Freedomain Radio

Hola Amigos!

Mexican Newsflash: we are planning on spending Defoo Day on the beautiful island called Isla Mujeres, which is 30mins off the coast of Cancun. Greg and I were talking about staying there for about a week and a half, and then perhaps spending a few days on the mainland around new year to take a look at some temples and maybe swim in a sinkhole in the jungle

Out of curiostity, how many of you have been to Mexico?

I was just there recently and thought I was going to get stabbed.  The police were more tyrannical than I'm used to, and you shouldn't count on touristy parts being much safer either. Also, Cancun is the most expensive part of Mexico (think New York or LA expensive), and do any of you speak Spanish fluently?  If not, it's nigh impossible to navigate the surrounding areas outside the direct cruise docking area.

And one more thing, anyone who was thinking of driving there might want to take a few things in consideration.

1. You have to bribe the police with 25 dollars at the border and another 32 for your car. If you are not the official owner of the car you can't go through (meaning if your parents purchased the car, then you're arrested for theft).  In addition, you have to be approved by the Estados Unidos Mexico (the name of their batshit insanse gov't) with correct Mexican driving insurance (another hefty amount).  Even after doing all this, I've never heard of anyone actually being approved to drive into Mexico with their car.

2. Every town, and there are a lot in between the US and Cancun, has a separate 11 dollar toll you have to pay.

3. Driving in Mexico is nuts, they honk at people for not burning red lights.  That sounds cool but then you realize that the Policia can and will stop you for anything.  And guess what... more bribes.

Save me another godawful trip to Mexico, and come to Texas!  We have beaches, and lakes, and rivers, and English!  Plus, it's cheap!

There's apparently a great hostel on Isla Mujeres, called "Poc na Hostel". Over the Christmas/New Year holiday, they'll have both dormitory and camping space available. The rate is $9-per-night (US), per bed, and the smallest dormitory is 4-bed.

I was thinking it would be cool if a group of FDR'ers could reserve an entire 4 or 6 bed dormitory bay, to make a full-fledged party out of it. If not, I'll probably reserve a camping spot for myself (I have a one-man shelter and trail gear).

The hostel itself includes continental breakfast for free, and they also have a restaurant that gives you a free drink with your dinner order. It's apparently VERY close to the ocean.

Here's the website. If you're interested, let Jake or I know, and if we get enough people, we can book an entire bay!

Hey Carlos, I've been all over Mexico using public transport and had a fantastic time, with no problems. Like any travel, as long as you are sensible its fine. As for the idea that its impossible to navigate without fluent spanish, that's frankly a load of utter nonsense. My bit of broken spanish plus politeness and a willingness to look silly making the effort to try and communicate worked out just fine. Anyway, don't worry Carlos, you don't have to come if you don't want to! Have yourself a fantastic Defoo day and new year in Texas!

If anyone wants to know what Isla Mujeres is actually like, here is a video on youtube made by a tourist:

Scary stuff!

Damn, that's just gorgeous.

Loving the tent on the beach idea. It sounds mighty civilised for a campsite and even if it is a bit out of the way I think we all have enough spanish, will power and hand gestures between us to manage :D

Can't wait for this, hopefully booking tickets soon!

Edit: just saw the video. So we're going to, like, heaven right?

As soon as I know where I'll be living in December, and how much leave I can take over Xmas/New Year, I'll book plane tickets. Yes, count me in for a bed in the dorm room if that's the way y'all decide to go - or I'll just bring a bivvy bag and sleep on the beach. Either way is fine with me.

I'm so glad to see this all taking shape! See you all in paradise.

ETA: I got this Madonna song in my head for some reason while watching that other vid. Thought I'd share my pain!

The hostel sounds very good, please count me in.

We are going to be on Isla Mujeres at least from 20th to 27th December, then we might head back to the mainland to find some sinkholes!

and maybe have a look at the odd crazy temple!

So, the roster for a dorm room so far, is:

• Me
• JC
• Charlotte
• Hannah

Is that correct?

So, do we want segregated or mixed dorms? (yes, they have both, but the segregated were a little less available).

Mixed dorms are perfectly fine with me. There are going to be more men than women anyway, so it sort of makes sense to have a mixed dorm - that way the women don't have to sleep outside. We'll take one set of bunks as a girls' fort. No boys allowed!

I've reserved a 4-bed dorm room. The camping reservations are only taken via email, so I've sent an email inquiry for two spots. Hopefully, they'll have them available, too. That's room for six, which is the response so far.

Check-in December 17 (because that's when my flight gets in) / Check-out December 27 (a total of 10 days).

Which means we'll need accommodations on the mainland from 12/27 - 1/6(?)

Does everyone concur?

I'm really sorry, I hadn't checked this thread for a couple of days. James and I haven't booked our flights yet so it is probably better to count us out for the dorm and camping right now simply because we don't know when we will be arriving/leaving. Hope that's ok, we should get it sorted when things have settled down a bit.

I've booked my ticket!

I am arriving in Cancun on Thursday 18th December and leaving on Sunday 4th Jan.

Woo Hoo!!!

have a fantastic time guys!! :D No better way to have a christmas break than on a paradise island :)