IN THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND TRAVEL ......

Yes, ...... Here's a toast to "The "Spirit of Love and Travel" as we celebrated the coming of the New Year in Spanish-speaking CULEBRA, Puerto Rico ..... Elsewhere in the World almost everybody celebrated also, either the New Year or the passing of the Old Year ...... Ours was probably no different, except that it was very different from the ones we've had previously ....... This time, we were surrounded by other people's families, young and old together, and dancing in the street and on the ferry dock amongst lights, lanterns and music from several live Latino bands ...... Great atmosphere, lively songs and everybody dressed 'to kill' ....... You know what I mean .... We know this because the police were all wearing bullet-proof vests ....... "Anyone you know?" ......" Si, la Reina de Florida "



One huge street party with hundreds of people, including those still racing their Christmas toys, and only five toilets (inodoros) for this huge crowd ....... And to scare you away from using them, they would light all the fireworks right outside the door of each one ......... Even 'KENNY', of that hilarious Australian portable dunny movie of the same name, would have said ' Now that's not right, mate! .... That's just not on .... Fair go, mate" ......



Everybody dancing in the street to the music ....... Even Mark and Willie from our new sistership " LIAHONA" .......



And amongst the dancing couples was this guy with a deadly serious look on his face, who did an incredible salsa with his PVC partner ....... PVC stands for 'procreation-free vinyl companion' ......... She was bare-footed with a plunging neckline and wore an exquisite burgundy chiffon evening negligee with black silk see-through trim and wore no jewelry to achieve that 'natural' look .......



It was enough to make all your lights shiver and shake, and 'Old Jose' on his porch was right in the middle of things with people stopping by to sample from his plates of Puerto Ricon delicacies ....... We bet he's seen it all before ......



On a much sadder note was the VHF radio call we overheard a few nights before, from a vessel in distress calling the US coastguard on Channel 16 ...... " Mayday, mayday" ....



Apparently the yacht "Morning Mist" had taken off from St. Thomas USVI, at about 6pm to sail to San Juan, in Puerto Rico ...... As best as we can make out, they were sailing in very strong winds and big seas and presumably on a compass course and no electronic chart plotter ....... The vessel must have made considerable lee-way for which they probably made no allowance and they ended up on the outer reef at the island of Culebrita, about thirty degrees off-course, with not a clue where they were ..... (We heard the whole conversation) The 911 operator was able to triangulate their cell phone and give the Coastguard their exact position ....... Eventually about midnight, the Coastguard helicopter airlifted them off ..... Their vessel drifted free again during the night and was eventually stranded on another reef ...... These photos were taken by someone else on the following morning ...... A sad reminder of how quickly a dream cruise can become a nightmare, although in this case it was not gear failure but navigation errors that led to the disaster ........ A simple GPS chart-plotter would have prevented all of that ...... Even a hand-held one and obviously the ability to use it .... As little as $120 could have prevented this .......



Too scary to think about ....... The yacht's owners are currently negotiating with 'Seatow', the salvor, to get their vessel back .... Meantime as we walk on the 'Wild Side' we have to show you some of Culebra's wild iguanas ...... Not sure about the 'wild' bit anymore .....



There's this little restaurant called " Mamacitas " where the owner feeds the critters salad for lunch ....... They scare the patrons, which in turn causes the waitress to run them off, into the mangroves ...... This only last a short time before they surreptitiously slink back beneath the tables to get at the lettuce, thereby scaring the patrons even more, when they slide beneath the chairs ......



I mean, you are sitting there having a quiet bite to eat and a little something to drink and this 'Jurassic Park' situation occurs right next to you or under you.......



And then you realize that 'you' are nowhere near as tasty as the lettuce put out by the owner of 'Mamacitas' ........ In fact, that iguana is giving Laurie the look that says " Don't even think about touching my lettuce!" ......



Just look at that face, with its almost purple scales ....... Could be 'Jurassic Park', you know .....



In and out of the water at lightning speed ....... Great swimmers ...... Faster than you can focus the camera .......



Then a little of that " How's it going, Mama?" .... "Will I see you up in the mangroves a little later, Honey child?" ........ And just like that all you're left with is the tail end of what could have been 'A close encounter of another kind' .........

FELICIDADES .......WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A WONDERFUL 2012 ........ FROM ISLA CULEBRA, PUERTO RICO ..... AND PLANNING TO STAY IN 'THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND TRAVEL' .......