A Walk to Flamenco Beach

Flamenco Beach is touted as “one of the world's top beaches”, so we couldn't leave Culebra without visiting it. Getting there wasn't as easy as we had imagined. We were up and off the boat around 0800 on an overcast morning, having packed our snorkel gear, towels, apples, water, etc. We parked the dinghy and were about 10 minutes into the walk when David asked if I'd brought the map. No, I'd forgotten it. Another 10 minutes and we saw a lady putting out her trash can for pick-up and remembered we'd also forgotten to bring our smelly trash in for disposal, too. Darn! The clincher was about 10 minutes later when David discovered he'd also forgotten his wallet. Then it started to rain. These must all be signs … this was obviously not the day to visit the beach (or perhaps our memories aren't what they used to be?). Instead, we returned to Cups, did a few more chores on the list and called it a day. Beach day tomorrow. We read in a guide book that Flamenco Beach was a short walk (about a mile) from town. Often, when people write “short walk … about a mile”, they've never walked it, only driven it. We were right … it's more like 2-1/2 miles one way, but we were game for a good morning walk. Having double-checked that we had everything including the wallet, map and the trash, we were off the boat by 0730 on a gorgeous, sunny morning.

Walking has many advantages over driving. First, it's good exercise. Second, we see more because we're not whizzing by everything. And third, well, since we don't have a car, driving isn't really an option. There are only two main marked routes on this 5x7 mile island and Route 251 is the one that leads to and ends at Flamenco Beach at the northwest end of the island.

There was lots to see along the route … schools and playgrounds, lots of little local restaurants that looked appealing, colorful houses with anoles climbing up their walls, an abundance of hibiscus and other gorgeous flowers in full bloom, and Culebra's Lilliputian-sized airport. We could hear the constant cooing of pigeons and morning doves. Frigate birds soared silently overhead.

There's an abundance of golf carts and small jeeps on the island, used primarily by tourists who visit. They all seemed to be driving to the beach. We saw no other walkers. We had the grassy side of the road to ourselves. The narrow, paved road wends its way to the northwest past the Flamenco Lagoon. We caught sight of the lagoon and beach from the crest of the route's biggest, steepest hill (which I was dreading on the return trip). We hoped to see flamingos in the lagoon (flamenco = flamingo in Spanish), but all we saw was a couple of laughing gulls.

We finally spied signs for the beach in the distance.

The entrance to the beach was very inviting as we made our way through the parking lot, past several food stands which weren't open yet and onto the beach. There are campsites and lovely picnic tables under the canopy of spreading shade trees.

We chose one of the little paths that cut through the beach flora and a long expanse of white sand beach lay before us.

A palm tree provided enough shade for our towels and gear. We just sat for a few minutes, chatting and taking it all in. The beach is clean and, at this time of day, uncrowded. The water is dazzling … bright turquoise with coral reefs a ways out, just rising above the surface. There was sufficient surf for some beach-goers to ride the waves. We were content just watching, walking along the shore and taking a quick dip to cool off. We retreated to our towels and lay in the shade of our little palm tree, enjoying the day. Seems odd to say since we live on the sea, but I can't remember the last time we lay on a beach.

According to Wiki, Teddy Roosevelt established the Culebra Naval Reservation in 1903 and in 1939, the US Navy began using the Culebra Archipelago as a gunnery and bombing practice site in preparation for the US involvement in World War II. In 1971 the people of Culebra began protests to remove the Navy from Culebra. Four years later, in 1975, the use of Culebra as a gunnery range ceased. Remnants of the military occupation are still evident including this tank on Flamenco Beach and unexploded ordinance which shows up from time to time.

By 11am, multiple vans and tourist buses had unloaded herds of vacationers at the beach for the day and blanket space on the beach was at a premium. The once “uncrowded” beach we'd enjoyed just an hour previously had filled up and was now swarming with people. That was our cue to head out. I think we're becoming curmudgeons.

No matter, we trudged back to town, the return always seeming shorter than the trip out (despite the dreaded hill) and we were back in town with nary a whimper from the first mate (really). David found an unusually well-stocked ferreteria (hardware store) along the way, at which he bought caulking to repair the diesel tank gasket leak. We also found a small supermercado that had frozen ground turkey (hallelujah) which supplied the main ingredient for the evening's taco dinner.

