Our Island Home, Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres or the ‘island of women', is our home.
During our 2 months volunteering with Manta Trust, we eat, sleep and work on this little piece of paradise.
The 7km long island lays in the Mexican Caribbean Sea off the Yucatan Peninsula. Apart from the confined hustle and bustle of the small tourist district, this island is nothing less than a cute little fishing village. Palm trees and mangrove forests a line the white sandy beaches and drape over the limestone cliffs, while the locals avoid the heat of the day on their front porches.
Life here is hot, slow and colourful
The colours, the colours, the COLOURS...
Playa Norte is beyond the perfect swimming beach. The crystal clear turquoise water stays shallow for nearly 100 metres.
The fine white sand does, and will find its way into everything you own!
Every time we watch the sunset over the Caribbean waters, we swear the sun gets bigger!
One of the residences in this colourful apartment block is our little home. Its a small 2 bedroom flat and it's shared between 6 of us.
Hammocks attach to the walls in each room adding extra beds, research equipment scattered on the floor and laptops on every bench. Its a work-space, a chill-out zone and a home.
"Home is where you feel at home and are treated well"
-Dalai Lama
PangeaSeed provides a voice for our oceans through art.
They paint beautiful street murals across the planet highlighting local environmental issues in a positive light. They have been coming to Isla Mujeres for over 7 years painting different walls each time.
We love touring the streets in search of new murals.
We're starting to accept that colourful streets are just a part of Mexican culture.
Who would choose to paint their house a boring dull colour anyways? There is no fun in that!
The streets of Isla are coloured very so brightly with each house being painted pink, purple, lime green, yellow, blue or even a combination of a couple of colours.
Research expedition
As part of our research expedition looking at manta rays in the Mexican Caribbean Sea, we also swam with whale sharks!
Both animals are filter feeding giants, yet they are so gentle and majestic as they move through the water with sheer power. Manta rays especially are highly intelligent and curious animals being labelled the smartest fish in the sea.
