Just back from a whirlwind five day vacation in Mexico on Isla Mujeres, just off the coast of Cancun. Normally we tried to have longer vacations; the hassle of the plane trip makes anything less than eight to ten days not worth it, especially when you live near a second-rate airport like RDU. However, like many things we do, this one had an ulterior motive; to see if we could actually self-cater on a foreign vacation. The short answer is that five days is too short to really get in the groove.
Going on vacation to an all-inclusive resort is a great experience, but the longer you stay, the more it becomes a grudge match between your better instincts and the constant parade of buffet tables. After all, you are on vacation, so a little over-indulgence is part of the process. But the wife and I tend to do two weeks in some tropical paradise, and after the first seven days, you start to look and feel like a beached whale. Self catering could save money and make your vacation both healthy and relaxing. Being at that point in life where we are serious looking at doing a month or more abroad, time to give it a try.
This vacation was a birthday surprise from my wife. We have been to Mexico a few times before, around ten years ago, both with our friends Mickey and Colleen, who had a time share down south at that time. Both were fun vacations, but there is always some version of the 'Tijuana hustle' going on. When we discovered Antigua, it was more genteel and British, and we started going there instead.
It was surprising to find that my wife had booked a quick trip to Isla Mujeres, although we had visited it on both occasions for a quick lunch out and found it very nice. In particular, I have vivid memories of ceviche piled high on a plate, enough for four, all before a full lunch later. Now it would be five days at a place that is noted for it's beaches, Playa Norta. And we'd be trying to do one meal on our own, getting a toe in the self catering waters.
The trip down was a typical nightmare, getting to the airport at 3:30 AM to make the connecting flight to Charlotte, then sitting on the tarmac for an hour while our antiquated plane had to be fixed, getting to the arranged shuttle late. How old was the plane? It actually had cigarette butt dispensers yet not a single video screen. But the shuttle was ready, and the driver handled getting us to the ferry professionally.
Hats off to the Mexican ferry system; it was clean, efficient, and punctual. Having not been to Isla Mujeres in ten years, and only then stepping off a boat to eat lunch, walking through downtown to our condo was a bit of a shock. Downtown Isla is a cross between Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Tijuana, with more hustle per block than I've experienced in a while. For a small fee, we had a local with a cargo bike carry our luggage, since he knew where we were going and we didn't.
The condo itself was fine, two bedrooms and one bath. Nautibeach Condos was right on Playa Norta, the one big hunk of sand on the island. The geography of the place is that to the east, facing the open Caribbean, is a strip of rock that gets downright primeval as you head south. The currents deposit the silt of sand to the west and north. If you want the breeze and a sea view, go east. If you want beach, go west. The north side is the most popular, crawling with humanity on the weekend.
It always warms my heart to see the locals enjoying the place as well as tourists, making me feel less like a marauding outsider. Once we got settled, it was down to the sand. The place was packed, with chairs and umbrellas for rent by the hour. Our place had a piece of sand and chairs provided, but before we could settle down too much, we had to find a grocery store and get at least the essentials for the next day's breakfast.
This was, frankly, unnecessary, but it's the way my wife functions. An early riser, she makes her coffee often before six in the morning. Food was cheap, and there were more than enough restaurants serving breakfast. But we braved the downtown hustle and wandered until we found a small supermarket and grabbed the necessary provisions. We also caught some grub at a charming little hole-in-the-wall called 'Rene & Renee', with zero ambiance but good food at a low price.
One thing that I cannot complain about on Isla Mujeres are the meals, which were cheap, healthy, and tasty. Lots of good seafood, broiled or pan fried, served with rice and either a small salad or some fresh vegetables. If you didn't load up on alcoholic drinks, you could easily get an appetizer and two meals for under $25. The fancier the restaurant, the more expensive it gets. If you really wanted to be adventurous, there was plenty of street food even cheaper, such as two tacos and a beer for 100 pesos, but we didn't venture that far down the evolutionary path.
Saturday was pleasant, in the high 70s, with the beaches overflowing. The local women love to wear thongs, whether they should or not. It was actually rather obvious to recognize the tourist by the lack on buns on display. Luckily, this trend didn't spread to the male of the species. Dozens of boats moor off the east end of the beach all day long, people swimming and snorkeling everywhere.
Everything was fine until we came back from dinner that night. The road to our condos was blocked to traffic but they let us past. There were armed Federales in ski masks holding automatic weapons, all for a wedding happening right next to our area. Okay so far, until the incredibly loud music started around 11 PM and continued at top volume until 5:30 AM. Could you ask this guy to turn it down? Seriously?
The entire condo crawled out from whatever rock they were trying to hide under all night long while relentless subsonic bass literally caused the windows of our unit to shake constantly. The wife was not amused, and was not alone in that opinion, but there was nothing we could do. Another nice day, but complete lack of sleep had me on the verge of hallucinating. The good news was that it was easy to meet the other people staying there, since everyone wanted to bitch and moan about the unbelievably loud music playing constantly for over seven hours.
