Pages

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Vieques Day Three: Exercising Both Body and Mind, There's A Certain Someone We Wanna Find

Honestly, today might be too gnarly to write about. This blog post probably won't do it justice. Our day started out with another 6:45 morning wake-up call. However, this time we had a long and taxing bike ride ahead of us. Three leaders from JAK Water Sports led us through the Rain Forest (no cafe), and all of us felt like some sort of movie had to have been shot here because, I mean, just look for yourself...

Our main leader, Angie, was very knowledgeable and informative about the island's wildlife and modern day issues. On our way down the path, we saw horses, dogs, cats, birds, crabs, geckos, King Kong, and even a George of the Jungle sighting. She brought us to the mangroves, an entire ecosystem filled with all kinds of animals, especially mosquitoes that had a taste for people who enjoy living free or dying... 


Then we made our way up through the hills and got to a great place to take a photo. There was no sunshine, but thank God we had Mr. T because the back of his neck gave us the perfect lighting for the photo...


Unfortunately, the most difficult part of the ride was the end, where we had to bike up what seemed to be a mountain, if not exactly, close to the size of Mount Everest. But according to Mr. Beaulieu and some other guy named Sir Isaac Newton, what goes up must come down. Therefore, we sped down the mountain at a very fast pace. Although the natural roller coaster was exhilarating, what made it even more thrilling was the fact that we had to dodge piles of horse manure on the way down. For those who failed to dodge all of the piles, this was where they washed off...


A small price to pay for such a gorgeous beach that immediately followed. And I know what most of you are thinking. And the answer is yes, we did find Patrick Star, best friend to Spongebob (whose house we found yesterday), in the water. He looked like this...


The bike ride was eventful, to say the least. Our group came back to La Finca, our home, and regrouped. Then shortly after, we were on our way to El Fortin Conde de Mirasol, the museum, to see our friend Bob (different than cartoon sponge). Bob had set up a panel for us consisting of adults from the island who were active in the development of it post naval occupation...


These great and powerful people gave us an important and more modern perspective on the issues in Vieques. To quote one, "The young generation needs to wake up, and stay awake." Raising awareness about the issues in Vieques caused by the U.S. Navy's occupation is the start of the new and improved paradise. Our mission with the bags is a small step in that direction, but certainly an important one. The panel lasted about an hour and then we went out for one last time. We visited some of the local shops owned by Vieques natives rather than ones owned by foreigners, which is a way of helping out the island's economy (something we learned from the panel). After all of the day's goals had been accomplished, one was left. However, this, the most important: to find Waldo. But the real one, not some fake like the ones in those books. Turns out he had been hiding at a little restaurant called the Belly Button in Vieques, Puerto Rico. 


And little did any of us know, he was a master chef. He also told us to tell you that he enjoys being asked "How's Waldo?" every now and then...

No comments:

Post a Comment