Volver's Caribbean Escape: Isla Del Encanto

Spanish Virgin Islands

Volver enjoyed Culebra immensely. The small island has many beautiful beaches, marine parks with turtle nesting zones and good snorkling. Culebra has a population of 2000 people and 1000 golf carts. We rented a rather sorry example of one of these, which somehow got us safely around this small island. They should come with helmets. We were expressly forbidden by the rental company to drive on unpaved roads, but they did not mention the moon sized craters in the paved ones. Adventures are all part of the cruising lifestyle.

This was Culebrita, but there are many long, white, sandy beaches like it on Culebra

First, we went to Flamenco Beach, which is beautiful, but was a spring break wonderland, with many people in beach chairs and umbrellas, eating disappointing kiosk foods and satisfactory cold drinks. Then we moved to tamarindo beach, which the tourist map states is only accessible by dive boat (not true) and lies opposite the island of Luis Pena, one of the nature preserves. This was a fantastic place to snorkel. The first mate had her first up close and personal encounter with a hawksbill turtle, who was quietly feeding in crystal clear water about 4 feet away. Beautiful markings of its head and feet, good light overhead--no camera.

First thing the next morning we drove the cart over treacherous hills to the Playa (beach) Zoni, which is across from the isle of Culebrita. A bit of a further drive from the town than the other beaches, this one belonged to us alone. Gorgeous, and also good snorkeling. Capt'n was making plans to move on and First Mate advised that we were not finished here. She successfully convinced both Capt'n and the Happy family of the necessity to visit the marine park at Culebrita. The two boats set off for a day trip, and were nestled into the beautiful anchorage of Bahia de Tortugas (turtles) by 0930.

Lighthouse at Culebrita

Culebrita is not just a gorgeous place to hang: there are places to explore, too. There is a nice hike up to an abandoned lighthouse where you have beautiful views of the other Spanish and USVI. A less picturesque, functioning lighthouse sets on the hill beside the large brick structure. There is also a short hike over large rocks to "the Jacuzzi," which is a formation of boulders forming a natural bubbling pool. The bubbles come from the surf breaking over the rocks.

Hiking to the Jacuzzi

The kids, young and old, enjoyed waiting by the inlet for a surge to come as the tide came in, facilitating body surfing across the pool. A good swim in the sea and a snorkeling session and it was time to leave, although one could stay in the Culebrita anchorage for several days and not tire of the scenery.

the Jacuzzi, Culebrita

View from the lighthouse, Culebrita (anchorage on the left)

On the trip over to Culebrita from Honda Ensenada, both boats spotted the Bahia d'Almodovar, a beautiful, quiet bay, nestled in mangroves and protected from the Atlantic seas only by a reef, and we knew upon sighting that we'd be sleeping there. Now, Volver shares a name with a film by the sometimes zany, sometimes profound, Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, in which a sympathetic character, played by Penelope Cruz (Almodovar's longstanding muse) repeatedly returns to the scene of a crime. We half hoped for a film screen to be hidden in the mangroves somewhere, playing one of Almodovar's early comedies, such as "women on the verge of a nervous breakdown" but no luck. The bay was very serene and silent, apart from the surf crashing over the reef in front of us. Some grey clouds moved in, so the photos do not do this anchorage justice.

This guy is trying for the incognito look

First light, we were off to the largest Spanish Virgin Island, Vieques, and settled into Sun Bay, an anchorage just beside the town of Esperanza. Capt'n has high hopes for any town that sports a malecon (boardwalk), and was mildly disappointed by the town's offerings: a museum, a few guesthouses, bars and restos. Perhaps we are jaded by having settled into so many spectacular places over that last few months, and we found ourselves underwhelmed by the long, palm tree lined, white sandy beach of Sun Bay. It was rolly and since it was just us and Happy Chaos in the anchorage, we solved the problem with stern anchors, that turned the boats into the swell (reducing side to side impact), 90 degrees to the wind.

Vieques may be the best place in the world (and one of three in Puerto Rico) to enjoy a bioluminescent bay, Bahia Puerto Mosquito. At night, best viewed during the dark of the New Moon, chlorophyll producing dinoflagellate plankton glow when they are touched, either by running your hand through the water, or by the surface of your kayak. The plankton thrive because the bay has a very narrow inlet, and the water turns over only once per 13 days (the bay glows because it is stagnant). The health of the Bay has been threatened by ecotourism. It is likely that sun and bug screen and petrol are killing the plankton.

There are many companies offering kayaking tours shortly after sunset, and Volver planned to join one of them, toxin free, of course. Our plan was thwarted when Capt'n stepped on a sea urchin while beaching the dinghy. He has a tattoo of 20 or so sea urchin spines embedded in his foot at the ball joint and could not walk on it. Sea urchin spines are venomous and although there are a lot of old wives tales of treatment methods, there is no evidence for anything other than hot water soaks, which are purported to leach out venom. There is a high risk of infection, so Volver had to pass on the tour, and did not contribute to the destruction of Bioluminescent Bay.

