Mullets and Mahos

We made our way to Mullet Bay beach. The water was crystal clear and the sand was like powder. We snorkeled a bit. After I went in, Chris went back out and saw a sting ray.

We finally rented chairs and a cute umbrella!
Next we lunched at Maho Beach, where you can watch planes take off and land right over your head! There were all these danger signs. Watch out for jet blast!

Check out this babe! 

After that we walked around Marigot, hoping to do some shopping. I swear I have not bought a thing, except for some dresses for my nieces.  Everything was over priced and parts of town seemed a little sketchy. We found iced coffee though and macarons to my delight and then a cool swim suit store specializing in Brazilian swim wear. 

Here I am man handling pastries. Which is exactly what you wanna do before trying on swim wear. I actually ended up buying a Brazilian suit. It gives me what I would like to call a glam wedgie. It was more expensive then all my swim suits combined (more then $50) and I will probably never wear it around Seattle. But I will probably never be on a vacation like this for this long and if I have kids at any point I probably won't be able to wear a suit like this (not 100 percent sure I can now) soooo screw it! I'm rocking the glam wedgie, terrible tan lines and all 

Xo

AB 

We decided to drive around the island today.  Stopping  at le gallion beach for a dip.  There we saw a woman drinking wine while breastfeeding a baby old enough to walk. She also smoked a bunch.  Maybe it's culturally acceptable? I dunno.
  We moved on to Orient Bay in search of food.  Every place wants you to come there so they stand on the beach trying to tempt you to sit in their chairs and offer a free drink with chair rental.  The place we picked failed to mention that they only take cash, so Chris had to drive each to a atm. They were nice enough to give me a free chair while I waited.  We got a little lost on the way back.  The cul de sacs here can be very confusing. We at least have a idea now on where we want to spend our time.
 So happy to be back at the hotel. We ventured out to a close casino, where I blew five bucks rather quickly on some slots. Then to a piano bar where we people watched and listened to a perverted Billy Joel wannabe. Tres exciting

Sunset from Saint Martin

Saint Martin

So we made it! All of our tech devices are being assholes though and not working well together. We lined up at customs and when we went through the woman didn't even look at us. She was deep in conversation with a guard. They were speaking in another language but we kept making out the words "kinky sex". I'm not kidding.
  The rental car guy met us at the gate and led us to the Honda Accord. He had on shorts, loafers, a Polo with a popped collar, and a gold chain. We got directions on the hotel and only got lost once. This resort is rad.  We decided to just relax the rest of the day.  Drinking frozen drinks and laying in beach chairs.  The water was calm but got deep fast so we tried our new snorkel gear and actually saw tons of fish!  A scorpion fish hiding on a rock and a huge school of blue fish! The coolest was a parrot fish. We had a little guide in a map from the airport.  I have snorkeled before and would have never expected to see so much in a resort beach. It was pretty incredible. From the beach we watched planes land and all sorts of ships sail by.  Wishing we brought our camera.

Our last day in vieques we tried to squeeze in two last beaches. The first playa negra was really hard to find. We heard from locals , that you walk down a old dried up riverbed. We heard there was a sign of sorts but very non descript. We found a sign and what looked like a sketchy old river bed, but it looked a little too sketchy. We saw a local and decided to ask him where to go. He had us get in his car., we tried to explain in Spanish that we had a car but had no luck . He drove us a mile down the road and point to a dirt path. There on a pole in spray paint was written playa negra. Somehow we got across that we had a car parked close to his house and he sort of laughed and asked if it was the white car. Which was a little weird. When we got out he handed us a avocado and waved goodbye. It was awesome.
      We drove back to the path. Walking down the riverbed in the jungle for about 15minn. We saw a millipede and lots of land crabs. We heard a bunch of coconuts fall from a tree and then saw a huge iguana . It was almost as if he was shaking them out. I dunno if they eat them or not . There were several piles of horse shit. it would have been rad to ride a horse through there.We made it to the beach to find gorgeous black soft sand. I covered myself in it, a act I later regretted because the water was rough and I found myself to scared to go in and rinse off .
      After that we decided to try green beach. The word was you couldn't go there and not see a turtle . The road there was long and horrible . When we got there it was nice and calm but sadly no turtles. We drank a celebratory beer and had a quick dip and then left.
      The ferry back to San Juan was not as rough as before. We had a different boat that only allows you to sit below. They shut off the lights and have big tvs playing. I saw no barf soooo that goes to show ya. If you get seasick just sit in the dark .
      We drove back to San Juan , stopping along the way for a waterproof camera .
    The hotel I booked was amazing . It was cheap because I made last minn reservations . Acacia ! The place looked like it should be in a small euro town , we had a huge wrap around balcony and the bed and shower were super nice. The best part was the hot tub! Open 24 hours and bigger then most pools. Sad we got there so late and had to leave so early.
     This morning started out a little rough . We got a ticket , which is going to be a very expensive mistake . All the night before we kept talking about eatting breakfast at the hotel and reading the menu and got there right when it was supposed to open. Then it was closed :( so we walked to Starbucks where I spilled coffee all over my white sweater. Which seems like no big deal but yesterday we shipped all off our warm clothes home to make room for new scuba gear and its the only one I have.Blah blah. I sound like a asshole right now. Anyways we made it to the airport and are leaving for Saint Martin in 45 minn! I'm just now really excited to go. Ready for some euro flair.
   Xo AB

