Water Clarity improving....

Got an early start this morning. We wanted to have the time to move to other beaches if we couldn't find any clear water for snorkeling. We went to Playa Plata first (imagine that) and the winds were calm. There was a marked difference in the beach. It was beginning to look more like it did when we arrived over a week ago. It's taken about 5 days for things to start to clear up. I suppose this is regular process and we're just now starting to notice it. We camped out at the cabana I built over a week ago (hope someone is enjoying the one I built at Secret beach yesterday.) I headed out to do some spearfishing early since things looked better. This time I decided to try and film while I was spearfishing. Let me tell you...unless you have your camera mounted on your gun, it's all but impossible to do. I tried to make it happen but no luck. For one thing the depth I was seeing the larger fish at was too deep to film so I moved into the shallower part of the reef. Most of what happened looked like this clip:




I went out one other time later in the day, but once again, no luck. From now on the camera stays on the beach when I'm trying to fish.

Lorrie and I had the beach to ourselves for most of the day. Only two other couples showed up and neither of them stayed for any length of time. One of the last couples came up to our cabana and ask "Are you Curt?"  hmmm...I've had this happen before. Seems she is a member on TA (trip Advisor) and was reading some of my suggestions about visiting the island, she's also seen the blog. They had just gotten married on the island. We chatted with them for awhile. When we ask where they were staying they told us Quinta Jabali. Nice choice.

The last couple hours of the day Lorrie and I had the whole beach to ourselves...our own little paradise. We walked up and down the beach. Went over and checked out the "Orchid Art Gallery" (which I still haven't gotten pictures of yet.) Then we just sat in our beach chairs and watched the sun slowing drop towards the horizon. The "no-see-ums" once again told us it was time to leave. So we packed up and headed back to the casa.

On the way out of the refuge Lorrie counted all the "Lomos". There's 17 of them for anyone  interested.

Hasta Manana

;-)

Coqui Frogs and Cartoon Network

Coqui Frogs.....Cartoon Network....kinda sounds the same if you say it real fast doesn't it.

Well....here's the deal. When Lorrie and I finally got back to the house from the airport we were exhausted, it had been a very long day. The house was smoking hot so we headed up to the roof-top to just cool off and check out the view. When we got up to the roof all of our attention was directed towards the blasting television from across the street. Take a concrete house, add a 50" television with surround sound and you've got acoustics that will rival  Van Halens 1980 World Invasion "Party 'Til You Die Tour"  (and I should know because I was on the 3rd row when they came to Indiana.) All we could hear was Cartoon Network being played, that and the occasional Coqui frog. The TV plays all the time.. at what sounds like full blast.

I'll admit...this is a different situation than what Lorrie and I have experienced on Vieques in prior trips. We are obviously in what is a local neighborhood. These are just normal people, living life....and I'm sure if you were born and raised here, the novelty of a Caribbean view and the serenade of the coqui frogs could easily get trumped by Cartoon Network, especially if your young. This morning when I went outside I could hear the theme song from Star-Trek playing. A little later, before we left, it was Bonanza (that or Big Valley, I wasn't sure). So we've had to do  a little adjusting  to our new environment, but it seems to be "growing" on us.

I took a picture of the house that the tv is in. It's right across from Los Frutales, the house we're renting. These houses are both right on the street.

Below is a very quick video of the house. We were in a hurry to get to the beach. I'll post more video of the house in the coming days.

The below video is me pulling out of the gated parking space for the house.

This video is of the road from Monte Santo that takes you right to the Garcia Gate.

This is video of the drive back to Orchid beach.

We spent the day at Orchid. I built another shelter in nearly the same spot as I did this past Feb. Nothing much had changed on the beach, except that there were no rock sculptures. I took the time to add a couple.  Shelter built, sculptures up, so I headed out to do some spearfishing. Lorrie was busy sun-worshipping. Lorrie grabbed a shot of me heading out with all my gear on:

Now I seriously didn't expect to get a thing. Oh...I figured I might fling a few shots but that's about it. Well let me tell you I was blown away when a mutton snapper came in range and I took aim and let her rip. I nailed it exactly where I was aiming. Ended up getting one more a little bit later. Lorrie and I cooked them up for supper. Great way to end my first day at the beach.

:-)

Final Countdown.....

We are now only 1 week out from our trip. I've already confirmed our rental with Maritzas and have received the property manager number for Los Frutales. So far the airlines haven't jacked with our flight times..yet. Tomorrow and Sunday we will be getting things packed.

I ran into a bit of a snafu on the spear gun. I was unable to get the original gun that I  had wanted. The problem is with transporting it. Because we will be on the island for a full two weeks Lorrie and I will be checking in two bags. In order to travel with the Omar Caymen I was wanting I would have to buy some sort of tube or case to transport it, three checked bags now.  It seems that Cape Air will only let us check in two bags and oversize items are limited to available cargo space. So...I opted for a JBL double magnum custom gun. It will fit into our checked bags. I have a picture of it below:

Before I bought the gun I ask Lorrie "what do you think about me buying a spear gun?". She replies "either it will give you hours of enjoyment or hours of frustration, but either way it will give you hours".  Smart girl...my wife.

:-)