THE IT-NEVER GAME

Culebra, Puerto Rico

(July 27^th, 2011)

Our grand plan today was to camp on the island of Culebra. In order to do so we needed to get up early, drive to Fajardo, catch the ferry that takes about an hour to get to the island, set up our tents, and enjoy a bit of paradise on the beach. Sounds perfect, right? Well…it was, but not without a few hiccups along the way.

First, due to some miscommunication and misunderstanding, we found out that Miriam, Laura, and I were tent-less. The tent we were going to borrow was no longer available. Interesting predicament. Laura said she had no problem sleeping on the beach in her sleeping bag, but Miriam and I were already covered in bug bites and wondering what kind of voracious appetites the bugs on Culebra would have. We needed a tent. And I’m guessing Rick and Sara were wondering if they would be sharing their tent with the three of us. Hmm…But let’s come back to that later.

We woke up early—or rather, we tumbled out of bed because the three of us did not fit properly on the queen mattress (remember, all five of us squeezed into the air-conditioned bedroom the night before)—had a quick bite to eat, and hit the road to Fajardo on the far eastern coast of Puerto Rico. I was excited for the adventure because it meant that during my stay I traveled the entire length of the island, from Isabela to Fajardo.

Our plan was to take the 9am ferry from Fajardo to the island of Culebra. If we missed it the next ferry wasn’t until 3pm. That would be a really long wait and a waste of a day. Friends of Laura’s insisted that we should get to Fajardo early because the ferry to Culebra tends to sell out, but Laura said that in the many trips she’s taken to Culebra the ferry has never once sold out for her, but we would leave a little earlier just to be safe. We got on the road with the plan of being there around an hour ahead of the ferry’s departure.

Once we got close to Fajardo we stopped to grab a bite to eat, as it would be a long trip on the ferry, and then, upon seeing a Wal-Mart off the highway, we ran in and bought a tent. Woo hoo! No sleeping on the beach!

As we pulled up to the ferry terminal we started getting a little nervous. The parking lots were all full and traffic was a nightmare. Miriam got out to go purchase our ferry tickets while we tried to find a lot that wasn’t yet full. 

We pulled into one lot that was still accepting vehicles, but the lot attendant started telling Laura something in Spanish that was eliciting quite a reaction from Laura, making me believe that maybe the lot was full. Lots of Spanish was being spoken, none of which the rest of us in the car understood. Eventually, Laura pulled over to a spot that was obviously not a parking spot and started speaking with another attendant. She then told us that the first attendant told her the ferry was sold out, the alternate 9:30am cargo/car ferry was not running that day, and we could pull over to this non-parking spot to regroup for a couple minutes before they would have to charge us for parking. The second attendant told us our other option, if the ferry was indeed sold out, was to fly. Hmm…

We got a hold of Miriam, and our fears were confirmed: the ferry was sold out. Miriam immediately got on the phone with the airport in Ceiba to see what our flight options would be. The next flight was leaving at noon and would take about 15 minutes to get to Culebra. The cost? $40. Not bad, but compared to the ferry price of $2.25, it was a pretty significant difference. We decided to bite the bullet and do it, though, since the next ferry wasn’t until 3pm. We didn’t want to waste the whole day sitting in Fajardo.

We booked our flight over the phone and headed out to the Ceiba airport. I was manning the map while Miriam checked the GPS on her phone. All of that and we still got lost. Fun adventure time!

First, none of the little streets in Fajardo seemed to have names, so getting out of Fajardo and back onto the appropriate highway had us stopping and turning around a number of times. Eventually we got out and were heading in the right direction…or so we thought. On the map there were two airports listed around Ceiba. The closer one looked to be a normal airport; the other looked to be a military base. We kept driving and driving and driving. Eventually we saw signs for an airport, but I noticed we were far beyond where the normal airport was listed and seemed to be heading towards the military base airport. Miriam agreed that it looked to be the military base, so we turned around and started driving back the way we’d come. Until we passed the point where the normal airport was on the map. No signs of an airport.

