Carlos Rosario

Both Rob and I loved Carlos Rosario beach.  We had to hike in on a trail from Flamenco beach.  Several guide books wrote that the trail began in the back corner of the parking lot at Flamenco.

 We parked the jeep (We had given in and rented a car because we wanted to explore the different beaches)

We got to the spot and this was the sign that greeted us.

It seemed unlikely this was the correct entry, so Rob walked back to Flamenco beach and asked about the trail.

A man nodded, smiling and said, "It says bomb.  No bomb.  it's OK"


So we walked the 20 minutes in.  We did not see any landmines.  Thankfully there was cloud cover and even a moment of drizzle as we walked through the scrubby woods.

This gorgeous flower was blooming all over the island.  It looked like something from the milkweed family.








Rob carried Georgia the last stretch.

We were thirsty and hot and I worried this wasn't a good idea to hike on a hot day to an abandoned beach, but suddenly there was a very friendly older couple from Vermont who greeted us and told us the best place to get into the water.  They had come by boat and were anchored off shore.
















Then Rob found an empty turtle's egg on the shore!




Here I am after snorkeling with our rented gear for the first time.

Amazing!  I fell in love with snorkeling and became obsessed with finding turtles.  Behind me is the sandy channel where one could enter the coral reefs.

Under the water it was it was life-changingly beautiful!  I realized, as I swam, that this was why I had come to Culebra, why I had dragged my whole family (who were all having a great time now and our traumatic entry to the island was long forgotten) to a small island in the middle of the ocean.  Under the water I felt like I was part of another world, my breathing was slow and deeply calming to my nervous system, almost putting me into a trance state.  The colors were amazing, so bright and alive, everything moving with the waves, undulating and calling to me!  I had no idea it would be so magical and so vast.  I felt exhilarated and unafraid as I went farther and farther out.  Oh, how I wanted to see a turtle.  But I tried not to beg and tried to really let myself enjoy the little fish, the waving coral, the shimmering schools and the larger lone fish swimming slowly the bottom.