A Broad Abroad

I’ve alternated between exploring and chillin’. Holbox, or at least the part that is populated, is a narrow, tilted island who’s short-ends face southwest and northeast. The south-eastern length is mostly mangrove swamp that faces the mainland and forms the channel. Along the northwestern-facing length and around the southwestern tip there is gorgeous turquoise water and white-sand beach.

from all the beaches the depth of the water VERY slowly increases and before one even gets the top of a thigh wet one reaches a white sandbar covered only by with ankle-deep water. The water is very clear and the result of the sandbars is alternating blue-white layers as one looks to the water’s horizon. My pics will show this. It’s like a giant, crystal-clear swimming pool between the beach and the first sandbar. the beach-side provides consistently beautiful sunsets and lots of room for exploring.

First I walked southwest and found quiet beaches, a few private residences and then rounded the end of the island. At the tip there is a mangrove-lined lagoon that can’t be walked around but I found that the mouth is shallow enough to ford without getting hip-deep. I shuffled my feet in the water since there are plenty of rays and horseshoe crabs but nothing to be too worried about since the water is very clear. On the other side of the lagoon there are heaps of birds in between holbox and isla pasion and a road that leads around the lagoon and back to the beach if you don’t want to cross the mouth of the lagoon to get back. It’s not possible to follow the water all the way around and along the channel-side back to the far-side of town, as there are mangrove swamps and no path. I didn’t come across even a handful of people the whole way.

Another day I headed north. Part of the way leads past several small resort-type places. The beaches along this stretch are nice. The resorts peter-out, followed by some homes that haven’t been repaired since hurricane Wilma (she reeked havoc here!). but after that there is nothing but pristine beach and about 30 meters behind that, mangrove swamp. Another mangrove-lined lagoon separates this beach from another on the far-side (at punta mosquito), but that can by forded as well via the sand-bar and the beaches continue beyond. One will have to cross back the same way to return.

I heard an unconfirmed rumor that the storm surge from Wilma completely washed over the island. I wouldn’t be surprised since the island is sooo narrow, with no elevation. It certainly would confirm the wise-ness of the ubiquitous cinderblock construction here and everywhere in the Yucatan. I was in playa del Carmen within weeks after Wilma and all they did was shovel out the sand, hose-down the cinderblocks and hang the “abierto” sign again. Oh how much the florida and gulf coast of the US could learn!!! Cancun had a harder time because of all the glass and high-rises.

In holbox tho, if the mangrove swamp were removed I believe the island would simply erode away…..a real threat given the development plans for the island, which include 2 golf courses and 10k residences. I can’t think of anything more disastrous for this mangrove-island. I can only hope it’s hype that never happens.

Italians settled in the area about 30 years ago. They have a knack for finding such lovely places ☺. As mentioned, this place has been compared to playa del Carmen – yet another spot the Italians found early-on. Hotel la palapa is run by Lino, an Italian gentleman with endless energy, constantly maintaining and improving the property, a necessity on the beach. He’s been here decades. When I think of the places on corn island, crumbling into the sea, I think how desperately the need a Lino. The “new” la palapa replaces one that was destroyed by Wilma. Now he’s getting ready for whale-shark season.

One day I rented a golf cart for 6 hours so I could get my camera gear out to the remote beaches. It was about 300 pesos in total ($30) but that price goes up in higher seasons. The busy season is “whale shark” season which begins in june. They are common here at that time and by all accounts are AMAZING to swim with. They are a whale, not a shark (correction!  it is indeed a filter-feeding fish.  alone in its genus and family.  hat tip, amy!). But I still wonder how busy it gets during “high season”. It’s incredibly quiet here now. I will extend my stay tomorrow and make it 8 nights here. Then one night in cancun before I fly out.

I had thought this week on a quiet island would be perfect for reflecting on my travels but I think it may be a little too early for that. I’ve enjoyed reviewing my pics and making sure that when I play them in a random-mode slideshow I can still tell where each was taken (the only tricky ones are the churches). And I’ve only posted a fraction on flickr and my blog!

I expect the biggest lessons from my travels will reveal themselves with time. I maintain that the greatest lesson thus far has been the consistency with which I find people to whom I am drawn. I find no more or no less no matter where I go in the world. As I said, both comforting and disappointing at the same time. It certainly makes me value the friends I will return home to even more. They are like needles in this haystack world. I certainly don’t mean to diminish the quality of the people I have encountered! The world is full of wonderful people and this will continue to lure me to travel. I will simply value even more the people who, to use a cliché, “take it to another level”.

I did some research online on how to get to Isla Holbox coming from Valladolid. Unfortunately, the most standard way to get to Chiquila, the mainland town from which the Holbox ferry departs, is on a direct bus that leaves cancun 3x’s a day. But that would be more than several hours out of my way and nobody should spend more time than absolutely necessary in cancun ☺. Looking at what little info was out there I decided to take the bus to El Ideal (on the road to Cancun at the turn-off to Chiquila) and wait to pick up the bus coming from Cancun.