We're not sure Flamenco Beach is one of the top 10 beaches in the world. That's a mighty broad statement without any criteria provided for comparison and we're probably not the best judge of beaches anyway … but it certainly is a beautiful beach. It was well worth the walk.

Exploring Dewey, Culebra - Puerto Rico

This is our third day here and we haven't managed to get ashore yet. What's up with that? We were tired and we wanted to make sure the anchor was set well … and oh yeah, the dink needed repair. So, those were our excuses on Day 1. Yesterday, it rained all day long. No sense in getting wet, right? And today? Well, we got as far as launching the dink in the early morning calm and puttered away most of the rest of the morning. We decided it was getting a bit ridiculous and headed into shore.

It's always a thrill heading into a new port, but there's much to be said for getting some chores done on the boat right away and/or lazing around a bit before heading to shore. Some folks are off their boats as soon as the anchor drops. Not us … we like taking our time … but three days? Come on now! In our defense, we have gotten several #1 chores completed and we've been taking afternoon dips in the warm, clear waters of Ensenada Honda.

The new dinghy patch was doing its job and the ride to shore was pretty dry. As we approached the shore, certain sights jogged our memories, especially the big, bright orange lift bridge . We'd been here in the Spanish Virgin Islands once before … back in 2002 when we first visited the Caribbean. At that time, the nearby island of Vieques was off-limits to cruisers because of live shelling exercises by the US military. We'd anchored here, but just for an overnight before heading on to St. Thomas, so we'd not explored any of the island. In the beginning, we used to be in a hurry to get to the next place.

We tied up at the town dock, deposited our trash in the bins provided and and walked across the bridge to the Dinghy Dock, a local restaurant and cruiser hang-out. Well, the lift bridge has been newly painted and looks pretty spiffy, but it doesn't lift any more … not sure it did on our last visit either. The cruising guide didn't provide much information about the little town of Dewey, but we figured a cruiser hang-out was the best place to find what we needed. It was. We found an island map, access to fresh water, free wi-fi, directions to two grocery stores and lunch.

After scoping out the two grocery stores which were chock-a-block full with everything you can imagine (yippee), we decided to dinghy under the lift bridge and up the canal that connects the “inside” of Ensenada Honda to the “outside”, i.e. the ferry dock at Bahia Sardinas and the Caribbean Sea. A big rope hangs down from the bridge structure and though it would be hard to access, we wondered if it's used as a rope swing on occasion.

The canal is only about a ½ mile long and it's dotted with little restaurants closer to town and lined with mangroves as it empties into the Caribbean. The ferry terminal for transit to Fajardo on the Puerto Rican mainland is located here and the ferry was getting ready to go.

Hector el Protector was a surprise and a very interesting sculpture that stands sentry at the end of the canal opposite the ferry dock in Bahia Sardinas. Made solely from recycled old pallets, Hector was created by Thomas Dambo, an artist/designer based in Copenhagen, Denmark, as an entry in the 2014 Culebra Es Ley Art Festival. Hector appears to take his job seriously.

There didn't seem to be a reasonable place for a dinghy tie up, so we retraced our course along the canal. I spotted two beautiful green iguanas hanging out on the canal wall. They were wary of our approach and one ran off into the bush, but the other, though keeping a cautious eye on me, allowed a photo. They're actually an invasive species and considered pests. The locals called them “gallina de palo” … tree chickens ... and they're evidently quite tasty.

We tied up the dinghy at the Dinghy Dock and walked back over to the ferry terminal, giving us a different view of Dewey town. The streets are narrow and everything is delightfully Spanish. Signs are in Spanish and the colorful houses add to the Spanish Caribbean feel. People smile as they pass you on the street and say hi or hola. Lovely! There were several little restaurants, shops, outdoor cafes, guest houses and souvenir shops along the route. We popped our heads in and looked around, enjoying the discovery process.

