A perfect team

The things we do, we do by threes. A perfect team

The things we do

Our next couple of days in Isla seemed to fly by. Mother and Karen were both still getting up early but one morning I managed to sleep in and didn’t get out of bed until 8am. We visited some of the local attractions despite the temptation of just sitting by the pool and lazing around all day. There was not a massive amount to do on the island with Tripadvisor listing only a handful of attractions for Isla. We did take in the main ones though including the island’s maritime museum and the turtle farm where they helped hatch and release thousands of turtles each year as part of an ongoing conservation programme. The entry into the turtle farm was a bargain at £1.50. I have never seen so many little turtles, the pools inside the main building of the turtle farm were absolutely full. Once they were a little bigger they would be released into the seas around the island.

In between being cultural we sat out on the terrace and played a couple of games, making our choice from the vast selection in the villa. We played cards, and once Mother finally got the rules of Newmarket we switched to playing Trumps. We played a word game called Snatch purely because of the name. After getting over the amusement at the name and playing one round it was decided it wasn’t the game for us. I’m not going to name names and say who decided that a game where you needed quick responses to do well wasn’t for us but it wasn’t me…

We moved on to another game where you were given 10 categories and had to come up with an answer for each one starting with the letter of the alphabet that you rolled on the rather large die provided. The game probably gave a more conclusive result than a DNA test as to the fact that me & Karen were related given the number of times we both put the same obscure answers in the hope of scoring a point. The game provided many amusing moments, the most memorable being when we had to name a US president beginning with O. You were allowed to use either the first name or surname. We all inevitably went for the same answer but I couldn’t help laughing at Karen’s paper. She had written “Barrack O’Bama” as though he had Irish ancestry, to be sure, to be sure.

We do by threes

For our penultimate day in Isla we had hired a golf buggy for the day. This was the traditional mode of transport on the island, at least for tourists. There were very few cars on the island, most of them being taxis. The locals seemed to opt for mopeds, often with more than one occupant. We saw one being driven with a whole family on it – mother, father and two small children. We had organised the buggy through the villa manager and it was delivered bang on time at 9am. We had wheels for a day! Karen took charge of the keys and we set off for a tour of the island. I sat in the passenger seat navigating. There was not much navigating to be done. The guidebook said that it was impossible to get lost on Isla as it was only 5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide at its widest point. There were only two main roads on the island, one on each coast. Mother sat on the bench seat at the back.

Karen picked up the handling of the buggy pretty quickly and fairly soon she had her foot flat to the floor. There are a lot of speed bumps on the roads in Isla, most of them pointed out by road signs. There was one however that didn’t appear to be marked which meant we hit it at full speed. We all bounced up out of our seats. I checked behind to make sure that we still had Mother on board. We did, although she wasn’t very impressed at being bounced around so much. As we got into the centre of town the heavens opened. In the heavy rain we missed the turn we needed and found ourselves in a dead end. Karen tried to turn round but didn’t have enough space to do a full circle. I jumped out & pushed the buggy back so she could then finish the turn. I was soaked by the time I got back in the buggy. We both said it was strange that the buggy didn’t have a reverse. We found the breakfast place & parked up. As Karen was locking the buggy up she pointed at a switch under the drivers seat. It was the switch to make the buggy go in reverse.

We had breakfast out at a great place called La Cazuela. Their speciality is a breakfast dish that is part omelette, part soufflé and totally scrummy. We all finished our breakfasts and left very clean plates. After breakfast we drove back down around the island using the other coast road. We spent most of the day driving round, trying to bounce Mother over as many speed bumps as we could. We stopped off to see a house built on a floating island. An English guy had built an entire house out of reclaimed and recycled materials and built it on an island he had made out of empty plastic bottles. It was a very bizarre place but made for an interesting tour, something a little different from the norm.

Our last full day was a relaxed one. After an early breakfast we headed out for a walk before returning to the villa to spend the day swimming and finishing off the last of the gin. By the time dinner came round we were all a couple of large drinks in. I’m not sure I have ever seen Karen really tipsy but she was definitely on her way there. As we ate dinner Mother left a piece of meat on the side of her plate. I asked if it wasn’t cooked but she responded saying it was a bit grizzly. Karen and I looked at each other. I raised my hands as though they were claws, said “This meat is grizzly” and let out a bear like growl. Karen got the giggles and was gone for about five minutes, tears streaming down her face. When she managed to compose herself again I raise my hands like claws again, and without even having to say anything she burst out laughing again. It was one of those moments where you had to be there but I can now just think “grizzly” and it brings a smile to my face.

A perfect team

The day for us to leave Isla had arrived. We had an early lunch and pottered about until it was time for us to get our taxi back to the ferry port. The three of us spent most of the ferry journey back over to Cancun in silence. From there it was a short minibus ride back to the airport. I took Mother and Karen into the terminal, made sure they were checked in & then did another round of goodbyes. Mother got a bit upset but I managed to hold it together, at least until they had disappeared up the escalator and through to security.

I was a mix of emotions as I made my way to the terminal for my flight. I was so happy that I had been able to spend a week with the family, sad that they were headed back home and I wouldn’t see them for another five months and a little guilty that I was going off alone to so many places I know they would both like to go to. Mother and Karen are constants in my life and being away from them has made me realise how big a part of my life they were when I was back home even though we didn’t always see each other that often. I’m very lucky to have them both in my life and probably don’t tell them often enough how much I love them. There is something Mother once said to me that has always stuck with me. Once when she was visiting me in London for the weekend she turned to me and said “If you told me now that you were straight I would be really sad because I don’t think we would do any of the fun things that we do now.” I love you both.

“The things we do, we do by threes. A perfect team” 
Lyrics from Together from the musical Gypsy