I don’t know where the town got the name El Ideal unless it was named by the taxi-drivers. It’s really just a small tienda, a drink cart and a taxi stand. The taxi stand had a big board posted with prices to different places tho I can’ imagine why anyone at this crossroads would need to go anywhere but chiquila – and to there the fare read $35. So I sat down under a tree to await the bus. When I boarded the bus that turned off to head to chiquila I was told it didn’t go that far and got off. In retrospect I could have gone to the town on the bus’s route that is closest to chiquila then got a taxi, but I didn’t. they also weren’t very helpful about what buses did go that far and when. The taxi drivers sure weren’t gonna cough up that info. In general I don’t trust what a taxi-driver says about bus times and distances (duh!). But I did know the ferry left at noon and it was getting close to 11. I negotiated a $20 fare with the taxi for the 1 hour trip to chiquila. I didn’t want to part with that 200 pesos, but I also didn’t want to sit under that tree swatting away flies for the next 3 hours. Based on the times for the cancun-holbox bus I should have intersected it at El Ideal with ½ an hour to spare but that bus never came. Mystery.

The ferry to holbox had only a few people on it and the captain invited my to sit up in the captain’s booth with him. Oh yeah (!), and he has a really great hotel where I can stay. This seems to be a very common theme in the Yucatan. I haven’t quite put my finger on what it is, but I have not experienced anything like it in my travels. Almost everyone (and I mean everyone) that has been nice to me in the yucatan has ended up trying to get me to spend money. I know that is common but usually there are regular people mixed in. Merida was the worst. Anyhoo….

For my last week I wanted to be on a nice beach in a hammock. I nixed the captain’s hotel since it was on the channel-side and the nice beaches are on the far side of the island. The island is very narrow so I took off walking to the other side. I was “helped” yet again when I was offered a lift up the road “and by-the-way take a look at my mom’s hotel”, which I did and for $15 a night it charmless but not bad for the price (Posada Los Arcos) but it was on the square and I wanted the beach. Then it appeared at the end of the street: the beautiful turquoise water. I had heard the water wasn’t as nice as on the carib side (here the carib starts to mix with the gulf of mexico) but it looked every bit as nice to me – like an endless bright blue-green swimming pool next to white, white beach.

The town is incredibly quiet and laid-back, with dusty, unpaved streets. It often gets compared to playa del Carmen 30 years ago. There are a few trucks on the island for work-purposes but otherwise the locals use golf carts to get around. When the road from the ferry ended at the beach I turned left, past hotel faro Viejo which I’d read was pricey, and found Hotel La Palapa next door. The friendly Italian owner made me a deal I couldn’t refuse: a gorgeous room with a balcony (and my own hammock!) overlooking the beach for only $40 a night. these digs are sweet. A gorgeous bathroom with big shower where the water tumbles out of a conch shell and cool tile floors throughout. The location near town is great and the owner has planted plenty of coconut trees and built palapas along the beachfront so one can duck out of the sun. lots of other places on the beach don’t have shady spots to lounge.

I’m writing this after 3 days here and I am thrilled to say I picked the PERFECT place to end my travels. This place amazes me. I’ve walked both directions on the beach and have ended up on completely empty, stunning beaches. The water is shallow for a very long ways out so if you like deep oceans to swim in or big waves this is not the beach for you. But it’s the perfect way to cool off after relaxing in the sun or walking on the beach. I’d read the mozzies are bad here but I’ve seen none!

Other than the 2 hotel “sales-jobs” when I arrived, not a soul has tried to sell me anything since I got here. No one hassles you on the beach trying to get you to buy a trinket or take a tour, no one calls to you to come into their shop or shoves a menu at you to come into their restaurant or tries to stop you on the street to buy a bracelet. At any given time you are never looking at more than a handful of tourists. Close to town there are a couple of restaurants on the beach and a couple of bungalows that sell beer and cocktails. Farther away from town there are some fairly fancy hotel/bungalows but I don’t know why anyone would stay anywhere than la palapa ☺. It’s the end of high-season so I suppose there are busier times but it seems like it would be laid back any time of year.

I’m mostly easting on-the-cheap. Behind the hotel there is a small antojito spot where one can get cheap salbutes, panoches, tamalitos and tacos. I hit a tienda each afternoon and buy something random for a snack – an avocado, hunk of cheese or Spanish peanuts. Maybe a cold beer or two ☺. Today I will look for pollo asado to bring back and eat on my porch in the evening. I’m craving it but haven’t found an asadero. I have a bottle of rum in my room that I pour in a glass filled with fresh cut pineapple to let steep – then later add a splash of juice to it.

I tell ya, life is good. If I didn’t want to see my friends and family so badly this would almost be enough to recharge me for more traveling. But only almost ☺.

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