Day 12: Culebra y Vieques!

I woke up late, went to free breakfast (burnt pancakes) and got a free ride to the airport! Expensive hotels have their perks. If I had anything smaller than a 20 I would have tipped, I promised to come back if I ever visit the island again, instead.

At the airport they told me that the earliest flight was 1:30, and there was nothing direct to vieques unless I wanted to charter a flight for 450$. Oh well, ferry games it is. The disaster getting onto the island yesterday was the disaster getting off of it today. I waited and read, encourage that there were only a few people in line, maybe 40, well shy of the 150+ the ship can hold... Around 11:30 two of my friends from yesterday (a young lawyer couple from the EFF who were surprised I knew what it was) showed up and we all decided to stand in line, instead of just near the line. At 12:20 - 20 minutes into ticket sales - the line had barely moved, and one of the lawyers headed to the front to find out what was happening. They had sold out, apparently in the first 10 people (along with culebra residents who are allowed to pre-order). Leaving them to hold our place in the line, I went off to check the airport.

After a few rounds of phone-tag, they got on the 5:30 flight off the island while I flew standby on the 1:30 that couldn't fit them. The flight wasn't as eventful as the first, but still fun, and still cheap. I did get one shot showing the hotel I didn't (foreground) and did (background) stay at last night. The planes fly at 150ish (rated for up to 200) mph, and the ferry (I checked with GPS) does 15mph, tops.

In Ceiba I had a decision to make: do I spend the $35 for a taxi to the ferries (no one else on my flight was headed in that direction to split it with me) or do I spend the $40 for another flight? Ok, so I may have exaggerated a bit. It wasn't a decision at all. I booked the flight before the baggage even got off the tarmac. AND since Vieques is closer it was only $30. Heck, I'd pay $30 just for the fun of take-off and landing.

The long runways and run-out at Ceiba and Vieques kept anything extra-interesting from happening, but we did get a good view of Mosquito Pier. Mosquito Pier is a mile-long start to a land bridge that was to connect Vieques to the mainland in case we needed to dock an entire fleet during WWII. Luckily, the war ended and we never had to, and the project was canceled.

The flight was short, only half the time it takes to get to Culebra (which is how it can be so cheap, I guess). I caught a cab to Esperanza, Vieques's other city, and got a hotel recommendation from the cabbie. Malecon House, named after the boardwalk that runs along the coast in front of it, is a pretty, reasonably priced hotel built just last year. I'll try to get some pictures for y'all.

I did some sink-laundry (avoid this if you can, you never want to know how dirty you actually are), took a walk around the town (literally the whole way around it), had dinner next door overlooking the harbor, and enjoyed having internet again. Esperanza is the way Vieques should be, it's about 5 blocks long, friendly, clean... everything Isabella II isn't.