Culebra, Puerto Rico

Here's a video to sum up our 10 days in Culebra:

10/27:

I definitely had a cold. My throat was really sore all night, I was sneezing and my nose was stuffy and I woke every couple hours. After having pneumonia this felt like nothing though. Once I got ready, packed and checked out of the hostel, I took the J-Train at 4:30 AM and then the Air train to JFK. The whole trip took one hour and 20 minutes. On the way I paid $4 for a bottle of water and at the airport freakin' $5.79. Insane! I was impressed with how good my energy level was despite the cold, sleep deprivation and jet lag. At the airport I was very happy to see these automatic plastic toilet seat covers! The only place I've seen these before was at the Chicago Airport.

I was happy the flight was only 4 hours. I didn't realize San Juan was straight down from New York, so no time difference. That'll give me more time to adjust. I listened to music and blew my nose the whole flight. American Airlines was more spacious than any other airline I've flown with lately. I went from wet and cold New York to beautiful and warm Puerto Rico where it was 28°C and I flew through big white fluffy clouds. Luckily I didn't get a migrane while descending, which I usually get if I fly when I'm stuffy.

When I landed, I immediately went into the bathroom and started taking off the layers. The airport felt bright and happy. Once I checked in, I got a salad and hot water for my Chinese herbs. They gave me the hot water for free as opposed to JFK where they charged me $0.60. Shortly after, my hubby arrived from Maui and we met at the gate for our connecting flight to Culebra at 4:44 PM. We were very happy to see each other again after 4 months apart.

The airplane to Culebra was so small, the smallest either of us have ever flown in... it felt more like a helicopter ride. It was so beautiful flying over the ocean and islands and seeing all the beaches. 

Our Air BnB host coordinated a ride for us to our rental and we stopped by a convenience store on the way to get some water and food.

10/28:

Culebra was very hot and muggy, kind of like Kihei in Maui. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer! The island is so small you can drive around it in an hour. It is very laid back, low class and slow - businesses do not answer their phones a lot of the time, everything closes at 9 PM, the service at restaurants is very slow and everything is pretty overpriced. The bird sounds in the morning are so unique here and there are tons of roosters. It's a pretty noisy neighborhood - even if you go to a practically deserted island it can be hard to get away from machines...

We stayed at an Air BnB called "Flamboyan of Villa Patria". It was nice, clean and self-contained, but located up a steep hill, so best to rent a car to get around.

The first day we took it easy and got settled in. We meditated for 30 minutes in the morning. I was still stuffy and had a sore throat but managed to stay pretty active anyway without much effort. 

We walked all the way up a long steep hill to get some lunch at a place called "Krusty Krab", only to find out they were closed and didn't open until 5:30 PM!

So we walked back down the hill in the heat and humidity and went home and had ramen noodles instead. It started to rain, so it was a good thing we didn't go back out to try another restaurant. It's supposed to rain every day the whole time we're here... Once it cooled down, we walked down the hill and asked around and got a taxi ride to a restaurant where they served fish. The food was tasty, but greasy... We tried mofongo (fried plantains) for the first time. It was fun to hear the Latin music! Lots of dogs and cats on the streets. Taxis are only $3 per person here.

10/29:

Another easy-going day. Woke up around 6 AM to this beautiful sunrise. I feel really calm here.

No rain today! We tried to rent a car but there was nothing available until the next day, so we were stuck in the house again. We watched "Bad Moms" which was really good. I wasn't as stuffy and my throat wasn't as sore, but I had developed a bit of a cough. I had pretty normal energy.

In the evening we took a taxi to a nicer restaurant called "Club Seabourne Restaurante" by a hotel and split a giant lobster!

10/30:

I rented a car in the morning and drove around to try to find a grocery store while my hubby slept in to recover from jet lag. There are hardly any stop signs, no street signs and no prices listed in the grocery stores.

After getting food and water I drove home and made us lunch and then we went out to explore Flamenco Beach. It was perfect - the water was turquoise, warm and calm, the sand was whiter than the beaches on Maui, not too many people, not too windy... Ah, finally back at the beach!

Then we drove up the hill to Krusty Krab again to try the food, while jamming out to Britney Spears. We both love her new album, "Glory" so much! The sunset and view was gorgeous, but there were too many mosquitoes, so we got some fish tacos to go after a loooong wait in the car. They were the BEST fish tacos ever - I had no idea! Totally worth the wait. It is very easy to get ripped off here if you are a tourist. They owed us $20 back in change for the food, but tried giving us $10. We are learning the hard way to always check the receipts at the grocery stores - since you don't know how much anything costs until after you pay and there are no digital monitors when you check out, it is easy for them to add things to the receipts that you didn't buy. When we went to the convenience store the other day, they charged us for 44 cans of tuna instead of four. When we got the lobster they added on an extra $7.50... Sneaky...

10/31:

I started the morning by doing my breathing exercises. It was another hot and muggy day without rain, so we went snorkeling at Melones Beach. There wasn't much to see under the water, but we did see a few small colorful fish and a mantaré (my first time!). Then we went the store, the bank and Zaco's Tacos and indulged in delicious shrimp/crab nachos.

We told the bartender about our experiences with getting ripped off, so as a joke he gave us this receipt after our meal:

We meditated in the evening for 30 minutes, I gave Zen a massage and we watched "Magic Mike".

11/1:

We drove over to check out Zoni's Beach today even though it was overcast. We left very quickly after jumping in the water because there was a lot of seaweed, coral and mosquitoes... and a small tornado!

We ate at Zaco's Tacos again for lunch.

Afterward we went to Flamenco Beach while there was thunder and lightning. When we got home it started pouring rain and I made dinner and got a massage from Zen.

11/2:

We spent the day at Flamenco Beach - the weather was perfect, the waves were big and soft without an undertow, the sun was out, there was a nice breeze, the water was clear and oh, so warm... We walked on the beach and chased eachother and jumped in the ocean whenever we felt like it. I felt so free and happy that I could run again after being sick and felt strong in my body. When we came home, Zen made us a delicious dinner and we watched a movie called "Keanu" about a kitten and it rained again. Ah, life is good...

11/3:

I worked on my needle-point in the morning and painted my nails blue (while Zen took a nap) and then I went for a drive to explore more of the island, but it turns out there's really not much more to explore. And I thought MAUI was small... So I went to the grocery store and drove back home.

In the evening we saw another stunning sunset and watched "The Huntsman" and "No Strings Attached".



11/4:

We had lunch at Zaco's Tacos again, went to Flamenco Beach and watched "Waking Life" in the evening. Such an incredibly mind opening philosophical movie. Zen had seen it three times before and I saw it with my dad when I was a kid.

Fun stools at Zaco's Tacos :)

11/5:
We spent most of the day on the phone with T-Mobile trying to resolve an issue and it was driving Zen crazy because it wasn't going anywhere and the call kept getting disconnected and it was a waste of time. We went for a swim at Flamenco Beach for the last time, made dinner, watched a French movie and packed. 10 days felt like a good amount of time in Culebra and we felt ready to leave. It was a wonderful and relaxing stay!