Luckily, we had plenty of time to find the airport before our flight, so we weren’t panicked, just getting a little loopy, laughing over the fact that we were so obviously lost. We decided to stop at a gas station to regroup and figured we would head back to the military base airport, hoping that it was an actual public airport after all.

And it was! We followed the signs all the way to the base, passed over what used to be a military checkpoint, and drove along a long and windy road until we arrived at the airport. Sigh of relief.

Our plane was a six-passenger seat plane. Gulp. Upon checking in, we had to tell them our weight so they could balance the station-wagon-with-wings properly and check in all our possessions except for our cameras (no under seat storage on this baby).

We had a lot of time before our flight, so we got comfortable in the waiting area and watched as large, dark, foreboding storm clouds began moving our way. Laura assured us that in the many years she’s been going to Culebra, it has never rained while she was there. The weather pattern always ends up shifting it away from the island. No worries.

Our flight was, apparently, on island time, and ended up being an hour late. Finally, as the storm clouds were almost upon us, our plane pulled up. We all had to steel our nerves as we walked out to our tiny plane. Laura and I were particularly nervous and were seated next to each other. The pilot tried to assuage our fears, answering Laura’s questions about crashes, saying the last crash had been 15 years prior with no fatalities. It helped a little bit…okay; it didn’t help much at all. We were still nervous. 

As some of you may have read in the post about my trip to Six Flags, I’m very much afraid of roller coasters. Why mention this? Well, one of my least favorite parts of a roller coaster is the slow climb to the top where you can see the ground far below you right before you are dropped over the edge. Imagine being in a plane that is the width of two people and has big windows right alongside the wings that allow you to see, clearly, everything below you. Now imagine this tiny plane ascending into the sky. Much like a roller coaster. I. Was. Petrified.

Brave faces BEFORE take-off

Looking around I saw we were all pretty scared, but as we leveled out, the beautiful blue waters came into view. As nervous as I was to look out the window, I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous our surroundings were. And as soon as I brought my camera up to my face and looked through the viewfinder my nerves were replaced with awe and excitement. I have never seen water so blue before, which made the small, green islands dotting the surface pop against the background. It was absolutely amazing.

Playa Flamenco

When I was able to tear my eyes away from the view for a little bit, it was fascinating to see all the controls and watch how a plane operates, as I was sitting directly behind the pilot. How pilots can keep track of every little switch, gauge, and button on their dashboard is beyond me. It was so cool to watch and something you usually don’t get to experience.

Our nerves resurfaced as we approached Culebra. We would be flying in between two very large hills, which tend to create a bit of a wind tunnel. We prepared to be buffeted around, but, thankfully, there were only a few slight bumps and then we were on the ground. Woo hoo! What an unbelievable experience!

There was a shuttle bus waiting outside the airport, prepared to drop-off at the various beaches and campsites around Culebra. It was rather full, but we were able to squeeze in, me sitting on the wheel instead of a real seat, and Rick in charge of keeping our luggage from tumbling over onto the driver.

Luckily, ours was the first stop: Playa Flamenco (Flamingo Beach). We clambered out of the van, grabbed the driver’s card in case we needed to call the shuttle bus the following day, and made our way to the camp check-in.

Culebra is technically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands, also known as the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands—not to be confused with the US Virgin Islands to the east—and Playa Flamenco is one of Puerto Rico’s finest beaches. We were in for a treat. Playa Flamenco consists of a free beach area, where day- trippers come out for quality beach time, and camp grounds, where people rig up tents next to the much more secluded beach that the day-trippers are not allowed on.

At this campground they charge per tent, not per campsite ($20 per tent), but Laura said they never actually come around and check so we only registered for one tent. She requested a campsite in the farthest section of the grounds, meaning we would have a bit of a walk, but we would have a lot more privacy.

As we hiked to our campsite, the sun was shining brightly, and we kept catching glimpses of the amazing looking beach through the trees. We were excited to get to our site and set up camp so we could get on the beach…and then the heavens unleashed themselves upon us. (Remember how Laura said it never rains?)

Three quarters of the way to our campsite (which really wasn’t that far of a walk—maybe 10-15 minutes) it started pouring. And when I say pouring, I mean absolutely everything in my water-resistant backpack was wet. Pou-ring.