Updated other posts and here are some random Vieques shots

Bio Bay

We were supposed to meet up with the tour group at 7:20 so we arrived a little early at the location they gave us over the phone . We saw people gathering around a van and decided to walk over there . As soon as we got there, they were all like " ok let's go!" And " who are you?" . They let us on anyways , so we loaded into what they called the shagging wagon. The road was worse then anyone we have seen yet. It was like the ice cream (rocky road). At one point the van looked like it was going to tip over. Later chris joked that he was scared of tipping because he was in the front seat and if the fat driver fell on him , he would be the only causality . At times it sounded like the car was being ripped in half. We got to the launching area and they slapped life vests on us and little flashlights. Then was like everyone knows how to use a kayak right? Uhhh noooooo, I kinda maybe never mentioned that my only experience with a kayak is shopping for flights in the website. Just figured it was a assumed .  I thought there would be some explanation but no... We got in the water and it was pitch black and then they showed us the direction to kayak which  they said was a ten to fifteen minn trip. That's when I went into full blown panic. Dark! Water! Boats! Far from land ! In water where someone has been bitten by a shark, why did I not take a pill before this? Chris could tell I was ready to choke on my own spit, pass out , cry , and have a heart attack. So he said we could turn around . The guides ride paddle boards and were super cool and surprised I wanted to turn back . The one by us thought that rocking back and forth showing me how " sturdy" everything was would help. The catalyst I think was that all the time on south lake union I see people taking those classes where you tip a kayak and they show you how to get back in and it always looks like people are having a hard time and someone told them how to do it. I just felt completely ill prepared and scared. If you have never been in a kayak , ones calm water is another's tusamni. Anyways I won't justify myself , there was a 8 year old on this trip, and a lady that had been wishing to go to the bio bay since 2006. So I pulled it together. Kinda. I figure if your lucky enough to have someone who loves you enough to drive all the way out and pay for a trip and then let you turn around , then you should appreciate at it and suck it up! I barely said a word the entire time , it was intense and beautiful. Little blue sparkly organisms that glow ten times there own size. The sky was clear and all the stars were out. It was like painting with floresant paint in a dark room with a black light. I would get kinda into it and dip my paddle making sparkly trails, then the kayak would move a little and I would freak myself out. Ha so stupid. By the end I was close to fine but ready get out. We rode the shagging wagon back and that was that . It's literally like impossible to take pictures there so you will have to use your imagination .
     Also last night a 3am a huge storm broke out. We  were getting rained on in  our sleep. Chris got up and looked up hurricane updates.... It was just a baby storm, and it that's a baby storm I can't imagine what a hurricane would be like.

Exposure therapy anyone?

Today we drove to the Ceiba aka really old ass tree. It's around 400 years old and manages to look like a house and cankles at the same time . If you don't know what cankles are.... Lemme just say you don't want them. We drove through sun bay and media luna beach in hopes to get to navio beach. All on the word of a bar tender saying it was the best beach ever. We had him inspect the little Suzuki the night before to see if he thought it would make it. He must have just smoked crack because we got part way and we had to turn around. Feeling one part defeated and the other part concerned we wouldn't make it back. We decided to chill at Media Luna and it was gorgeous and calm . The map gave the impression that you could walk to navio from there but that wasn't the case. Chris went to explore a potential path way and I stayed and read alone on the beach. Kinda worried he might fall of a cliff and also worried I might be kip napped . One of these is a valid fear. Just as he came back a car pulled up and two cute girls camped out on the beach. He eventually went over to talk to them and ( since they had a SUV) convinced them to drive us to the other beach. The man is a magician . At times while driving I didn't think their car was gonna make it and am pretty sure they dented the bottom but the beach was cool. We swam inside a cave ! It was so scary for me but we did it and since Chris put his phone in a plastic bag we actually have proof ! Then I chilled on the beach while he swam and explored the other cliffs and at one point jumped off a cliff and I was to scared to watch . Then he body surfed in like James Bond and I'm pretty sure if the two girls weren't lesbians they would have lost their shit but they kinda did anyways . They gave us a ride back to our car after a hour or so and we said our good byes and then went home to eat boxed Mac and Cheese . Why did auto correct capitalize Mac and Cheese? We also did the bio bay tour today but that's a whole other story.
   PS. I drank 3 beers after the bio bay tour so I hope this makes sense

