The Black Pearl

              ​Vieques   

 

   An hour’s ferry boat ride off the Southeastern coast of the Puerto Rico mainland is the island of Vieques. Somehow Debby found an apartment near the beach through a friend from our church. One of those daughter of a friend of a friend things. This little community is called Esperanza. We are not far from a beach that’s called Black Sand.  We found it’s location and parked our unique little rental car and walked the six minutes it took to reach Black Sand Beach. We were warned to not let our cell phones come into contact with the black sand. It is rich in iron and the charging port of a cell phone is magnetic. You can imagine the problems that might cause!  

   We joked a lot about our rental car. We got it not from a rental agency, but through a private person… You know, a friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing? The car was a little red Ford Bronco and had a few problems. The door hinges needed a soaking in WD-40. The brake pedal squeaked every time it was released. The car needed to have a new muffler. It sounded like a Harley Davidson going down the road. But the air conditioner worked, the car antenna wasn’t bent much and it never broke down. We felt good about that. 

   The 4.5 x 20 mile island is home to more than 2,000 free range Paso Fino horses. You could see them grazing along the streets and highways, in fields and on beaches checking out the surf. Three of them came to our hotel every morning to drink. The owner always had a bucket of water ready for them. The mare was pregnant and usually kept the two boys back away until she was ready to share her water. We could also pet them so that was fun. 

   Mosquito Bay is well known for its bioluminescent water. Our night-time boat ride on the bay was interesting. Each time the water is stirred, with a stick, a kayak paddle or a boat propeller, the water would glow. I don’t fully understand the scientific properties that create this phenomenon, like the calm conditions, salinity, temperature, vitamin B-12 and such, but it’s apparently a rare condition. There are only 5 places in the world with bioluminescent water and two of them are here in Puerto Rico. 

   Mosquito Bay was not named because of mosquitoes. Apparently, back in the 1800’s, a pirate with a small ship hid out in these waters. When a British or French vessel showed up, the pirate would sail out into the deeper water to be seen by them and then turn and lure them into the shallow bay. The larger ship would take chase and run aground in  the muddy bottom. The little pirate ship would ram the larger ship into its side with its sharp stern  causing it to take on water. The crews would panic and thinking they were sinking, bail  out to swim for shore. He then could plunder and steal all he wanted. His pirate ship was called the Mosquito. Thus the name, Mosquito Bay. So apparently, Hollywood took this story, place and time, embellished it somewhat  and created the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. 

   We drove all around the island, visiting beaches, taking pictures and soaking in the warm sunshine. The Vieques port town was the largest settlement.  It is patrolled nightly by fancy cars and bikes booming loud music and roaring engines.  Loud horns seemed to Blair for no apparent reason, scaring the codgers walking along the sidewalk.  There were numerous food carts, trailers and grilles set up along the streets and parking lots of popular areas, selling tasty treats to tourists and locals.  Here, one could rent cars, bikes, golf carts and kayaks.  

   It was fun to explore this island and beautiful beaches.  Here, one s find white sand beaches, black sand beaches and brown sand beaches.  All of them were unique and beautiful.  The ocean was warm and inviting. It’s one of those places where  you could spend some time.