holbox: day two (3-island tour).

One of the activities Holbox is famous for is swimming with whale sharks. Before we left home, David and I knew that was something we wanted to do.

However, we got a reality check when speaking with Marco the evening we arrived. While we were there, the sharks were about three-hour boat right straight out into the ocean. So that made a 7-8 hour day in a tiny, cramped boat with no sun covering. And then there wasn’t a guarantee we’d see the sharks or get near enough to actually swim with them.

We were also told, “Many people get seasick on these tours; it’s not unusual for them to vomit.” (!!!) While eating dinner at Santos Fuegos, one of the patrons we talked to there confirmed that he got sick on the boat ride.

I have lots of trouble with motion sickness and got a prescription for Zofran for our trip, which helped enormously with bumpy taxi rides and the boat tours we did. But I was in no hurry to risk it for such a long day.

So we pivoted and took two of Marco’s other suggestions: the first was a 6-hour tour to three of the islands surrounding Holbox.

Let me show you a map:

Above you can see Holbox, with its little town toward the left end. At the bottom of this painted map is the mainland, where the port of Chiquila is. On this first boat tour we rode out to Punta Mosquito where wild flamingos can be seen, but they had flown off for the day (have no fear! we saw some on our very last morning), then all the way around the island to Yalahau on the mainland. Next we made stops at Isla Pasion (Passion Island) and Island Pajaros (Bird Island), before returning to the ferry side of Holbox.

 

It felt amazing to spend most of the day out on the water. So refreshing. But here’s David while we waited to board our boat. Yep, this is pretty much how we looked all week.

 

We traveled with about ten other tourists and were thrilled to have shade on the boat. Besides a couple from Belgium, we were the only people who spoke English, so there was a lot of information I’m sure we missed about the places we visited. It was okay though, we were happy to just sit and soak up all the beauty around us. And to be perfectly honest, sometimes it’s nice to have no ability to make small talk with strangers.

 

 

As I said, we missed the flamingos at Punta Mosquito, but we did see dolphins almost right away. They were magical . . . frolicking and twirling and splashing in the sea all around our boat. You can’t not be happy when you see a dolphin.

 

Next we traveled to Yalahau cenote, part of a protected nature reserve on the mainland. There we stopped for 45 minutes to take a delightfully cold swim in the fresh water spring, walk up to the lookout, and share a Coke at the bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We boarded the boat and rode to Passion Island, where we were able to spend 20 minutes or so wading in the calf-deep, crystal clear water, spotting lots of fish and birds.

 

 

 

Our final stop was Bird Island, where at 155 species of birds nest or rest sometime during the year, including flamingos, ducks, and pelicans . The tiny island itself is off-limits to people, but we were able to see birds via a walkway and lookout. We learned that the best time to travel to the island is at sunset, when all the birds return to roost, but we were still able to see egrets, pelicans, cormorants, and ducks mid-afternoon. We didn’t get a close-up shot of the birds, but the view was breath-taking.

 

Finally it was time to ride back to Holbox.

We were offered water on this trip but no food, and should definitely have brought more snacks. My stomach was feeling a little funny towards the end of the day with all that rolling sea and no food, but thankfully I was fine soon after getting back on dry ground.

 

It was about 3:30 and sweaty or not, we were starving. So on the walk back we stopped at at little taco place filled with locals . . . which was a good sign. The tacos were perfect after a day on the water.

 

 

 

Just a couple blocks from the casa, we picked up iced lattes from Complento, a cute modern coffee shop we’d been eyeing. We loved the coffee so much it became a daily stop (also they had air conditioning!!).

 

 

We happily took our iced coffee to the pool,where we asked Marco’s mother the best place to get more cash and she responded at the bank ATM, and we should go now, before it closed. The bank was almost all the way back at the pier where we just got off our boat. Sigh.

So we steeled ourselves for the late-afternoon heat, and set back out on the dusty roads for our errands. We also picked up a few groceries. Luckily, it all became worth it when we spotted a tiny shop sell fresh-made, piping hot tortillas. We bought a stack right then and there.

See? International travel is unbelievably inefficient, and also full of magical surprises. In our near-twenty years of traveling together, we’ve learned that you can’t have one without the other.

 

 

Back at the casa we fell into bed for a late nap, then holed up in the shade of our apartment until sunset on the beach. We drag two chairs into the kitchen to read near the AC unit. And then at dinner time, David cooked scrambled egg tacos with cheese, pepper and onions and our mouth-watering fresh tortillas, while I read Emma Lion to him.

Isn’t that romantic?