Vieques 1 and a Magnificent Beach

It's sunrise in Vieques.

The view from the balcony at Malecon House is beautiful in the morning. 

So much so that everyone seems to want to see it.

I did mention there are wild horses all over the island, didn't I?





Well, one should not equate wild with stupid, and "all over" may not have been the most accurate description.  They all know where breakfast is served, and they're all here to thank the chefs.  



These horses are particularly well behaved -- just observe the horse at right crossing at the handicapped crossing (not having a home or regular source of food could be construed as a handicap, couldn't it?).





It's like rush hour out there.  


While the parade continues out front, breakfast at the Malecon House is a continental affair with freshly baked scones and muffins, 

fresh fruit and juices, and a great brew of coffee.  Marsha Shepard puts on a good spread.  This time of morning is also when it is convenient to use the free Wifi which is only available on the first floor.  Sure enough it has a strong signal and we're able to get a good update on weather for the first time in a few days.  Fortunately, we're not going anywhere for a while.  We talked about it last night and decided not to make a day trip to San Juan for shopping and to look around.  This gave us more beach time.  

After a leisurely breakfast and a quick walk across the street to see what we could see, we're rarin' to go.

Malecon House loans out some very nice beach chairs and a beach umbrella.  With that in the back of our Jeep, we're off to our first beach -- Sun Bay -- which is maybe 5 minutes from the hotel.  

Sun Bay is the only beach on Vieques with facilities.  That probably explains why this mare and her foal are here.  That's the picture on the left, not the one below.  










Sun Bay is a very nice two mile long beach with great sand, calm water, and very few people.  One of the few is nice enough to stop by our little settlement and take our picture.  She's apparently there almost every day and likes to chat.  Well, she's in good company.  

 

Besides the occasional human and the horses, there are a few other folks on the beach.  

Ann and I have some very different ideas about how to kill time on the beach.  We spot some more of that local history we saw in downtown Vieques last night. 

Ann decides to head on down that way to explore (she's the tiny little orange spot at the base of the trees at right), while I get a good shot of both with the telephoto lens.




My idea of a beachy good time is captured below.  There is a constant breeze to keep you cool, and on the rare occasions when one gets a little hot, there is ample water available for a quick dip.  In addition, with very little effort you can maneuver the the umbrella around to keep the direct sun off while reading or dozing.

Such are the lessons one learns if one goofs off on the beach long enough ;-). 

After a few hours, around noon or so, it's starting to get crowded.  There are maybe six more people on this two mile beach, and some are getting positively claustrophobic.  We decide it's just unbearable ;-) and vow to go to a more secluded beach tomorrow.  For right now, it's time for lunch.  Esperanza is about the same as we left it.  

This time we decide to live dangerously and head for Lazy Jack's bar just a little way up the street from Malecon House.  

This place is not fancy, but there were a lot of people there last night, and a bunch have already gathered by 2:00 PM today, so we check it out.  

With a nod of approval from one of the locals (at least I think that's what the look is, though I suddenly feel so medium rare), we get a seat, a beer and a marguarita, and order up some bar food.  Unsurprisingly, their pulled pork barbeque is outstanding and Ann's chicken salad is also good.

Ann is desperate for some iced cream and we had seen a sign or two last night while walking.  As we're ambling about Ann does some shopping and we get a chance to chat with a few shop keepers.  Everyone we talk to seems to be very happy and are doing a good business.  

As the sun gets low late in the afternoon we get ready for the evening's events.  We stop in and visit with Marsha Shepard for a bit.  She's able to track down a local Rotary in Esperanza with a regular meeting tomorrow evening.  It turns out they meet at Orquideas, a restaurant just behind Lazy Jack's.  Small town . . . 

We've planned all along to visit the BioBay located close to Vieques.  The bay is actually called Mosquito Bay on the maps, and contains the largest concentration of phosphorescent organisms on the planet.  We needed to be out at the BioTours departure location at 6:15.  It's raining as we drive out, and still raining as we board the busses.  It takes about 30 minutes to get to the edge of the bay over deeply rutted, water filled roads, and a few minutes more to get into our canoes and paddle boats (that's what we asked for).  We're then towed to the center of the bay and cut loose for about an hour of paddling about.  (Sorry in advance for no pictures, but it is night, and it is lightly raining ;-).

Once on the water, the micro-organisms light up when anything disturbs the water -- a hand, a foot, the movement of the paddles, or the movement of boats -- anything at all.  You can see the wake of canoes and boats as they move about.  It's a dark night with no moon so everything shows up vividly.  It's also overcast.  There was supposed to be more rain.  We're actually hoping for rain because that will make the entire surface of the bay light up.  

It seems strange to say we were out of luck because it didn't rain while in the middle of a bay in an open boat.  It really would have been something to see.  Ann commented that it must have been a very exciting night for the first people on the island to see a glowing lake in the rain.  I had to agree, that would have been some experience.  

After the two hour tour, we grabbed dinner at the Mexican Restaurant next to BioTours, then headed back for a good night's sleep.