Puerto Rico Day 6: El Yunque to Vieques

We rode in the back of a pick up truck on our way back to Bananas (where we got picked up). While waiting to leave, there were 2 Puerto Rican horses randomly hanging out in the parking lot. I say Puerto Rican horses because they're very bizarre pony-looking horses that have very thin legs and gallop like they're ballerinas. One of them came up to the truck and I took a picture with it. It didn't come out good but I was scared to use flash because someone said they bite. Anyway, I asked Brian to take the picture in the end and afterwards that horse nudged (lovingly) against my arm and reached down to tug on my pants with his teeth/lips. Scary/flattering.

A quick backpacker's breakfast at one of the forest's parking lots and we make our way to return our rental car and catch the ferry. We first get a nice, hot breakfast meal at McDonald's. I know, tourism at a U.S. chain franchise. BUT, we had the McCreole breakfast sandwhich that looked pretty Puerto Rican.
It's freaking President's Day and the ferry runs on weekend schedule. We spend an extra 3 hours waiting. The wait and the ferry ride aren't bad at all; that's the beauty of vacation planned with enough space and with a person you enjoy. What is tough, is having to stand in line with your bags way earlier than you're supposed to because everyone wants to line up early to have a good spot. It's no fun acting like cattle. Moo.

I'm very excited about Vieques at this point. The hotel La Posada Miramar is a lot nicer than we expected. The town of Vieques also has a cooler vibe than Culebra. We prepare ourselves for the night and watch the sunset on the Caribbean Sea walking along the shore and sitting on these steps. It's nice to not be in a rush. We tried eating at Bananas and Duffy's, but the workers there weren't very helpful about our credit card situation. Lazy Jack's was our friend! We have our drinks (I got a Lime Colada-tres bien!) and dinner there, and hung out until our 9pm Bioluminescent Tour with Abe's Tour. We were the only group out at the Bio Bay/Mosquito Bay at that hour. Pretty sweet, huh?

The Bio Bay at Vieques is the brightest in the world per Guinness World Record 2008. The luminescence is caused by micro-organisms (dinoflagellates) which glow whenever the water is disturbed, leaving a trail of neon color (varies according to organism). A combination of factors create the necessary conditions for bioluminescence: red mangrove trees surround the water (the organisms feed off the dead leaves); a complete lack of modern development around the bay; the water is cool enough and deep enough; and a small channel to the ocean keeps the dinoflagellates in the bay. In Vieques, the mangrove and the bay is protected by the government from any building or human disturbance. This small channel is the result of Spanish ships' attempts to choke off the bay from the ocean's waters. The Spanish believed that the bioluminescence they first encountered was the work of the devil and tried to block the ocean's waters from entering the bay by dropping huge boulders in the channel. The Spanish only succeeded in preserving and increasing the luminescence. All these factors together helped bring about this very bright bio bay. Stat: There are 3,000 dinoflagellates per gallon, each glowing only 7x a night. We were there a day after the new moon, at 9pm, so we had a pretty close to perfect/ideal viewing condition.

In other tours around the world, the guide will only allow you to see the bioluminescents by moving them in a bucket, by having you watch a "professional" swim in bioluminescents, or some other conservative method. In Vieques, however, because they are so plentiful, we got to kayak through the bay and swim in it! Your body glows when you're moving. If you are somewhat still, you see the flagels on you like bright little star dots. You feel electric! You can also scoop some water on your hands, and watch as the little bright organisms slide off your hand in turns. Even after 5 seconds, if you're still watching, you'll see a random shine coming off your palm. We kayaked through the bay, so as to see the mangroves and the fishes that would skip through the water and activate the bioluminescent every so often. I did get stung by a jellyfish, a handful of people at the tour did. It was a small sting, but it burns (or stings!) and hurts a lot. I probably splashed around too much and swam too deeply in the water ;)  By the way, that bay had water much saltier than that of the ocean (fact given by tour guide and checked out by Ivana).