Bad weather and turtles

ISLA MUJERES, MEXICO

Isla Mujeres from a distance

Off the coast of Cancun, there lies the little island of Isla Mujeres. The main goal in our trip there was to go snorkeling. The Yucatan peninsula has some of the worlds best underwater sceneries and, of course, I was planning on taking full advantage. I even purchased a snorkel! (Of course, as a diver, I own a mask, but I find snorkels totally useless for that sport and so have refused to own one.) Sadly, the weather didn't agree with us. It was so cold! The tropics lie! The islanders gave us the "oh tourists" look as we wrapped our tank top, shorts and flip-flop clad bodies with towels, while they themselves wore thick wooled sweaters and, in some cases, hats. While I thought the full-on winter gear was a bit excessive, I would have been quiet happy with some of my San Francisco clothing at that moment.

Weather still holding up on the ferry ride

Nevertheless, we weren't going to let the weather totally thwart our trip, especially since it had taken a 45min car ride and a subsequent 15min ferry ride to get there. We were going to make the most of it.

Isla Mujeres is a cute town. The streets are smaller than their mainland counterparts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And I have to say that the people are a bit more laid back. Not as selly-selly as they are elsewhere. I'm not saying that they don't come at you every second, wanting you to take a look at their wares, but I didn't feel like punching anyone all day!

When you get off the ferry, you are right downtown. I have learned that usually, this is not the case. The locations in which ferries (and cruises, although I have never been on one) drop you off, is usually some place where there was space on the island. In other words, there isn't much there. But I guess Isla Mujeres is small enough that the ferry terminal could be placed right downtown. A quick stroll and you will be finished with the shopping district, which sells the same trinkets that you can find anywhere else. I wonder where they come from. Sometimes you see people cutting the Mayan masks out of wood. But truthfully, they all still look the same. Is it a paint-by-numbers kind of thing?

As usual, we were looking to get off the tourist track. We hailed a cab to head to the Tortugranja, the turtle farm. The idea of the turtle farm is to replenish the diminishing turtle population in the area. I, of course, was all about it. First, I was excited to see that the cabbie didn't even try to rip us off. I'm so used to pulling the "you can't be serious" face, that when he said $50 pesos, the price that I had wanted to pay, up front, I kind of just went "oh..." and was a bit stunned. I later found out that the prices are set, and you pay according to how many zones you want to travel between.

Amazingly cute baby turtles

For another $30 pesos each, we were in the turtle farm. The place is tiny, and if you want,  you can get through it in about 15min. But the turtles are so cute!!! There are different bins for different species as well as different ages. And once the turtles are old enough to not get plucked up by bigger fish or birds, they are released into the wild. It's the kind of place that I'm happy to put a few more pesos towards, and so I bought a t-shirt :) I have to say that from our group, I was probably the most enthusiastic about the turtle farm. Emmy and my mother soon started wandering around the surrounding beaches, my mother is search for Margaritas. And Marc stood by my side, mainly I think in support of my obsession. But for anyone who loves turtles, I would highly recommend the Tortugranja.

Although I would have loved to explore the island a bit more, the weather really wasn't treating us well. We were all cold and soon to be wet, as the clouds opened up. We huddled up in a crepe shop for coffee and crepes while we waited for the ferry back to Cancun.

On the ferry, a whole new adventure started. That of the crying baby. I have always wondered what it must be like to be the keepers of "that" baby. The one who is screaming as if someone is trying to rob them of their livelihood. Yes, that was us. Mattheus decided the the world was just too much for him to bare and went at it. I wonder if a full grown human can scream like a 5-month-old can. It's like a whistle, blow horn and person on a mega-phone are going off at the same time. And there is just about nothing that you can do about it. In the end, he calmed down enough to be put on the boob but wow. That was a painful time, especially for my sister. I wonder if next time I'm on a plane, I will roll my eyes at the baby making it impossible for me to fly in silence or wince in sympathy.