Rick and Sara were smart and sought shelter, while Miriam, Laura, and I ran ahead to set up our tent. Word to the wise, do not attempt to set up a tent in the rain.

1. We had never set up this tent before, which is always difficult the first time through, regardless of the circumstances, and adding rain to the already confusing mix did not help.
2. There are lovely screen vents and windows on tents, which are usually left open in brand-new packaging. Setting up a tent in the pouring rain means there will most certainly be a pool of water inside your tent by the end.

During our struggles to set up the tent we realized we didn’t have anything to pound the stakes into the ground. Luckily, there were coconuts lying all over from nearby trees, so I grabbed one and used it as a hammer. It was fun and cathartic.

Having a strange foreboding, I pointed out to Laura that some pretty important things happened to her today that have never happened before, mainly the ferry selling out and the downpour. Having the same thought, she took off to the campground’s office to register our second tent while Miriam and I finished setting up.

Once we got the tent up, the pool of water inside it dumped out, and tried our best to towel dry the tent floor, the rain stopped and the sun came back out. Rick and Sara arrived and began setting up their tent while we emptied our wet belongings out and hung them on the convenient clothing lines left from previous campers. Our most important task was getting our sleeping bags dry. Muy importante!

Our campsite

We were sharing our campsite with a group of college-aged kids, who were all sharing one very large tent (they were very nice and even offered to help us put up our tent in the rain). The bathroom and outdoor showers were conveniently close (right across the road, although there was no toilet paper provided…we weren’t really expecting that…). We also noticed there were a lot of wild chickens around. A rooster was leading a bunch of chicks around a big puddle. It was so cute!

The path from our campsite to the beach

Beach time! There was a tiny path through the trees from our campsite to the beach, and we practically had it all to ourselves. Amazing! Whilst taking a walk along the beach we came upon an old World War II Sherman tank sitting in the surf, covered in graffiti. It was absolutely stunning against the beautiful blues and greens of the island. There were a number of Sherman tanks all over Playa Flamenco, all covered in graffiti, relics from when the military used the island. They created an interesting juxtaposition with the natural beauty of the island. 

We grabbed our snorkeling gear and underwater cameras and headed out to the reef. The water was so warm and clear, and the reef was just as beautiful as the reef in Isabela, with a lot of the same kind of fish swimming about. Our campsite neighbors were out snorkeling, too, with a speargun, trying to catch some dinner. They were actually successful in getting a lobster and a red snapper!

After a while of swimming and soaking up the rays we walked back to the entrance of the campground to pick up some dinner at the counter shops. I got myself some empanadas and rice and beans, and then we walked back to our spot on the beach to have a picnic. We were quickly joined by a hungry stray cat, who was too cute not to share our dinner with. She had a fondness for Laura-- she latched on to the one person who wanted nothing to do with her. We all found it pretty amusing.

Laura with our little friend

Once we finished with dinner, we watched the beautiful sunset, grabbed a bottle of rum, and sat on the beach, watching the stars, keeping an eye on the thunderstorm that was slowly rolling in.

Lightning was flashing over the hills in the distance, and we could feel the wind blowing in. We were ready to make a run for it if it started pouring like it had that afternoon, but it was really stunning to watch from a distance.

Wanting to make sure I got up in time for the sunrise, I hit the hay early, while the others stayed out. The tent, even with the windows open, was extremely hot, so sleeping was not easy. I stripped down to my swimsuit and slept on top of my sleeping bag. The rain eventually started, and I had to shut up the windows, and when the girls joined me in the tent, we all had fun tossing and turning, trying to sleep.

Eventually, I found the perfect position and completely passed out. Unfortunately, it was about an hour before sunrise...

Oh, and just for the record, the campground attendants came by early in the morning to make sure both our tents were registered. I’m just sayin’...

So, let’s recap:

• The ferry: It never sells out.
• It never rains on Culebra.
• They never check to make sure your tents are all registered.

The It-Never Game...

Rick and Sara taking a stroll at sunset