The ferry terminal area is colorful and pleasantly touristy. We read that the ferry fare to Fajardo was “inexpensive”, but that, of course, is a relative term. Is inexpensive $40/pp or $5 or ?? Well, turns out, it's $2.25/pp each way unless you're old farts like us and then it's $1.00! (If you're older than dirt, i.e. 75 or older, then it's free!) We had the urge to board immediately for the 1-1/2 hour ride to Fajardo, just because it was such a bargain. We fought the impulse, but it's on the list of budget entertainment possibilities in the next few days.

We stopped at one of the supermarkets on our return trip. The outside of the Colmado Milka was quite deceiving. Inside was a warren of narrow aisles, well-stocked shelves and little alcoves and annexes that offered about anything we could want in the way of groceries, booze, fresh meats and chicken, etc. We bought dinner ingredients and headed back to the Dinghy Dock to retrieve the dink. Thai peanut chicken with rice and Asian cole slaw are on the dinner menu, if anyone's hungry.

Enough exploring for one day. If it's nice, we're hoping to hike over to Flamenco Beach tomorrow, noted as one of the most beautiful beaches “in the Western Hemisphere”. Let's see if we agree.

Learning the Lingo - Trini Style

I mentioned in an earlier blog that CNN has pronounced the Trini accent as one of the sexiest accents in the world. We agree it has a pleasant appeal. People sing as they work here and seem to have the same sing-song style in their speech. Even though it's English they're speaking, that doesn't always mean we can understand what they're saying. Trinidadian English is a mix of English as we know it, Spanish, slang expressions, idioms, French/Creole words, some Indian/Asian influence and a lyrical twist of phrase. Trini expressions we're learning …

Liming or limin' – Yup … pronounced just like the fruit. It's an informal get-together of two or more friends/acquaintances; hanging out; can be considered loitering. Liming is discouraged in many stores and restaurants … unless you're a paying customer.

Rum store – any bar that locals frequent; a good place for limin'

Down de islands – sometimes referred to as DDI, a trip to one of the small islands off Trinidad, e.g. Gaspar Grande, Monos, Huevos or Chacachacare .“Up de islands” is heading north up the chain of other Caribbean islands/countries.

Foreigners – Anyone, especially white people, not from Trinidad or Tobago. More specifically is a foreign foreigner who is anyone not from the Caribbean.

Some words are just pronounced differently. “A”(ah) is how most Trinidadians pronounce “I” or “a” and “ax” is “ask”. “Dohn” is “don't” and “fuh” is “for”. “Dat” is “that”, “de” is “the” and “ting” is “thing”. I think some of this comes from the French/Creole influence where “th” is not pronounced. If we listen carefully, we can understand. It takes a little practice. It's also important to appreciate that this is their language … it's not a corruption of American or British English, it's a language unto itself. So phrases like “Buh whey nah” take a minute to comprehend “but wait now (wait a minute)” clicks with our brains after a few seconds.

Ent? - Don't you agree? (We hear this a lot and only recently figured out what it meant.)

Pans – steel pan drums; and panyards are the locations of the enclosed practice locations for the pan bands.

Fete – an organized party; drinking, dancing and loud music, often till the wee hours of the next morning.

There are several Carnival terms that are used quite often since Carnival is the most significant celebration of the year here. In fact, “carnival” itself is derived from the Latin words “carne-vale” … farewell meat …and introduced by the Catholics as a celebration day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday) was set aside as a time to indulge before the 40 days of fasting ahead. It is said Trinidadian's are either participating in Carnival, preparing for Carnival or reminiscing about Carnival. It's a year long affair.

Mas – mask/masquerade – part of Carnival activities with everyone in costume. Mas camps are set up before Carnival where costumes are designed and fitted according the particular theme of the individual camps, dances are practiced and generally everyone participates. Parties, fetes and mas bands keep the campers entertained before and during Carnival. We've never been to Carnival here. We experienced a smaller version in Tobago and one in Bonaire. Not sure if we could handle the crowds and craziness of a Trini Carnival (think Mardi Gras in New Orleans on steroids), but you never know.

In my research, I've read that there are lots of Trini sayings and expressions that we might hear along the way. Reading them, I felt that they were uniquely put, but universally accepted truths. There's that “same, but different” thing I talk about so often.

We learn something new every day … all part of the allure of travel. Now we're off to go limin' with some friends.