Sun Bay and cave

Good morning from Vieques.

We have discovered that in our bunk room when the sun rises half of the bed is in the shade and half gets beaten by the sun. It's sort of like a natural sleep number bed for us because if I didn't have the sun beating on my face I would sleep till noon everyday (and sometimes I do).
Anyways yesterday beach explored! The beaches are " unspoiled " that is for sure. We figured out why they don't want you to bring your rental car over. The roads are terrible . Rock city! There were times when I thought we wouldn't make it up a hill or through the mud in the little shitty Suzuki but we did! We made it to Pata Prieta beach, what we think was Escondida beach and another one I'm not sure if the name because the map is terrible . It's basically a cartoon someone drew that's not up to scale at all but adorable because they drew little horses all over it. Which is pretty accurate because there are tons of random horses roaming the island. It's pretty awesome, apparently you can own s horse here and it feeds and waters itself and since horses are territorial , whenever you want it you just go find it at its favorite spot and saddle it up. We went to dinner last night and this drunk guy had just bought a horse for $100 . There was a smaller pony just following it around . When the drunk guy was done showing off his horse he literally took the saddle off and shooed the horse home and they ran off. Kinda

Xox AB

Just found out that , the creature we saw last night was not a hermit crab but a "land crab". Yes land crabs apparently exist . I didn't dare ask about land sharks .

Ponce to Vieques

Well yesterday was a long one. We got up early a drove to Ponce, where I almost peed my pants in a gift shop and got two cute dresses for my nieces . We also checked out the parque de bombas and the museum for a bit. It was sooooo hot and we kinda had to hurry . For lunch we dined on a número uno at Burger King sin carne por favor . We then drove to the farjado ferry terminal to try and get on the ferry to Vieques. They have a weird set up .... To bring your car you need a reservation because they can only take 16. It's known that they don't answer the phone or its sometimes disconnected . So how do you get one? If your us, you just show up. Then talk to the guy at the counter, then sit in a hot car forever, then go back to the counter , then wait by there with other people trying to hussle on, then find out you have a spot but you need to drive to the dock now , then get to your car to see that some other asshole trying to get on the ferry has blocked you in! Fudge! Well long story short we made it on. We sat in the passenger level for a while and I couldn't believe how much barf there was in the ground. That was until the ferry took off. Whoa buddy! Back and forth. We sat on the top deck and just rolled with it. Vieques is gorgeous! I think it's my favorite so far ..... Out of two .
I just really like it.
We are staying at the la finca caribe . The Internet is touchy so no pictures or links till we get somewhere with better data. You can google it! It's totally in the jungle . Last night after dinner we decided to take a swim in the salt water pool. There were so many bugs in the shower ! Spiders ! Cockroaches ! Beetles! All sorts of other shit that I can't identify because I'm not into bugs. Then as we were walking up to the pool I spotted a enormous hermit crab!!!!!!! I'm making it sound terrible. This place is awesome in the middle of no where with hammocks hanging from every corner. I slept like a baby last night. Chris on the other hand not so much.
        Last night he asked me if I wanted to go on a hobicat and when he explained it , it sounded just like these pictures of catamarans I have been seeing . Where they give you piña coladas and
A lunch buffet and there is a water slide! Oh and you snorkel! So I said of course!!! Then he showed me a picture of one.... Totally not the same thing. It's basically sailing on two large maxi pads with snacks and water. He sold it by saying, thay its so close to the water that if I fall out it won't be that scary because its only a foot fall. I'm still gonna do it. I like snorkeling I just hope I can on Valium! Cause that's what it's gonna take to get me on there. That and love.
We also have made arrangements to go to the bio bay while we are here. You can't swim in the bay anymore because someone got bit by a shark! I'm sure she had it coming.
 Off to the beach we go!
     

 Pics from Ponce

Pics from the ferry

Xo
AB