Hopping a "quick," one-hour ferry over to the island, we landed about 11 a.m. and began our evaluation of Vieques, Puerto Rico's largest island. Some cute kids entertained us on the ferry. I played thumb wars with the hatted one.
After landing, we ate lunch.
Parmesan, salsa chicken with beans and rice finished in my estomago, much to my delight. The quaint patio venue added to the meal.
Transportation around the 13 mile-long island was provided by a 15 passenger van that we managed 18 into. That's always fun cramming three more hot, sweaty Sooners into a situation like that. The AC was sketchy and the day hot. Some complained. I thought it was pretty fun. It's all part of traveling in a group.
Our driver, Angel, stopped as a local fruit stand for refreshments. They had all kinds of goods. Mangos, bananas, plantains, white yams, hot sauces, grapes etc. Good selection of what-not.
A museum came next on the island. We got a private session with the curator, RObert, about history of the island. Vieques used to be the Navy's primary bombing test site. In the 40s the gov't quarantined about 18,000 acres on the island, turning it into a "wildlife refuge," and has been bombing the shiznit out of it ever since.
The locals hated the military's presence. The noise, the environmental impact, the relentless shelling of the island's east side were common abhorrances.
Robert, the guy in the picture, was one of many who ventured out onto the LIVE bombing range to protest the gov't activities. He snuck past the million-dollar security systems in the late '90s, was nearly killed by artillery fire and arrested thereafter (one of three arrests).
May 1, 2003 marked the day Uncle Sam and Co. pulled out of Vieques. The locals are happy. Robert said it was a huge and entirely non-violent victory for those in opposition to the Navy's presence there.
Quite interesting. Can't imagine being in the sights of a 5-inch artillery cannon.
Next came the beach on a Vieques. Beautiful water and surrounding coutryside and nearly deserted too.
A host of animal life lined the shoreline. Barnacles, sea urchins, snails, crabs, fish. I got the token few sea shells to complete the package.
We ended the day with our night-time kayak tour — "Bio Bay." A 2.5 hour paddling escapade into the world's only bio-illuminescent lagoon. Quite the experience, paddling in pitch darkness in a two-man craft as tiny organisms light the water in green luminescence with every agitation. Swimming among the critters was best though.
Really great.
2 comments:
You look like an American gladiator with that paddle, and with such an outstanding representative citizen I don't know why those Puerto Ricans aren't rushing to the polls and begging to become the fifty-first state of the only country ever founded on the God-given principles of the Holy Bible: democracy, capitalism, and white picket fences.
Forgive my cyncism and please keep the updates coming.
Tchau.
Chubchub. No post for two days! Too busy eating nuts.
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