Tuesday
This morning we awoke at 6:30am, determined to get to Orchid early, especially given the effort I put into constructing our little cabana. Some coffee, eggs and the papaya we bought the day before was breakfast. Packed for the day day and we were off in a little over an hour.
We drove straight to the eastern beaches, convinced we would be the first ones and claim our spot. But as fate would have it the gate just past Caracas was locked shut? It was now right @ 8am and I thought maybe someone would be by soon to unlock it. So we waited. Someone did come by in a few minutes and they informed us that the USFW were doing some road maintainance and the gate wouldn't be opened until 11am (about the time we had been getting there the last few days). They also told us it would be closed until 11 on thursday, good to know.
So there we were, not sure what we wanted to do. We really didn't want to go to Caracas because we knew it would end up being packed given the road closure. We finally decided to head to Garcia (Playula). It had been our plan all along to swim out to the little cay off Caracas and Garcia. With plan in hand we drove to the Garcia gate.
The chairs we are using from Quinta Jabali are very nice. Having backpack straps and a backpack attached to the chair really helped on our trek back to Garcia. I have video of our hike.
When we arrived at the beach there were only two other women there. We spotted a shelter some had built down on the southern end of the beach. That is were we headed. It was a very nice structure and plenty large. We unpacked and staked our claim.
It wasn't long before the two women left and we had the beach all to ourselves. But that was fleeting as two more women showed up. They looked to be mother and daugher. They set up camp and got into their beach wear, minus the tops. They came down and walked right past us. Lorrie said "Well, I'm certainly not going to do that!" I didn't say a thing, as I knew what would eventually happen.
We stayed at Garcia until 4:30. Full day having spent over 7 hours on the beach. Stopped by the Green store for a few more things and then back to the casa. The last of the burgers and ice-cream for desert. Turned in about 9:30.
This morning we awoke at 6:30am, determined to get to Orchid early, especially given the effort I put into constructing our little cabana. Some coffee, eggs and the papaya we bought the day before was breakfast. Packed for the day day and we were off in a little over an hour.
We drove straight to the eastern beaches, convinced we would be the first ones and claim our spot. But as fate would have it the gate just past Caracas was locked shut? It was now right @ 8am and I thought maybe someone would be by soon to unlock it. So we waited. Someone did come by in a few minutes and they informed us that the USFW were doing some road maintainance and the gate wouldn't be opened until 11am (about the time we had been getting there the last few days). They also told us it would be closed until 11 on thursday, good to know.
So there we were, not sure what we wanted to do. We really didn't want to go to Caracas because we knew it would end up being packed given the road closure. We finally decided to head to Garcia (Playula). It had been our plan all along to swim out to the little cay off Caracas and Garcia. With plan in hand we drove to the Garcia gate.
The chairs we are using from Quinta Jabali are very nice. Having backpack straps and a backpack attached to the chair really helped on our trek back to Garcia. I have video of our hike.
When we arrived at the beach there were only two other women there. We spotted a shelter some had built down on the southern end of the beach. That is were we headed. It was a very nice structure and plenty large. We unpacked and staked our claim.
It wasn't long before the two women left and we had the beach all to ourselves. But that was fleeting as two more women showed up. They looked to be mother and daugher. They set up camp and got into their beach wear, minus the tops. They came down and walked right past us. Lorrie said "Well, I'm certainly not going to do that!" I didn't say a thing, as I knew what would eventually happen.
It's been all of 30 minutes, and yes, Lorrie is now topless. Here's a picture of her below...she didn't know I was taking it.
I think I might try a bit of snorkeling now. Like I said in a previous post I've been writing these posts @ the beach in a notebook. Not sure when I'll have time to upload. No internet at Quinta Jabali. Below is a shot of some driftwood on the north end of Garcia.
Well Lorrie ended up snorkeling with me. We went out to the cay and snorkeled the north, west and southern sides. I've got video of it. There were lots of sea fans and other plant life, but not much fish. Pretty wavy too.
Snorkeled out we headed back to the beach. Lorrie resumed her topless sunbathing I was on the hunt for the trailhead off of Garcia that lead to the cliffs. The trail is barely visable from the beach. It took me some time to find it. I took off on it and headed up the cliffs. After about 15 mins or so the trail started splitting off. I kept taking the right turns and found a secluded beach and two different vistas of the cliffs.
It was breathtaking. A little hot and thirsty I decided to head back, I knew I had been gone awhile and Lorrie would be wondering where I was at (plus who wants to leave such a beautiful, topless, sungoddess unattended). So I headed back, doing what I thought was the opposite of what I did on the way in. After about 30 mins I realized I was turned around. Don't you hate that feelingl. I was more concerned about Lorrie worrying because by now I had been gone for quite a long while. On one of the trails I had noticed how one person had left pieces of red reflective tape to mark their way. Now I wished I had did the same. For now I started marking intersections so I knew which ones i had been down. One trail led me all the back to the gravel road. Finally I found my way back. It was quite the adventure. I have video of my trek. It's a long video, about 8 minutes worth but it really gives you an idea of what the hike is like:
We stayed at Garcia until 4:30. Full day having spent over 7 hours on the beach. Stopped by the Green store for a few more things and then back to the casa. The last of the burgers and ice-cream for desert. Turned in about 9:30.
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