Being a tourist in Holbox

Mmi was first to rise... with ati soon after at about 5am. Felt like a win after the previous day. Alex and I were sleeping in the up stairs on a beautiful mezzanine, mimi made her appearance with her distinctly heavy footsteps. The bed was small and not terribly well adapted to a family of 5. It wasn't long before i gave in and came down to make breakfast. Toad in the hole was on the menu. The girls ate and then we played uno and dobble until Alex got up. He was aching after having carried 5L and Zoe and the bag. I did something I don't often to.. offered him a massage. While Ati had her nap. Shortly thereafter, at about 11am, we got organised for a day of touristy adventures. We walked to town in search of an experience. The girls were motivated, although the sun was beating and no one wanted to wear their sun hats, it was hot and the girls were jealous of papa who had taken off his shirt. At the first opportunity we pulled into a beach front.. to check it out. Beach CaroLinda, it had the characteristic swings and hammocks... in the water!! The girls thought this was awesome. We gave into their request for a quick dip. Without any real plans for the day, it was had to say no. They stripped down and sprinted to the swings... it was a bit surreal as apart from us was a couple with a drone taking picture of themselves, and another couple where the man was following his hot girlsfriend as she posed and walked throgh the water. I guess this is how we hold onto the good times! Each of us does it in our own way... I took pictures on my phone and on our new hand digital camera... so who am I to judge.
We didn't linger long at this beach, enough for baby ati to get her feet wet and sandy and for us to discuvoer that she really doesn't like having sand on her feet or hands. We got back on the road with the girls in the bathing suits, wrapped in their towels. Made it to town and approached the second tour operator we found. She offered us a tour on boat of 3 islands... We lied about Mimi's age, Zoe called us on it... (she is a bit of smart alec right now.. talking back is not uncommon, and calling us out on small imprecisions either...) We managed to pay only for one child and two adults and went for lunch. We ate at the Zapata by the recommendation of the tour operator lady. This cool and well decorated restaurant only 100m away was also delicious. We enjoyed some octopus and shrimp cevice, nachos with cheese and steak, chicken fijitas and a couple of Mexican Mules... like a moscow mule but with Mescal... sooooo good! We licked out plates and then made our way to the boat. We were accompanied by about 10 other people. We faught over life jackets for children... we managed to get one for Mimi but not ati... I said I would hold her tight... We headed out of what was to be a most amazing wildlife adventure!

One our way to our first stop we spotted some dolphins. I think there must have a been 50 as they just kept on surfacing.... Ati was so excited, and so were the others. Alex got so close at one point he said he could have touched it.. but he wouldn't of course, cause that would be wrong... right?! After about 30 minutes following the dolphins, we peeled off and went to the Isla Pajaros where we swam it was looked like a "cenote", but actually was connected to the ocean but still fresh water. We walked down a beautiful path through the mangroves and then past a bar till we came to an opening. The girls stripped down to their bathing suits and with a slight hesitation jumped in. Ati was very keen, so I stripped her down and put her in with alex... she freaked out for about 10 seconds (which felt long with all the tourist happily enjoying the tranquility of nature), then she was so happy and excited. I almost drowned her a couple times as the fresh water provided no buoyancy and zoe thought I was a flotation device. it all ended well as passed her off to alex and enjoyed 30 seconds of free swim. We got out and made our way to the bar.. the girls we scouring for ice cream...or which there was none... Mimi made a friend with her new game, "Move over boys, the girls are taking over..." Inviting an italian woman on holiday with her boyfriend to join her on the hammock... but not her partner. I spotted a raccoon and another tourist told us that the kids could feed it. So I called the girls over and they seemed into the idea. The chef gave them some dried tortilla and they threw it at the raccoon. I encouraged them to hold it up to it so it eats out of their hand. They mustered up a bit more courage and threw it from a bit closer.

We made our way back to the boat. Next stop was the flamingos, where we discovered Ati's love of birds. She got sooooo excited when she saw the birds over head. The flamingos were quick far away, standing among other pelican like large birds. It was very exciting. We docked the boat and walks in shallow water to get a bit closer... New was a bid island where many variety of large bird had their breeding ground among the mangroves. We walk up to a look out point and then up a tower for more views.

We made a final unecessary stop to the end of the island, Punto Mosquito. By this point we had seen a lot and we quite cold not being fully dressed we used towels to keep warm in the ocean winds. When we made it back to shore it was close to 6pm. So we decided to take a touristy photo with the holbox sign and then play in the park while we waited for our restaurant (the one we had chosen the day before) to open.
WHile mimi and zoe made cookies and collected shells in the jungle gym, Ati climbed the ladder above their heads and went down the slide about a hundred times. She was so happy to be out of her pram and not confined to a boat!

Our dinner was delicious. While the girls shared a pizza, alex and I enjuoyed lobster pasta. We started with some carpacio of fish (which Zoe loved) and jamon croquetas which Ati ate before she passed out. We then dragged our very tired children home by taxi. Alex and I stayed up playing a new game... He figured out how to play, while I slept on the couch... then I woke to kicked his ass!Read more