paradise: found -- a few months early

Nestled not too far off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico in the gorgeous, warm, Carribean Sea lies La Isla Nina--the island of Vieques, a former Spanish Virgin Island that is now a part of Puerto Rico. It also just happens to be home to some of the most beautiful places on the planet.

Just four days in Vieques makes for a lifetime of memories--from swimming in the warm, calm water in Esperanza's Sun Bay, to swimming at night in the largest bioluminescent bay in the world, to kayaking through dense mangrove forests, to lazing around on a warm shaded porch with nothing but the iquanas and the ocean to watch.

A secret--The Caribbean in late-October is an untouched jewel--at the tail end of the rainy season and three weeks from the start of high season, you get the perfect amount of warm sun, soft sand, and local charm...along with miles of vacant beaches and no need to plan anything more than a few hours in advance. Your payment? Maybe a late afternoon thunderstorm--but a padded cabana chair and a view of the ocean from a covered porch makes that seem more treat than tragedy.

Begin with a drive across Puerto Rico, from San Juan to Fajardo--take your time getting there, and ask your driver to tell you all about the island on the way. If you're lucky, you'll get someone who will take you along the northeastern coast of the island--bringing you in perfect view of the Puerto Rican rainforest before you get to Fajardo and purchase your tickets for the Vieques ferry.


The ferry will drop you in Isabel Segunda, the island's largest town, where you will have no choice but to hire a publico at this local hotspot. If you've done this right--you're staying on the southern coast of the Island, in Esperanza, a 50 yard strip of lazy bars, restaurants, and guesthouses no more than 20 feet from the ocean. Looking for a good one? Try the Trade Winds Guest House, owned by Harry and Janet--15 year transplants from New Hampshire, guaranteed to make you insanely jealous of their laid back life in paradise.

walk on the beach...lay under a palm tree...swim in the 80 degree, crystal clear waters of the Caribbean...drink a fruity drink...forget that you have a life beyond Latitude: 18.13º N Longitude: 65.40º W...dream about making your life there.

But don't miss out on Abe. A character out of the how-to book on life in the Caribbean, Abe runs one of several kayaking and snorkelling businesses on the island....he runs "at least 3, sometimes 4 trips a day--at least 7, sometimes 8 days a week." They range in length and product...but you shouldn't miss the six hour trip that begins in Mosquito Bay and meanders through desolate mangrove forests and caverns, where in lieu of padling your kayak, you pull yourself along by the roots of the trees. After the mangrove forest, Abe will take you across the bay to a secluded beach, where snorkelling is remarkable and the simple dinner he brought for you is the best meal of your life.

You will watch the sun set over the ocean (he even plays the ukelelie and some inappropriate songs) and, under cover of night, kayak back into the bay--which in the darkness becomes the most incredible natural sight you've ever seen...your paddles, your kayak, your hand, and the fish surrounding you in the dark water are lit up by millions of bioluminescent sea creatures--tiny dinoflagellates that make every movement seem like it is in starlight. Abe will anchor the kayaks--and you can swim...making sea angels...."the more you move...the brighter they glow."

i promise you you won't be disappointed.

-----

for the history buff in you:

Beginning as a Spanish Virgin Island and then annexed by Spain into the nation of Puerto Rico, Vieques had a thriving economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries--highlighted by the sugar cane industry and the coffee industry. Starting in the late 19th century, however, numerous rebellions against working conditions in the sugar plantations, combined with falling prices of sugar, lead to an economic crisis during the 1930's. Residents began leaving Vieques to the nearby St. Croix, St. Thomas and Puerto Rico--clearing out the island for what would be it's legacy in the American consciousness.

In the early 1940s, The US Navy seized the opportunity of the sugar crisis on Vieques to purchase more than 70% of the island's land and begin bombing practice and munitions testing on the island. The Navy even went so far as to, in 1947, begin plans to relocate the entire population of the island to St. Croix. Amazingly, after almost five decades of local uprisings against this suggested movement, including human blockades against military Puerto Rico and the residents of Vieques were able to issue an ultimatum to the US Navy, declaring, among other things:

We accuse the U.S. Navy of polluting our air, water and land and contributing significantly to the high level of cancer and other diseases related to the degradation of the environment that affect our population. We make them responsible for all the dead, wounded, ill and other victims of their military activities during these six decades, and for the profound psychological damage caused to our children.

We declare that the Navy is an usurping entity of our territory, whose presence and activities violate the natural right of the people of Vieques to enjoy our natural resources and the right to peace.

We hold the US government responsible for any harm or injury against any Puerto Rican who exercise his or her right to defend our land.

On May 1, 2003, the US Navy left the island of Vieques--leaving a legacy of uranium deposits, unexploded munitions, and an extraordinarily high rate of cancer in its wake. Over 60% of the island has become the largest Wildlife Sanctuary in the Caribbean under the protection of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service--much of that space will never be able to house people, because of the amount of environmental and physical damage caused.


fix your jones for paradise found @ enchanted-isle.com, vieques-island.com, Trade Winds Guest House, and abessnorkelling.com

Posted by sarah t. at 12:05 PM