Isla Mujeres is located about 5 miles (more or less) off the coast of Cancun. The island itself is about half a mile wide and maybe 5 or 6 miles long. There are a few cars: taxis, police, but the main way you get around is to rent scooters or golf carts - we rented a golf cart. Here's Karen next to ours, it was all I could do to keep her from pimping it out with dingle balls:
Thursday, today, we spent most of the day driving around the island and checking everything out. First thing we came to, was a small (very sad) zoo, located at the site of the very first hacienda on the island. But, hey, for $2....we took a look.
Beware!:
The zoo had only four different animals in it:
1. This cute little guy running loose, it's name starts with a C, honestly can't remember what it is:
2. Next, the wild boar (caged) -- with the worst smell imagineable!! Good thing I'd not yet had breakfast or it would surely be lost:
3. Then, a cage full of crocodiles (or alligators?) Crocs, I think but not positive, there were no signs telling you what you were looking at:
4. Last, a large chainlink cage of monkeys, very cute but we kept our distance to avoid hurt, and any flying feces:
Outside the zoo, you could buy fresh coconuts and drink the juice, kind of tasty:
Then, we were off to the eastern tip of the Island, also the most eastern tip of Mexico. Here are a few views from there:
Looking east - at the very tip, there were some Mayan ruins of a temple, but after visiting Chichen Itza earlier, plus not wanting to pay admission to walk out there, we didn't go all the way to the end. Next time!
And, from that same vantage point, looking west back over the island. See the iguana on the rocks?:
There is a small lighthouse on the point that we climbed, here's a view from the lighthouse looking back to Cancun. You can barely see the city skyline on the horizon:
View down the lighthouse steps on the descent:
Can't forget the statue....Isla Mujeres is the Isle of Women, the ruins at the tip of the point were supposedly to the fertility gods. Now here's a statue you won't find in public in the States. Remember a few years ago when Starbucks banned the mermaid logo that had a split tail? The Starbucks mermaid has nothing on this!:
Detail:
So, back to the west tip of the island for some shopping and food, we are now starving (again).
Along the way, we see this conch shell house -- I remember seeing this on Extreme Homes!:
Wait! OMG!! Stop the golf cart, there goes a double decker pig bus!:
It's difficult not to notice the extreme poverty of the people here, even though paradise is all around. I couldn't help taking a few photos of the housing situations here, it really is sad:
We had been told by a couple different people we met that a great place to eat was the little seafood restaurant on the island, right to the left of where you get off the ferry. So, we checked it out. The tables and chairs sat right on the sand, from our table, here was the view over the water:
And, of course, no outdoor meal would be complete without a traveling sales person to vend their wares! Karen bought several bags and a belt, and I purchased a bag for $3 plus a hand knotted belt for about $2:
Commercial zone of Isla Mujeres:
After lunch and shopping, we went back to our timeshare to swim a little before dinner. We had dinner at supposedly the best Italian restaurant on the island (not) -- Karen's fresh Tuna came with french fries and was beyond rare -- it was raw. They did make it right for us, and we were entertained by these guys during dinner too:
Then, back to our timeshare for the night. Tomorrow is Friday, our last full day on the Island.
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