Isla Mujeres - Island of the Women (and the Animals)

We just returned from a brief visit to one of my favorite places, Isla Mujeres. This tiny island off Cancun used to be a sleepy little fishing village but is now a thriving tourist destination, thanks to its easy location, friendly people and relatively low cost. Only 5 miles long and half a mile wide, it displays beautiful craggy rocks on its southern tip and a lovely white sand beach on the north.

Not surprisingly, many gringos have moved in and bought up a lot of the property, much of which is now for sale due to the lagging Gringo economy. We come, we buy, we jack up the price and sell. Nevertheless, some of these gringos have brought great things to Isla, one gringa, in particular, having vastly improved the life of the animals on the Island.  Alison Sawyer Current is the driving force behind Isla Animals, and it shows.

I've been to a lot of places in Mexico, Latin America and South America where it was almost unbearable to see the suffering of the animals, and I guess that is why Isla feels so comfortable to me. It isn't perfect by any means--every community has room for improvement--all we have to do is look in our own neighborhoods. But in general, the dogs and cats roaming the island seem to be fairly well taken care of, and it wasn't always the case. About 10 years ago, my first visit to Isla, I heard that people were poisoning the beach dogs. I think this is what really drove Alison to start taking them in and it just grew from there. Check out the website and read more. http://islaanimals.org/

If you make it to Isla be sure to tour the whole island. About midway is a great little brunch place called Mango Cafe. The food is all lovingly hand made, 90% organic, with a Caribbean flair. The owner, Lori, likewise is involved in animal rescue. The pictures below don't really do the food justice.

Across the street is a fantastic sandwich shop she runs with her partner, called The Blue Iguana. Great people, great food! I guess you can tell we had a wonderful trip. I can't wait to go back!