As with many tours, there are often days that involve more travel than others.
This was one of these days.
After a more leisurely start than I have been used to with some tours (it wasn't a painful 7am start!), but a departure of 9.45am which was much more pleasant, we took the minibus to Chiquila where we would board the boat taking us to Holbox.
The ferry is a short crossing but we still wanted good seats to take photos as we arrived on the island.
Holbox gets its name from the Maya words Holek Box, which mean “black water,” because of the dark water in the lagoons around the island. Its long, curved shape was created by sand, waves, and ocean currents over many years. The island's shape made it a great place for Maya people to fish and travel. Later, pirates and sailors used its quiet bays and hidden waterways as a safe place to stop and hide!
You could totally see how it might be considered a pirate island as we started to arrive in, it seemed both a tropical paradise and a hideaway at the same time. I was very much looking forward to exploring.
When we arrived it was a bit chaotic, having walked the short (HOT) walk to our hotel, we needed to organise what we needed because our rooms weren't ready before our Chief Experience Officer (CEO) decided he had a good suggestion for lunch. As part of this involved orientation of Holbox, it seemed sensible to join in, but finding the location did take a long time, and as many of us were pretty hungry, it was one of those walks that seemed to go on for ever. That said, when we did find the restaurant, it was worth it as it was a very cool and relaxing location, with enormous portions (far too much for one person!). I did regret not going for a breakfast bowl, as my lunch had a lot of salad cream, but the juices were absolutely wonderful.
I spent the afternoon wondering around town and taking photos/playing around with my new camera, before finding one of the vegetarian/vegan restaurants that had been recommended. This was a fantastic choice (Arte Sano, for anyone interested) and ended up being my best meal of the trip.
I then went back to get ready for our evening excursion to visit the bioluminescence (which is a natural phenomenon where microscopic marine plankton (phytoplankton) emit a bright neon-blue light when the water is disturbed). It was quite a weird sensation, and not quite as bright as I'd expected but still very interesting. The best bit was getting photos of the stars, because it was such a dark area with no light, so the sky was very clear.
Definitely found Holbox a lovely relaxing place to be.
You could totally see how it might be considered a pirate island as we started to arrive in, it seemed both a tropical paradise and a hideaway at the same time. I was very much looking forward to exploring.
When we arrived it was a bit chaotic, having walked the short (HOT) walk to our hotel, we needed to organise what we needed because our rooms weren't ready before our Chief Experience Officer (CEO) decided he had a good suggestion for lunch. As part of this involved orientation of Holbox, it seemed sensible to join in, but finding the location did take a long time, and as many of us were pretty hungry, it was one of those walks that seemed to go on for ever. That said, when we did find the restaurant, it was worth it as it was a very cool and relaxing location, with enormous portions (far too much for one person!). I did regret not going for a breakfast bowl, as my lunch had a lot of salad cream, but the juices were absolutely wonderful.
I spent the afternoon wondering around town and taking photos/playing around with my new camera, before finding one of the vegetarian/vegan restaurants that had been recommended. This was a fantastic choice (Arte Sano, for anyone interested) and ended up being my best meal of the trip.
I then went back to get ready for our evening excursion to visit the bioluminescence (which is a natural phenomenon where microscopic marine plankton (phytoplankton) emit a bright neon-blue light when the water is disturbed). It was quite a weird sensation, and not quite as bright as I'd expected but still very interesting. The best bit was getting photos of the stars, because it was such a dark area with no light, so the sky was very clear.
Definitely found Holbox a lovely relaxing place to be.
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