Isla Holbox – A Paradise on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico
An island is a cosmos in itself: it is surrounded by water, and the only way to escape it is to board a boat and sail back to the mainland. But why should you do that? Especially when the island is called Holbox, lies off the Maya Riviera on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and has such a strangely unconventional appearance that at first, you’re not sure: Am I in the right place here, or not?
After a 20-hour journey via Zurich (seven-hour layover), I landed at Cancún International Airport on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula at 10pm. I had booked a room for the night at the Hotel Oh!Cancun The Urban Oasis in the centre of town. 20 minutes by taxi, tiredness set in. As a welcome, my luggage and I were sprayed with disinfectant spray, the room was friendly and clean.
The Urban Oasis is a mile from the Centro bus station, from which I had booked a shuttle bus to Chiquila for the next day. Ferries leave every half hour from the small port town and take you to the island of Holbox in 30 minutes. In my jet-lagged state, I had forgotten that there was a delicious breakfast at the hotel. The taxi to the bus stop cost five US dollars, the ticket to Chiquila 13. Thank God I had stocked up on dollars, the bank where I wanted to buy Mexican pesos in Munich didn’t have them in stock. ATMs, the bank clerk warned, are rare.
The minibus jolted through dense vegetation for two and a half hours. Every now and then a village appeared, fruit stands at the roadside, huts and traditional cottages in turquoise and pink. Countless people offered guava lemonade. To discourage drivers from speeding, steep speed bumps rise every 20 metres in the local areas, which can be managed at a maximum speed of 5 km/h. The outside temperature climbed to 30 degrees Celsius. In the minibus, the air conditioning rattled and blew ice-cold air into the passenger compartment.
Mexican highlight: Holbox, an island without cars
The harbour town of Chiquila is essentially a handful of ugly concrete shacks, car parks and kiosks where you can buy ferry tickets. 13 dollars, one way. The Isla Holbox appears in the distance. 42 kilometres long, two kilometres wide, about 1500 inhabitants and guests from all over the world. A good three dozen occupied the ferry today. Spanish, French, English and Dutch snippets, anticipation of what was to come.… weiterlesen
My curriculum vitae is as colorful as the world. I was editor at ELLE, tested cars and participated at off-road tours. I lived on a small island in Florida for twelve years and from there I travelled the Caribbean and almost all states of the USA for various magazines, conducted interviews with interesting people, reported on beautiful homes and exotic travel destinations. After my return to Germany I worked for InStyle magazine for 14 years in various positions. And it was there that I first came into contact with the topic of beauty. To this day I still enjoy immersing myself in the fine cosmos of creams, perfumes and lipsticks. (photo: Thomas Dilge)