The island of Puerto Rico

We moved onto the island of Puerto Rico itself. Several days lacking wind saw us settling into a marina in Palmas Del Mar, which was nearly empty and had a lovely pool. Wind resumed its usual schedule, and we were able to move on to Salinas, which is a very popular place for live-aboards. It is a large bay, surrounded by mangroves, close to amenities and is very comfortable, as there is no swell. We made this a base for renting a car and seeing the island, as well as doing a final major provision before we make a break for the Dominican Republic (good luck finding much) and the Bahamas (ditto, plus very expensive).

Salinas is known for its seafood restaurants, especially for Mojo sauce, and the best surround the marina area. There is a town square a mile away that houses the saturday farmer's market, and the town has some interesting buildings. We love the whimsical library with its easy care 'trees.'

Biblioteca Publica, Salinas

Another sea creature sighted: Salinas is home to a fairly rare animal, the manatee. One morning, there was a large splash heard while we were enjoying coffee and the sunrise. The first mate declared, "perhaps that is a manatee." Capt'n insisted they don't jump, and they are also slow and stupid. Then we note two huge animals, the size of very rotund dolphins, with fat heads and tails more like whales, swimming by, one on either side of the boat, surfacing in a dolphin-esque fashion. First mate did not stop herself from saying....I told you so.....

The market in Ponce

Ponce is Puerto Rico's second largest city, named for Ponce de Leon, the explorer, who was the first governor of Puerto Rico. The island was originally named San Juan (after St. John the Baptist), and the city of San Juan was known as puerto rico (rich port: there was gold in the early days of island history, and the island was also a major portal for trade with South America). Over time the island and the city switched names. Ponce de Leon was often away from the island, searching for the fountain of youth: ironically, he only found Florida, and he died young, killed by native inhabitants of Cuba.

Handsome Leons

Ponce is the home of a beautiful square, surrounded by many mid-17th century buildings. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, most museums, including the museum of architecture, are closed mondays. It was a picturesque city, with a reputedly lively malecon, also deserted mid-day monday. In 2012, the town invited 15 artists to paint Lions, and the resulting sculpture art is fun.

Ponce Cathedral

Detail, Ponce Cathedral

Sneaking into Ponce Cathedral, just as mass was to begin

The first mate needed to rectify some fashion crimes, and we found our way to the Plaza las Americas. This is an enormous mall, which must give the Mall of America a run for it's money in terms of size. Puerto Rico has a population of 3.8 million (there are another 4.6 people of Puerto Rican descent living on Mainland US): they have embraced both cultures. It was a great culture shock for us to leave the plantain culture and be confronted with so many choices for consumerism! Such a contrast to the many places we've visited where we couldn't find a place to buy a SIM card, simple staples like hand sanitizer, and all but the most rudimentary groceries are hard to come by! And there was Chinese food that didn't scare us! God bless America!

We drove to the capital city and checked into a hotel for two nights. We will never take clean, hot running water for granted again, and enjoyed the plethora of hygenic opportunity.

Cafecultura, a fine example of San Juan architecture

In the capital city, we visited old San Juan, which is a walled city, and is a Unesco heritage site. We visited 3 of the forts that were built in 17th century. San Cristobal and El Morro are very impressive forts built by the spanish.

The buildings are concrete and stucco, which is high maintainance in sea air, so there is extensive construction in San Juan.

San Cristobal Watchtower: the iconic towers appear on Puerto Rican licence plates

View of 'El Morro' from San Cristobal

Lighthouse at 'El Morro'

The bunkhouse, San Cristobal: we think even Volver's hard bunk would be cushier

The third fort, known as Fortaleza, has for many years served as the governors mansion, after the Spanish decided it was too far beyond the inner harbor entrance: if the ships got that far, they had already infiltrated the defences.

The Governor's mansion

We toured the grounds of the mansion, met the first dog, Toby, and the governor himself visited us: he chided some of the tour group about our harsh Canadian winters and invited them to stay in Puerto Rico until the summer.

The governor himself, second youngest in Puerto Rican history, elected age 41

There is a fourth fort, known as "el Canuelo," on a small island opposite the bay, which is a public park now, best accessed by boat. We were taking a break from boating and enjoyed the view from land.

This virgin Mary is protecting the island

Old San Juan is rich is architecture, public sculptures, and beautiful views.

Sculpture garden along the seawall

Nice former prison! Now, operated by the gov't tourism agency

there are many sculptures and a gallery of
Angel Botello's work in the city

No Signage to help explain these fun puppets, hanging from the rafters

We visited the Museo de los Americas, which showcased both history and art of many Caribbean cultures. And then on to the Museo de Arte de Puerta Rico which had a fantastic collection of mostly contemporary art.