In 1988 Hurricane Gilberto knocked down out the electrical system on Isla Mujeres necessitating an island-wide upgrade by the power company CFE. When the power was switched back on it was an amazing improvement!
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| North Beach from the air - hotel is now called the Mia |
The
only gas station was at the end of the Lima’s dock, near the present day
Ballyhoo Restaurant. Now there are two
busy PeMex stations on Isla; one on Aeropuerto and one on Rueda Medina. The common way to refuel a vehicle was to use
empty paint can for the gasoline and a rolled up newspaper for the
funnel. On one of their adventures into town the vehicle that Neil was
driving ran out of gas near the naval base. In the early years the base
was unfenced and a lot more approachable. They were able to fill up their
gas tank at the naval station, and for no cost. A short time later Neil
purchased a proper gas can, only to discover as he was stepping out the front
door of the store that the gas can had a hole in it. Turning around he
asked the store proprietor for a refund or an exchange.
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| Makax Lagoon - before restaurants, bars, & marinas |
“How
do I know you didn’t put the hole in the can?” the man responded.
Shaking
his head in frustration Neil pointed out to the man that he hadn’t fully left
the store. One foot was still inside when he discovered the
problem. No. No refund, no replacement. End of conversation.
Over
the years Abby and Neil became familiar to the islanders, many offering advice
and help with their new house. One teenager, Javier Ayala became a
fixture in their household and best friends with their son Lennie.
Typically when the Fox family arrived for the new winter season many things in
the house had ceased to function from lack of use - plumbing, electricity, and
door locks, although doors on the island were seldom actually locked. Javier tried to help out where he could -
locating servicemen to do repairs, workers to help with additional construction
around the house.
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| Dolphin Discovery was later built on the leftside of photo |
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| Abby Fox - Dinner time! |
Other times Abby stayed in Centro with the Ayala family or traveled with Javier’s mother to Merida, staying with her family, playing games with the children. It was a fantastic way for Abby to learn conversational Spanish and to understand the Mexican culture.
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| Home Sweet Home - 2015 |
Through
all the adventures and crazy happenings their very best memories are of the
large informal family gatherings; food and drinks, and noise and fun; the huge lobsters
and a myriad of tasty fish that were caught right in front of their home.
The friends of their son Lenny and daughter Hilary invading the house.
Laughter and high spirits and love, much love.
Thirty-six years in
paradise and enjoying every minute of it.
Thank
you for sharing your memories with us!
Hasta Luego
Lynda & Lawrie
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