Day 13
This morning we decided to try and do Culebra and Playa Flamenco before the tropical storm goes by just in case it makes boat travel difficult. We found our way to the ferry terminal but after we parked and went to the ticket counter we realized it would be way too long of a wait. There weren't really too many people but the next ferry didn't leave for nearly 2 hours and we would have to wait there until then. We decided to find the marina because we heard you could hire a catamaran or someone to take you over on their boat for a decent price but when we found the marina it was empty. Everyone had already headed out for the day and it was much more expensive than we thought. We were a little bummed but figured we'd do it another day.
We ended up at a little kiosca (a beach "strip mall" with shops and restaurants). It's a lot more rugged than that: basically one long continuous concrete building with roll up doors on either side (beach side and parking side). But the restaurant we went to, La Parrilla, was nice. It was a sit down place with a waiter. The kids were a little impatient waiting for the food but in the end it was worth the wait. It was the best red beans and rice (arroz con habichuelas) we've had so far! We also tried pastilellos (mahi, lobster and beef) and some grilled chicken and fried pork. It was all really good but everyone raved about the rice and beans!
After lunch we headed back to the condo to boogie board at the beach. The kids had a blast with the 6 boogie boards that they have at our condo for us to use. They all did really well. Jeff helped give Isaac a little push sometimes so he could catch the waves but all the kids caught on really fast and LOVED it. They each had their share of wipeouts, some worse than others, but it wasn't too bad. After watching the kids and waiting for an available board, Paulette and I decided to go give it a try. I was surprised at how strong and big the waves were. Every 4th or 5th set brought in waves WAY bigger than the usual ones and I got pounded a few times. One time I got thrown down like a cartwheel in the surf only I didn't use my hands. I just bounced off my head! OUCH! I've got a decent bruise and a few little scrapes from that one. Right on my forehead! But we still caught a few good waves and came in with our swimsuits full of sand but smiles on our faces.
Then we headed to the hotel pool for a relaxing swim. It was pretty crowded but we still had fun. I loved that the resort seemed like a resort more for the locals than for tourists. We definitely stuck out a little! The kids loved the slide and had fun doing flips from the side of the pool.
Poor Kira is still having a major earache. Jeff went to the farmacia and got her some amoxicillin for $3.75. We're hoping it will kick in and help her. She definitely has an outer ear infection, probably a pretty severe case of swimmer's ear. Her ear canal is swollen almost completely shut! She's been on a steady dose of tylenol and ibuprofen and that sort of keeps the pain at bay. But she has really been such a trooper and had such a good attitude even though she is in a ton of pain! Now Calvin and Sadie are starting to get earaches too. :(
After a little down time at the condo we headed over to Fajardo for our Bio Bay kayak tour. Paulette was so nice and stayed home with Mikey and Brinley. I really wished we could bring everyone but it would have been a little scary and difficult with those two little ones.
After our little safety instructions and mini kayak lesson we headed out on the water. We loaded 3 to a boat since we had so many little kids and only 3 adults. It actually worked out perfectly since there were 9 of us. Jeff, Calvin and Isaac were in the first kayak. Kira, Kate and I were in the second. And Mark, Jayson and Sadie were in the third. We loaded the kayaks in the ocean so we were wet right off the bat. :) We kayaked across a small bay to a mangrove channel on the other side. The mangrove channel was mostly grown over to make a tunnel of trees, it was beautiful! We were close to the front so we had a little light from our guide's headlamp to illuminate the path just enough to know where to go because it was pretty dark. We still ran into a tree here and there and got hit in the head with low hanging mangrove roots reaching down to the water. That hurt. In the darkest spots in the channel you could start to see some glow as you ran your hand through the water or as the paddle cut through the water. The cannel was about a mile long and going in we were going with the current so it was a cinch! And our company was one of the first so we didn't come across too many other kayakers. As we entered the bay the concentration of the dinoflagellates was immediately more intense and the glow became amazing! Every stroke of your paddle lit up like fireworks. When you ran your hand through the water it was like a sparkler. If you dripped the water into your kayak it sparked every time it hit the kayak. Even when you lifted your hand out of the water in still had little sparkles on it. It was like pixie dust! I loved looking down into the water and seeing the glow of fish darting around. We had a little school of minnows or something by us and there were little streaks all over the water. Sometimes you'd see a fish or maybe insects dart across the surface and light it up. It was incredible. Last night was the new moon so it was totally dark aside from the small glow of the city lights on one side of the bay.
We only spent about 10 minutes in the bay and then they rounded us up to head back up the channel. I wished we would have had a little longer because it truly was amazing! As we headed back into the channel it was pretty obvious that it was going to be a lot harder going back up the channel. The tide was coming in and because 2 weeks ago was the "super moon" the tides have been really high and really low meaning the change in tides brings a much stronger current. As we started heading up, groups of kayakers were still coming into the bay. It was like a circus! People were running into each other all over the place. It was like bumper cars trying to get up the channel. If you got bumped or turned a little too far the current would swing your kayak around and you'd be going the wrong way again. And the channel is not very wide so it was almost impossible to paddle sometimes because you were hitting the mangroves or hitting other kayakers. Eventually the channel cleared out and you just had to fight the current. It was a pretty good workout coming back! But our canoe trip in Florida was much harder and longer so we were fine. No swearing from me this time! ;) The kids were awesome paddlers too: Kira, Calvin and Jayson!
After we got back there were little "shops" set up around the park under shade tents in the dark. One was selling chicken kabobs and pina coladas. It smelled so good and we were all a little hungry. We talked to the guys and ate our kabobs and sipped pina coladas. It was delicious! The perfect way to end our night. We didn't get home until after 11. The kids were exhausted and went right to bed.
