La Isla Bonita

We have temporarily given up the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to over the past 3 months, but it's been a good trade-in. We are currently living it up at Mía Reef Resort on the northern tip of Isla Mujeres, a 30 minute ferry ride from Cancún. Before too much detail, I'll catch you up on the past six days. 

Thursday, as Micah mentioned, we had plans to swim in another Cenote. The day started with a hot breakfast at the market, before we rented two vintage bikes- basket on the front, back pedal to brake- and set out in the 90+ degree weather to cycle the 7 km. After a slight detour from a wrong turn (shockingly, I wasn't the leader) we paid 65 pesos each and entered Cenote Samulá. This Cenote was more the cave setting I expected originally, with one small opening of paved stairways leading you underground, and another opening where the earth caved in and roots from a tree could still be seen. The water was chilly but refreshing, the fish were a bit larger than desired to swim with, and the large branch that fell through a hole into the water was a bit scary. We swam and practiced tight-rope walking on the thick rope that cut the water in half before we rode home. Back to the market for another authentic Mexican meal and then we were back to our hostal for the night.

                                                          Cenote Samulá

                              Making good use of the tripod for the camera

Friday morning, we were prepared for a bit of a fight. We paid for 4 hours with the bikes and were told we'd be reimbursed if we returned early. We pedaled our hearts out to make it home in 3 hours and were therefore owed 30 pesos. That's $2, which doesn't sound like much, until you realize that's the cost of 4 tacos, or 2 orders of churros or a very large bottle of freshly squeezed pineapple juice. When we asked for our refund, we were told 4 times to come ask in another hour when "el hombre" got back, until finally we were told we would get our money Friday morning. So we walked downstairs with our room key as hostage and finally got our 30 pesos. We set off for the bus station, bread and fresh mango in hand, and spent the next 3 hours on a comfortable bus that eventually arrived in Cancún.

In typical fashion, we began walking with our packs to find a place to stay. After walking in to 4 places and turning around after seeing the price, we found a place that appeared decent enough for a fair price. I have learned not to judge a book by its cover since we began this trip; "decent" turned in to glorious, with an extremely comfortable bed, good water pressure and AC. As much as we didn't want to leave that temperature controlled room, we set out with a list of things to accomplish that evening. Dinner was at a large outdoor quesadilla joint, where we each tried a new local deep fried dish with generous bottles of tea and juice. The next thing to check off our list was to find a travel book for Cuba. We looked In a used book store with no luck and ended up in Walmart. Mexico Walmart isn't much more exciting than American Walmart and their book selection is nearly non existent, but we did end up purchasing two nice sets of snorkel gear which have already come in handy. How we're going to fit them into our overflowing packs is not yet determined. We walked home from the store, through a park with a concrete stage and a large, flat viewing area. There was a talent show of dancers on the stage and little kids driving mini cars nearly clipping adults in the viewing area, both equally enjoyable to watch.

After tortas for breakfast on Saturday, we began the trek to our resort; one collectivo, a two story ferry ride and a taxi later, we were standing in front of the large tower of the Mía Reef Resort. Sweaty, stinky and with large packs in tow, we checked in, feeling slightly out of place. (We apparently aren't the only ones that thought this; yesterday we were walking near the restaurant, heading back to our room after picking up all of our clothes from the laundromat. The bartender motioned "no" to me, so I walked over while Micah kept walking with the pack full of laundry. When he realized I had a wristband that all occupants must wear and that we weren't trespassing, he exclaimed "oh, you're staying here!" and waved us on. After a few warm showers, good nights rest and clean clothes, we should start to blend in.)

               Ready to be on the ferry after standing in the sun for 30 minutes

                                                      View of the resort

Our itinerary during our week at the resort is pretty simple: do nothing. We've stayed right on track. Saturday we walked along the beach, ate tacos at a local stand in town, and bought groceries. Sunday we tested the water in the pool, glanced at the menu of the swim up bar and watched golf. Monday, as we felt our bodies still adjusting, consisted of dropping off our laundry and snorkeling for an hour. Since the resort is located on an island all of our own (there is a wooden bridge linking the small northern tip where we are to the rest of the island), we are surrounded on all 4 sides by water, and all sides are within a 5 minute walk. The western side is a long, sandy Carribean beach with views of Cancún; the others are reef. Monday we snorkeled on the more popular side, with large rocks of reef and a sunken fishing boat. The fish, although lacking in vibrant colors, were friendly and fearless. We were both amazed by the amount of fish we saw and how close they would swim to us. We also saw a sting ray, but fortunately for Micah we weren't in the water at the time. 

                                                Bar, pool, Carribean 

                                                  The glowing albino fish

                                              Little guy inside the boat

                                                   Churros made to order

Tuesday we walked across the wooden bridge to find breakfast and pick up laundry. Upon returning home and happily smelling and putting our clean clothes in drawers, we found our way back to the pool. Surprisingly, after staying in hostals without toilet seats but with Internet, our room at the resort doesn't have Internet. So we took advantage of the restaurant Internet to do some Cuba research while soaking up the sun. We then went snorkeling at Piscina del Rey or the Kings Bath, a natural pool located two minutes from our front door. We had the place to ourselves and again, swam right next to hundreds of fish that didn't seem bothered by us. There was more variety and color in the natural pool and a few sea urchins hiding in little coves. One of the workers told us she saw a large octopus in the natural pool a few days ago, which we would have liked to see but maybe after a bit of research on how aggressive octopus can be. We ran across the bridge to pick up burritos and tortas for dinner, and made it back just in time to see the sunset off the dock with a glass (or box) of wine in hand.

                                                    Piscina del Rey

                                                  Fearless fishies!

Today we plan to rent a golf cart- or moped, if I can convince Micah- to explore the whole island, including a turtle sanctuary. Then, we will resume doing nothing until Saturday, when we attempt to sneak in to Cuba.