The move to Belize is coming along although I haven’t quite made it to Belize just yet. I flew out of Portland Oregon with Scott on Monday (21st) and landed in the Cancun airport around 3pm – we had one layover in Phoenix. It all went smoothly. We flew with two checked bags each which was more than I had anticipated but we were carrying items for other people as well so no problem. Everything showed up on the bag carousel and we got through customs quickly and easily. Our plan once in Cancun was to make our way to Isla Mujeres and then on to Rishi’s plastic bottle island (Joysxee) which is floating in a lagoon in the middle of Isla Mujeres.
From the Cancun airport we decided to take a shuttle van over to the ferry to Isla Mujeres and then the ferry over was under a 20 minute ride. From the dock in Isla Mujeres we took a taxi to Rishi’s island. The island floats on plastic bottles which are covered with boards and then sand. He plants mangroves around which help fuse everything together – coral also starts to form around the bottles to preserve them in about two months. It’s a very cool concept and I was excited to see it all. Scott had previously met Rishi but this would be my first time on the island. When we arrived we were greeted by a very friendly and positive English man, Rishi, who has been living in Mexico for about 14 years. The island he is currently maintaining is about three years old. I had seen pictures but it was fantastic to see it all in person. We stowed our bags and sat down for a glass of wine and some vegan soup that Rishi had made. That night was an early one – we were exhausted.
Rishi pulling us on to the Plastic Bottle Island
The next morning we slept in but eventually made our way to breakfast right on the water. I couldn’t ask for better surroundings while working on writing and homework. Scott is working with Rishi on a project for the island so they worked on that most of the afternoon while I worked on my projects. So most of our time in La Isla Mujeres has been working on various projects and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few of Rishi’s friends, riding around in his dune buggy, seeing him sing live in town and finding good food to eat. Rishi even had a group of school children come by the island for a field trip while we were there. During our stay we found a great little café to get online, Café Mogagua – wonderful and friendly staff, great coffee and delicious crepes.
Riding in a dune buggy around town
View from the buggy
We stopped at a nursery to pick out some plants for the island
writing belizedragonfly entries on the plastic bottle island
Rishi singing in town
The school children come to visit the island
A night in the town
The plan is to head on to Belize tomorrow but plans tend to change around here so we’ll see – I know I have to be in Belize by Saturday since there is a welcome home party for me at my bar (Scotty’s bar and grill) with a live band that night (if you happen to be in Corozal come on by). Hopefully before we leave we’ll get a couple hours of beach time and then get on an ADO bus to Chetumal. So far so good – we still have to get through the Belize border with our luggage so I’m hoping for the best.
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