The Island of Women

And so we begin to wrap up our Mexican adventure, with a few days on Isla Mujeres, just off the coast of Cancun.
The name translates as 'Island of Women' but single men beware, it's not the girl-filled smorgasbord you might be expecting.

There are in fact two schools of thought as to the origins of the name.
Legend has it the first dates back to the Spanish bucaneers, who it's said would leave their lovers in safe seclusion here as they went on to plunder the wealthy galleons offshore and pillage the nearby mainland.
An alternative view is that when, in 1517, Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba arrived here from Cuba to procure slaves, his expedition discovered a temple containing clay statues of Mayan female godesses, and so he named the island after them.

The island itslef is a strange slice of juxtaposition. Often marketed as a 'chill out' escape from Cancun, the main north beach is packed full of wealthy Mexicans and foreigners - many taking daytrips from the overpriced, plastic furniture covered beaches of Cancun to sit on an overpriced, plastic furniture covered beach here instead.
Head further down the island though (it's 8km long and in parts just 80m wide) and the atmosphere changes. Mexican families and small villages go hand in hand with the odd resort, clifftop getaway and occaisional never-finished building project. There is even a dusty airstrip running down the narrow centre of the island, and when I ran past it yesterday evening as the huge orange sun sank down on the horizon, I thought for a moment I was in a James Bond novel.


I took a few interesting if imperfect shots today, but finally settled on the one above.
It's part of a malecon pathway that's been ambitiously built along the quieter, rocky east side of the island. It's a perfect example of the problem of blind tourist development without proper forethough.
The few hotels that line the malecon are a mixture of of derilict or incomplete, standing gloomily above the turquoise coast. At one point the block paved walkway leads up steps to a sheer, never finished drop, before the path begins again ten metres later.
A few of the smaller buildings are now homes to Mexican families, and the malecon itself is only frequented by a handful of locals - tourists sticking faithfully to the sand covered, tour offering, bar filled side of the island instead.