Isla – día cuatro | Random Travel Musings

Isla – día cuatro

This is going to be a long post. Since I was so lax in my last post, I felt I needed to make up for it. For those of you “Islaholics” who are ex-pats or frequent visitors of the island, you’ll probably be bored. You’ve seen these scenes many times, but I want to show my friends at home what it’s like to be on Isla.

First of all, here’s a map of the island. The downtown (el centro) area is in the triangle area at the top of the map. That’s where most of the tourists go and it’s where most of the restaurants and hotels are located. There are resorts and hotels located on the rest of the island…as well as privately owned homes that are available for rent throughout the island. You can get pretty much whatever you want ranging from a basic apartment like I have for only $35 per night…up to a luxury resort room for hundreds of dollars per night.

Since I’ve been sharing my breakfast each day, I’ll include today, too. I went to Bally Hoo, again, because of the pleasant breeze. Just a light one today…didn’t feel like eggs.

So then I felt the need to trek around town to take pictures to show people who have never been here. It’s definitely a Mexican town, and there’s no resort feel. They do have resorts here, and I will show you those places when I rent a golf cart to zip around the island, but they are not evident in the downtown area…with maybe the exception of Ixchel and Privilege Aluxes. But you definitely feel a Mexican influence with many Mexican residents living among all the hotels. Basically, what it comes down to is that if you go to resorts along the Yucatan coast, the only Mexicans you’ll see are the ones who serve your meals and clean your rooms. The Mexicans you see on isla are the ones who live here and work here. That’s what makes it different from other tourist areas. And that’s why I like it. It makes you remember that this is Mexico…it is not just another touristy place with a bunch of chain restaurants and hotels that you can find anywhere in the United States.

Okay..enough with my rant. Here is Isla Mujeres. This is the main governmental office on the island. I swear this place has been painted or renovated almost every single time I’ve been here since 2006.

And here is the main church in town. Looks like they’re putting in a new stairway. I don’t know what they’re going to do with the fountain that they’ve obviously dismantled. It was a good idea, but they obviously didn’t take the wind into consideration.

Here’s the basketball court on the zocalo…

Here’s the parking lot next to the zocalo. Obviously, scooters are the mode of transportation on the island.

Okay, so here’s where I’m just going to start posting pictures of stuff around the island with some brief comments.

Here’s one available for rent…I’d like to see the inside.

I think I need to rent this when I rent a golf cart…

A new place…

Here are some places for sale if anyone is interested…

I’m kind of confused on this one. Is the space between these two homes for sale (which isn’t very much)?

Or is the home included with the space??

Rescue boats…

Creative way to camouflage the meters in the cat’s eyes.

Every time I’ve been on Isla, the woodwork on this door has been perfect. The salt and humidity is so damaging to wood, but they keep it in excellent condition.