A main feature of this island for at least 31 years has been a 6,500 foot asphalt airstrip occupying the narrow middle between the two populated ends. From the air it looks, appropriately, like the spine of a fish. Over the decades I had seen military training flights and even scheduled service from Cancun ---- only a 10 minute hop from the mainland! And I always wondered: if there are so many private yachts here, why aren't there a lot of private aircraft on the tarmac?? This length of runway can handle aircraft right up to turboprop and private jets.
But for a few years now the airstrip and its control tower have been abandoned and unused. Even if you wanted to land here now, the asphalt is pocked and pebbled from the heat and salt air. It seems a waste of valuable land, if not a tourist draw. This morning we saw a helicopter on the pad, basically a Mexican coast guard craft. It stood out because of it's rarity.
The other news today is the explosion at a luxury hotel south of here. Five Canadians and two Mexicans were killed in what seems to be a freak buildup of marsh gas that ignited somehow. We're not affected at all except to be reminded once again to live life to the fullest.
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