Sunny Sombe.

The day after I left for the island of Vieques (be-ah-kez) with Johnny. Once there we caught a Publico to the south side of the island and grounded in Esperanza. Esperanza and Vieques as a whole, was essentially how I had envisioned Puerto Rico when I left Florida. Calm, relaxed, easy going, underdeveloped, and very beautiful. I rented snorkel equipment from Blue Carribe Kayaks and I booked myself for a slot on the Bioluminescent Bay kayak tour. The actual Bio-Bay, as its refered, is in fact Mosquito Bay. The trip to Mosquito Bay would be very doable on your own, for free, if you scoped out its location in daylight or just waited at dusk provided you had a rental car/truck and a kayak. The owner of Blue Carribe recommended I head across the street for food, and after buying a couple of papas rellenas there I walked to the pier that was recommend for snorkeling.

Before I left he taught me an invaluable trick for snorkel goggles. Dish soap. You squirt a liberal amount into the inside of the goggles right onto the glass and then proceed to spread it all over covering as much surface as you can. Just let it dry and when your ready to snorkel just wash it out in the sea water. I snorkeled for several hours and they never once fogged up on me, nor did the soap ever get in my eyes. I imagine it would be wise to use an ecologically safe bio-degradable soap without any antibacterial agents in it as to avoid unnecessary harm to our tiny friends of the sea.

The snorkeling here was not nearly as good as that on Culebra but it was pleasing none the less. I swam all the way out to a tiny island in the bay and snorkeled there for a good while. I decided to return before the storm got any worse or before I became to exhausted to cross the bay. When I was making my way back across the bay I saw a shadowy figure down below me. So I swam closer hoping to see an old sea turtle. To my surprise it was a sting ray and the idea of it coming too close scared the hell out of me so I swam away from it. I soon noticed it was following me. Knowing it was a superior swimmer and wondering if I had invaded it territory I started to go in a new and different direction. This seemed to work as its interest wained and it faded into the distance. When I got back to the pier I decided to snorkel up and down the shore to see what I could find. I found a piece of mother of peal and some cool shells and coral fragments. I also found more angel fish and yet again they decided to follow me. So I headed further still with my new companions and I spotted tiny flute shaped fish swimming near the surface and a big school of nearly transparent and invisible fish near the boat ramp.

Satisfied with my adventures I decided to go find some food. I was walking on the beach when I saw I tiny patch of sand pulsing. I scooped out from it a tiny pinkish crab, that when on the sand was nearly impossible to spot unless it moved. Two cute girls from Ohio came over and looked it over and took pictures of it and me and then disappeared. I walked to Bananas and ordered a Pina Colada and a exquisite Jamaican Jerk sandwich with fries. I explored the tiny town a bit more and met Jean a woman from Phoenix, Arizona who was waiting for her husband to catch up to her, he had unfortunately lost his cellphone earlier and was searching for it. We chatted for a while and then I left to go explore Sombe (Sun Bay).

I walked down the road to Sun Bay and took a wrong turn and found old ruins in the forest near Sombe. Once I had accrued enough mosquito bites I fled from the forest fresh on the hunt for Sun Bay. I figured how could I miss it if I followed the shore line? So I walked down the shore. I came to an odd juncture. To my left was Sun Bay which did look quite lovely but I was in a more adventurous mood. To my right was a small strip of sand connecting this island and the next, however it was below a foot of sea water and was a very peculiar sight. The current in Sun Bay was meeting here with the opposing current but it was clearly and defiantly winning out for some reason, at least at this time of the day. So there was in essence a small salt water river running from bay to bay in between two islands. I kept on towards this tiny island and began down its mild shore. I found a long the way, several tiny trails leading into the forest. Though none of them ever lead very far. The shore was becoming increasingly rocky and difficult. Eventually it wandered up to a rocky cliff that I climbed upon and watched the sea break below. There were quarter sized crabs all over but I figured their tooth pick width pincher's could do no worse harm then a flea bite. Soon the rain determined as ever tried to sully my temporary dryness. I found shelter in the forest under a tiny tree and waited till it past. Contented with my adventure and deciding it was best to get back before sundown I retreated.

Once back in Esperanza I bought a few beers and watched the sunset over the bay and in between two islands. It was beautiful and as many times before I wish I had a camera. I waited for the Kayak tour to form and once it did we all piled into a van and headed to Mosquito Bay. Along the way the driver paused briefly on a back road and reached out to pick some wild jasmine. Its white flowers fragrance was wonderful and we all passed it around several times to sample it. A young couple in front of me said they were from Philly so I asked if they had run into Owen and Alista but they hadn't. We all got out of the van and got into the kayaks and raced out to the meeting spot in the bay. A few feet from shore you could already see the dinoflagellates lighting up around the paddles. Weak at first it grew in intensity. It looked as though every stroke sent bright sparks in slow motion swirling around. Closer to the "hot spot" it looked as though the paddles were wrapped in a ghostly greenish aura. Once at the spot we anchored and got into the water. It was bit cold as it had been raining earlier and this apparently decreased the dinoflagellates luminescence but it was still pretty cool. If you make a similar motion to the kind you perform while making snow angels it looked as though you actually became angelic however brief. We all played with the dinoflagellates for a while but we all became increasingly cold and as a result less interested in the tiny creatures and more in getting the hell out of the cold water.

We all headed back to shore and then drove back to town. I walked to the end of the board walk and sat down to get some food in what turned out to be, for me, an expensive restaurant. So I ordered a bowl of seafood chowder and a beer. Moments after placing my order the girl from Philly invited me over to their table. Alice and Akos introduced themselves and I sat down and we all talked until the restaurant closed. We talked about their adventures backpacking in Europe and also of Akos' hilarious road trip on motorcycles behind a van to a grateful dead cover festival in California. They told me stories about trying to find an apartment during the dot com bust and we talked about music for a good while too. It was a fantastic evening. When the waitress came with our bills they even paid for mine! On the way back to the van I asked if I could stay on their couch for the night since I was tent-less and it was very rainy that night, and they obliged! Thanks again guys!