The day started with a short walk around the corner to rent a bicycle from one of the many scuba/snorkel/day boat trip excursion package counters in El Centro but this one also rents bicycles. It is
the same place I rented from last week and I reminded the counter dude that he told me if I come back another day the price will be 100 rather than the 150 I paid the first time. Good business, I thought, encourage repeat customers. Today, after listening to my Spanish reminder ( he was native and spoke less Englidh than I spoke Spanish) he said OK but told me this price was for me only, not my friends. I told him "yo intendi, mis labios están cerrado" ( I understand, my lips are sealed).
The negotiations complete, I took Off on "bici blanca" headed out of El Centro toward the other end of the island by 9:30 in the morning.
It was not too hot yet, and I was very happy with my choice of activity for the day. I planned to explore the island using a different path because today I had started three hours earlier and I knew the terrain.
First stop was desayuno at Green Verde, a highly rated restaurant I had been pointed to by two other places I stopped at first looking for breakfast.
The restaurant was small, but clean and proud of the recycled materials used to create the tables, bathroom fixtures and public spaces. The food was pretty on the plate and home cooked. I had a Mexican omelet with fresh cucumber lemonade ( which was delicious!).
When I was done, I engaged the owner with compliments about the food and drink. He told me my Spanish was good ( I've heard this from almost everyone I've had a conversation with in Spanish so I am encouraged and know I'm on the right track). Two thumbs up for Green Verde!
After breakfast I continued south along the perimeter road I knew, but took the first opportunity to turn inland and explore the middle island where locals live. Really glad I did because I found an inland lagoon completely surrounded by a bike path - maybe a little more than a mile total distance.
I went around twice saying Hola to everyone I passed - even the one white woman who greeted me first with Hello. I sat on a bench for a while to look at my phone ( that's another post some day) and was soon joined by an older friendly man who told me he was Mayan. My Spanish was not up to the task of understanding him, but was able to say a few words of basic conversation.
I stopped at a small local market for a liter of water, a banana and a mango. I asked the woman if she had a plastic knife. She did not, but offered to cut the mango for me. All for the total cost of 21 pesos or about $1.
By now it was after noon and getting warm. I passed a long driveway with a sign that said Albatross -Sail Away and one guard sitting at a table in the shade. I made the good decision to turn around and ask the guard if the place was accesdible to the public (remember, all of this is in my struggling but somehow adequate Spanish). He said no, it was a prívate resort but I yes, I could tale a look. He walked with me down the driveway and called for his boss who spoke better English, but I continúed to attemp to comunícate in Spanish which is why, I believe, I was given permission to come on in.
What came next was totally enjoyable. This was a private beachside resort with palm trees for shade and comfy beach loungers like the ones that cost 300 pesos on the main beach in El Centro. The place was staffed to accommodate the prepaid guests who came in by the boatload for lunch during their snorkel excursion.
I was there with no gate fee and was introduced to the bartender because while I was not going to crash the food part of the party, I said I might have a beverage. I went directly to the water to cool off, then bought a beer and settled in to a lounge chair to watch the people disembark,
go through the buffet line for food, then shop, sit or swim for a while before reboarding. At one point I was there between boats with no other people except the staff and was extremely obvious. I bussed some stray drink glasses when I returned my empty bottle and the bar staff apologized to me ( for choosing to busy own stuff?) I went back to sit alone in the loungers and was asked by another staff person if I had eaten and whether I was missing my boat. It was awesome. When the next boat came in one of the passengers asked me how I got there so early and I said I came by bicycle. He said "that's what I should have done". Note to self: Skip the high priced tourist excursions and make your own way by bicycle. I'm not sure if this would work for a larger group of English only speakers, though.
I left after a couple hours and was greeted by the driveway guard who acknowledged my bike which he was watching for me. I said thanks and tipped him, so my gate fee was actually 20 pesos and a beer for a nice stop in paradise.
I biked all the way to the south end of the island again, stopping to watch the zip liners over the water but did not visit the Mayan Goddess Ixchel again. Instead I found a place to check out the Caribbean beach side of the island for a minute
but the sun was too hot, the water too rough to enter and the beach to uninhabited to linger long.
On my way back to town I passed a women's beading co-op with four local women working on their jewelry creations at a table inside the small brick building at the top of a hill with a nice breeze flowing through. I was able to confirm that the locally made beaded jewelry coming from them is not sold in the markets in town, only in their workshop. The items in the stores in town are shipped in from elsewhere (and probably not hand made). I've always been a fan of buying from crafters, so I was happy to have found this place by getting off the beaten path.
Last stop before my 5:00PM deadline with bici Blanca was at The Soggy Peso - a lagoon side bar and restaurant I had been referred to. I bought a Bloody Mary, took it away from the bar down to the palm tree shaded beach and splashed in the water to cool down.
I was a little disturbed by the 18 inch long iguana scurrying around in the shaded sand, but decided he was not going to bother me.
so I settled into another lounge chair for a half hour, enjoying palm trees, the water traffic and my book.
I returned bici Blanca to it's owner 5 minutes before the deadline and went to my room for a cold shower and some R & R before a walk to the local beach to see yet another beautiful sunset.
Reminds me of Carlsbad ( except much warmer and no rocks) and the question "How many sunset pictures are enough?"
I'm still working on the answer to that one.