We picked up some good intel; most important was the need to rent a golf cart and explore the rest of the island. I had wanted to do that from the beginning, but the wife was on a tight budget, made tighter from the fact that it was universally noted that the use of any credit card in Mexico meant that your account was guaranteed to be hacked. The only choices were all cash or a burner card with a limited amount of debit, to be disposed of immediately after the trip.
The whole point of the vacation was to see how well we would do restricting ourselves self-catering. I was only cooking one meal a day, breakfast, but we bought our own beer and tequila. Making margaritas proved difficult because, while you could buy the drink anywhere on the island, buying triple sec or club soda was virtually impossible, at least in the downtown area. I improvised, using mango juice along with the limes, and the wife scarfed them up hungrily.
It rained Monday, and while the wife pouted somewhat, I welcomed it as I always do when on this type of vacation. It's a day to catch up on sleep and let my skin rest from the relentless sun baking. Finding another great restaurant Sunday, Terraza Isla Mujeres, a really nice second floor place right on the pedestrian strand of Miguel Hidalgo, we had another great meal after renting out a golf cart for $50 for the day and taking a quick trip about a mile down the island. Convinced that I wasn't going to kill anybody, we set out to have our great adventure on Tuesday, my birthday.
The rain had left, although it was still overcast and windy. Gradually the sun was coming out. By nine in the morning, slightly chilly, we were puttering down the road towards the south point of the island, taking the east road, with many houses in rubble, testament to the storms that damage the fragile island. There is a bigger town in the middle of the island, more mellow, with a real supermarket. The houses became noticeably more opulent the further south you went.
The great surprise was at the south point of the island, a Mayan temple and sculpture park on a rocky promontory, wind swept and spectacular. It was the best birthday present I have received in a long time, perhaps ever. On the top were rusting pieces of art, a reminder of the impermanence of existence in the relentless onslaught of time. The actual temple had once been impressive but had suffered serious damage in a storm back in 1988.
There were pathways down from the end, all safety barriers long rotted away, the incredibly perilous
and crumbling steps going straight down to surf and tidal pools. It felt like I was wandering in a Roger Dean album cover. While the wife sunned herself back by the cantina, I spent about an hour videotaping the area and taking pictures. It was some truly spectacular scenery.
We wandered back, checking out the high end peninsula where all the fancy resorts are. On the way back, my wife spotted a place called Restaurant Green Verde. We were a little too early for lunch, so we had a second breakfast instead. The food was the best in our trip to the island, highly recommended, very fresh with a great presentation.
Then I spotted the Soggy Peso, a bar highly recommended by the Minnesota Mafia, three guys on a bachelor trip down who were very friendly and helpful. Down a dingy alley, only to come out in a really nice courtyard, complete with a pool and a small beach with a dock leading to the bay. The margaritas here were downright lethal, just the way I like them, and we sat back to watch the submarine races. Running out of cash, my wife even managed to negotiate the price of the last drink. A wonderful place, and one of the best bars I have ever visited.
Back to the condo for a long swim in the ocean, finishing up our tequila supply since we would be leaving early the next morning. Finally running the gauntlet of Miguel Hidalgo one last time, where every third bar has a live band, we made our way back to Terraza Isla Mujeres for ceviche and enchiladas while a live samba band played. They even did 'Happy Birthday' in my honor, so the wife and I danced, badly but with spirit. Then the fun part of our quick vacation was over.
The next morning, the ferry even had a guitar player, very good, a last blast of entertainment. Then back to the airport, then Charlotte for a long layover. Getting home around 11 PM, I felt bad for Susan, who had to go to work the next day. But it was a wonderful quick vacation in the end, rescued by a great last day.
Did the self-catering experiment work? In a limited way, but five days, really four when you count time for travel, is too short. Plus, the food was so good and cheap that on Isla Mujeres it was a bit pointless. But we are planning to hopefully do a month or more in Antigua, where the meals are considerably more expensive. It is do-able in the right circumstances.
If we go back to Isla Mujeres, it is doubtful that we would stay near Playa Norta unless it was another quick trip. More pleasurable would be staying in the middle of the island, near Restaurant Green Verde and the Soggy Peso. That way, you are out of the Tijuana hustle, visiting the downtown area when you want, but being able to relax in an out-of-the-way corner. We met plenty of people from Wisconsin and Canada who were spending the winter there, but we like it a bit more mellow.
Either way, it was a fun trip and a good learning experience. The dangers of Mexico are real but overstated. Keep in mind that we are the ugly Americans, coming down for the corruption. No wonder the locals push tequila at you as if it is the cure-all to all the world's ills. Too may Americanos come down to get loaded, stepping all over the local culture and customs. I hope that will never be me.
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