Friday, May 23, 2008

El montar en bicicleta en Culebra







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I’ve spent the last week in Puerto Rico.  I missed the race at Soldier Hollow on
Saturday, but I’m not complaining.  I’ve
hiked through a tropical rain forest, swam in blue Caribbean
waters rimmed with white sandy beaches and wandered the limestone fortresses of
Old San Juan. 





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But there is a problem. 
The place we’re staying is too far away. 
From everything.  The beach nearby
is rife with hazards, falling coconuts are the least of them.  The closest panaderia is five miles away and San
Juan is 50 miles from here.  We have a car, but there are five of us so the
car goes where the group goes.  Sometimes
that has meant too much windshield time in traffic and not enough time actually
getting away from it all.   I needed a
vacation from this vacation. 





Live bombs

The island of Culebra,
and her larger, more famous sister, Vieques, used to serve as a bombing range
for the U.S. Military.  It’s only
been a few years since the military pulled out and left the islands to fend for
themselves, economically speaking.  In
other words, Culebra is still an affordable vacation destination.  And since the 60-minute ferry ride from the
main island costs just $2.25, these islands have become the place to go for Puerto
Ricans needing a vacation. 





Fruits

But first we had to make a trip to the market to load up on
tropical fruits.  Longtime Hooptedoodle
readers know my philosophy on diet when in the tropics, which is to eat your
body weight in tropical fruits before you leave.  [New discoveries this trip have been Guayabana
and the red Sweet Cucumber I’m holding in this photo, it tastes like a cross
between a cantaloupe and a watermelon, with a pumpkin-like aftertaste.]





Mags bike

Most visitors to Culebra rent cars and point them straight
for Playa Flamenco, “the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean”
according to the Lonely Planet guide.  Mags
and I followed them because it also offers the only campsites on the
island.  But that’s where the
similarities ended.  Instead of renting a
car, Mags and I rented bikes. 





Snorkel

Untethered at last, we headed over the hill, just a mile
away from Playa Flamenco, and left the crowd behind.  The snorkeling there at Playa Carlos Rosario
was unbelievable.  I saw fish of every
color imaginable, including some colors I didn’t think occurred in nature.  Mags saw a Reef Shark, but fortunately he was
gone before I got a look at him. 



 

Bike beach



Next we rode our bikes through town to the other end of the
island—it’s only about 14 miles long—to Playa Bravo, which lies at the end of
mile-long hilly singletrack.  Tourists
can’t drive to it, and you certainly can’t expect them to walk that far, so the
beach was occupied by a total of zero people when we arrived. 

Picture it, a broad, sweeping arc of white
sand with coral reefs a hundred feet offshore. 
It was a small piece of Caribbean splendor and I
never would have gotten there without my bicycle. 





There is only one way to enjoy a beach this good…

Buns





4 comments:

  1. Aaaaaah! My eyes, my eyes! I will never be able to look at you the same.

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  2. Dude, Congrats! I spent my honeymooon in Puerto Rico. Very cool place. I, however, never got the chance to go natural at the beach.

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  3. Dude, Congrats! I spent my honeymooon in Puerto Rico. Very cool place. I, however, never got the chance to go natural at the beach.

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  4. Why is it that a naked picture of you doesn't send my eyes into shock anymore???:)Seems like every trip I've been on with you guys or seen pictures of from Vin there's always a "Naked Chad Moment"!!!Way to live it up:)

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