Friday night we were sitting at a table at Tranquilidad, a restaurant on the shore of the ocean, watching brief flashes of lightning illuminate the dark clouds above the waves and excitedly talking about our mini vacation the next day: Culebra. Nobody could wait; a three-day weekend was exactly what we needed. We were musing the luxuries of the beaches we would visit when one of my friends suddenly said, "Wait... so we're talking about taking a vacation from vacation?" What irony! Here we were excited about traveling to a tiny tropical island for the weekend when, we were already living every day on a [relatively] tiny tropical island. What a problem to have!
Saturday morning we left Guayama at 530 in the morning and began our sleepy drive to Fajardo to catch the ferry over to Culebra. After waiting in line for tickets, we boarded the ferry and a mere 45 minutes later, were greeted by the bright blue water lapping the shores of Culebra.
 |
| Aboard the ferry. |
In our rented white Jeep (which was new! no car problems allowed on vacaction!), we arrived before our hotel room was ready and, upon recommendation from the manager of the hotel, we went to a place called Zaco's Tacos. The atmosphere, people, and food were so good that we came back again the next day.
Next stop: Flamenco Beach. This beach is usually voted in the Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World. And it's easy to understand why! Green mountains in the distance, light colored sand (not quite white), and vibrant blue water welcome many tourists with brightly colored umbrellas.
A buoy marked a line where the bright water drastically darkened (indicating deeper water) and we swam out to snorkel there because a coral reef was hiding under the water. I'd only snorkeled once before and wound up being catastrophically concerned with the fact I was able to breathe underwater, so unfortunately I didn't make it to the reef. The few that did make it saw a few brightly colored fish among the purple and yellow coral. Next time, and with flippers, I'm determined to see it!
 |
| Flamenco Beach |
We spent the remainder of Saturday at Flamenco, remaining even until we were the only people left on the beach as the clouds ceased casting pink on the rock face of the mountains and the whole sky darkened (and, less pretty: the bugs came out to bite us).
That evening we decided to check out the night life in Culebra. This tiny island is described in my travel book as "going back in time" because of the relaxed feel, zero rush for anything, and lack of chain and large businesses. Due to this, there wasn't much in way of nightlife, but we did find a bar called The Spot to hang out and even ran into a few other American teachers from the San Juan area and the bartender from Zaco's Tacos.
 |
| Zoni Beach |
Sunday was for Zoni Beach. Farther off the tourist track-- the públicos (taxis) won't even take you there-- this beach only had about 15 people other than ourselves. Despite Flamenco being ranked in the Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches, I'd have to give the award to Zoni. Similar to Flamenco, Zoni had the light colored sand, vibrant blue water, and green mountains in the distance. Zoni has less sand, but the green mountains and other islands (including St. Thomas) surrounding it make it seem like you are in the middle of a giant green bowl filled with water imitating a paint sample strip. Throughout the day the affect of the white, pastel blue, robin's egg blue, turquoise, bright blue, deep blue, and very dark blue arranged so that you could almost physically touch the lines where the colors merged never lessened. (Painters and Crayola employees take note)
 |
| Check out those colors! |
We spent several hours being pulled, kneaded, and shoved by the ocean whilst enjoying conversation and the fact that we didn't have to do anything else. Every so often, just as one of us would become complacent with the ocean, we'd get a slap of salt water to the face. But when you're in a bowl of paradise this is nothing to complain about!
Heading back to Zaco's that night to watch the Patriot's game, and being the loudest table even by Puerto Rico standards, we relaxed and celebrated before going back to The Spot. We made a few more acquaintances that night and it was a fun night of conversation, silliness, and entertainment.
Leaving on the 1pm ferry today brought the reminder of reality back to us: another, albeit short, week of teaching in Guayama. Now that vacation is over, I guess we're just on regular vacation. Oh darn!
