On March 9, 2010, we entered the Western
Caribbean, making our first port of call at Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Here
it is, almost three years later, and fittingly, Isla Mujeres will be our
last port of call in the Western Caribbean. Since leaving the San
Blas on December 1, it has been a fast-paced trip revisiting,
although briefly, the places we got to know so well on the way to the
south and to the west. It has, in many ways, been so much more
relaxing on the return since we have been revisiting what had become
something like our local neighborhoods, where everything is familiar.
More than anything, it has been a time
for reflection as the memories have come surging back, especially of
the people we have met, but also the places we visited and the things
we did. We have necessarily spent a lot of days and nights at sea
since leaving the San Blas, so we have had a lot of time to recall our
experiences and reminisce.
Isla Mujeres is as good as ever, and we won't mind being delayed here waiting for the weather. We are at Marina
Paraiso, the same marina we stayed at three years ago. The cruising
community, at times, can be so small. After getting our dock lines
secured, I looked over to the boat next to us and was shocked to see
Nicki on Ajaya, waiting to say hello. We last saw Phil and Nicki in
Providencia and really thought that was to be our final goodbye.
That is one of the great aspects of this life, that you never really
know when you will see your friends again, but you usually do.
I should mention that on the way to Mexico, we did spend some time in Belize, spending a few days each in both Placencia and
Caye Caulker and overnight stops at smaller cays. We like Belize and
found the check-in and checkout procedures much improved, especially the
fees charged, meaning they now seem uniform and aboveboard. Approaching Isla Mujeres, we passed Cozumel during the night and Cancun in the early morning hours. It was amazing to see the bright lights at both places, especially after so long in Central America, where in many places electricity is prohibitively expensive, not to mention unreliable.
We didn't plan it this way, but they
are having Carnival in Isla Mujeres this weekend. We have never been
to Carnival, and from what we have seen so far, the one here is family
rated, which is what we would have expected based on our past
experiences on the island.
As readers of this blog know, we have
been traveling with Daragh and Cathryn on Chantey V since
Providencia. It has been a great partnership as our schedules could
not have been more closely aligned. We will be going our separate
ways now, as they are headed for Cuba and then to the Bahamas, and
well, we are not. They are a very interesting couple, and I am
sure they will have some interesting stories to share about Cuba and
beyond.