We ended up at a little kiosca (a beach "strip mall" with shops and restaurants). It's a lot more rugged than that: basically one long continuous concrete building with roll up doors on either side (beach side and parking side). But the restaurant we went to, La Parrilla, was nice. It was a sit down place with a waiter. The kids were a little impatient waiting for the food but in the end it was worth the wait. It was the best red beans and rice (arroz con habichuelas) we've had so far! We also tried pastilellos (mahi, lobster and beef) and some grilled chicken and fried pork. It was all really good but everyone raved about the rice and beans!
After lunch we headed back to the condo to boogie board at the beach. The kids had a blast with the 6 boogie boards that they have at our condo for us to use. They all did really well. Jeff helped give Isaac a little push sometimes so he could catch the waves but all the kids caught on really fast and LOVED it. They each had their share of wipeouts, some worse than others, but it wasn't too bad. After watching the kids and waiting for an available board, Paulette and I decided to go give it a try. I was surprised at how strong and big the waves were. Every 4th or 5th set brought in waves WAY bigger than the usual ones and I got pounded a few times. One time I got thrown down like a cartwheel in the surf only I didn't use my hands. I just bounced off my head! OUCH! I've got a decent bruise and a few little scrapes from that one. Right on my forehead! But we still caught a few good waves and came in with our swimsuits full of sand but smiles on our faces.
Then we headed to the hotel pool for a relaxing swim. It was pretty crowded but we still had fun. I loved that the resort seemed like a resort more for the locals than for tourists. We definitely stuck out a little! The kids loved the slide and had fun doing flips from the side of the pool.
Poor Kira is still having a major earache. Jeff went to the farmacia and got her some amoxicillin for $3.75. We're hoping it will kick in and help her. She definitely has an outer ear infection, probably a pretty severe case of swimmer's ear. Her ear canal is swollen almost completely shut! She's been on a steady dose of tylenol and ibuprofen and that sort of keeps the pain at bay. But she has really been such a trooper and had such a good attitude even though she is in a ton of pain! Now Calvin and Sadie are starting to get earaches too. :(
After a little down time at the condo we headed over to Fajardo for our Bio Bay kayak tour. Paulette was so nice and stayed home with Mikey and Brinley. I really wished we could bring everyone but it would have been a little scary and difficult with those two little ones.
After our little safety instructions and mini kayak lesson we headed out on the water. We loaded 3 to a boat since we had so many little kids and only 3 adults. It actually worked out perfectly since there were 9 of us. Jeff, Calvin and Isaac were in the first kayak. Kira, Kate and I were in the second. And Mark, Jayson and Sadie were in the third. We loaded the kayaks in the ocean so we were wet right off the bat. :) We kayaked across a small bay to a mangrove channel on the other side. The mangrove channel was mostly grown over to make a tunnel of trees, it was beautiful! We were close to the front so we had a little light from our guide's headlamp to illuminate the path just enough to know where to go because it was pretty dark. We still ran into a tree here and there and got hit in the head with low hanging mangrove roots reaching down to the water. That hurt. In the darkest spots in the channel you could start to see some glow as you ran your hand through the water or as the paddle cut through the water. The cannel was about a mile long and going in we were going with the current so it was a cinch! And our company was one of the first so we didn't come across too many other kayakers. As we entered the bay the concentration of the dinoflagellates was immediately more intense and the glow became amazing! Every stroke of your paddle lit up like fireworks. When you ran your hand through the water it was like a sparkler. If you dripped the water into your kayak it sparked every time it hit the kayak. Even when you lifted your hand out of the water in still had little sparkles on it. It was like pixie dust! I loved looking down into the water and seeing the glow of fish darting around. We had a little school of minnows or something by us and there were little streaks all over the water. Sometimes you'd see a fish or maybe insects dart across the surface and light it up. It was incredible. Last night was the new moon so it was totally dark aside from the small glow of the city lights on one side of the bay.
We only spent about 10 minutes in the bay and then they rounded us up to head back up the channel. I wished we would have had a little longer because it truly was amazing! As we headed back into the channel it was pretty obvious that it was going to be a lot harder going back up the channel. The tide was coming in and because 2 weeks ago was the "super moon" the tides have been really high and really low meaning the change in tides brings a much stronger current. As we started heading up, groups of kayakers were still coming into the bay. It was like a circus! People were running into each other all over the place. It was like bumper cars trying to get up the channel. If you got bumped or turned a little too far the current would swing your kayak around and you'd be going the wrong way again. And the channel is not very wide so it was almost impossible to paddle sometimes because you were hitting the mangroves or hitting other kayakers. Eventually the channel cleared out and you just had to fight the current. It was a pretty good workout coming back! But our canoe trip in Florida was much harder and longer so we were fine. No swearing from me this time! ;) The kids were awesome paddlers too: Kira, Calvin and Jayson!
After we got back there were little "shops" set up around the park under shade tents in the dark. One was selling chicken kabobs and pina coladas. It smelled so good and we were all a little hungry. We talked to the guys and ate our kabobs and sipped pina coladas. It was delicious! The perfect way to end our night. We didn't get home until after 11. The kids were exhausted and went right to bed.
Belly Flop!
Mikey doing a front flip.
I love my boys!
Maybe we're cheap, but we have to pay for parking each car so we've just piled all 12 of us in the minivan to drive down to the hotel beach so we only have to pay to park one car. The kids love it!
Ready for our Bio Bay adventure!
These girls were a little scared at first but once we got into the kayaks, they loved it!
We did it!
I got to help cook the chicken kabobs.
Nonstop fun! So sorry to hear Kira is still having ear troubles. Hope the amoxicillin kicks it. Love you all. Nana.
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