Fajardo, Puerto Rico

So, I thought I might backtrack a little and write about a few goals off my lifelist I just checked off recently:

• Travel the Southern Caribbean
• See a real Shipwreck
• Visit Dominica
• Float amid phosphorescence
• Swim underneath a waterfall

I completed the waterfall goal at El Yunque rainforest, and the shipwreck goal at Carlisle Bay in Barbados. More on the others in a minute, but I should also make a quick note here that another goal on my list I THOUGHT would get checked off was "Seeing whales in their natural setting" but this was a failed attempt. We went whale watching in Dominica, but didn't see any whales. The only place in the world where sperm whales hang out year round and we didn't see even one stupid fin. I wanted whale SEEING. Oh well. I guess the whales don't feel much like taking the commands of the tour operators. Too bad there isn't some sort of universal whale call. If anyone knows of any tips for attracting whales (besides becoming whale bait, I am not interested in that) please let me know so that my next attempt will be more successful.

Anyway, when my sister and I were in Puerto Rico after we got back from this Southern Caribbean cruise, we trekked down to Fajardo to take a trip to the bioluminescent bay they have there. It is one of only five worldwide that glow year-round. Three of them are in Puerto Rico, the others are in Jamaica and the Bahamas. For those of you who haven't ever heard of a bioluminescent bay (I hadn't until recently), it is this phenomenon where the water glows when agitated. It is caused by these tiny little creatures who only live 48 hours, and they light up five times before they die. Think of water full of fireflies and that is sort of what it is like...

It is a protected area and you have to go at night (so you can see the glowing!). This leads to some pretty entertaining experiences. They don't allow boats out there, so you have to find some other means of getting to the lagoon (technically this one is a lagoon, not a bay). The canal to get to the place is lined with mangrove trees and as you float down the river, the quiet of the night is disturbed only by the calls of birds (?) and other mysterious creatures -- and the occasional yelling of someone who had crashed into the wall of mangrove trees on either side of the riverbank in their two-person kayak. The guides said, "If you think you are drowning all you have to do is stand up ... the water is only three feet deep. Then we can all laugh at you properly."

I am glad to say my sister and I didn't have any close encounters with the mangrove trees, although they looked very beautiful in the dark. In any case, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! It is something that is difficult to explain in words, but I will try. The water only glows when it is agitated, so you could see the fish moving under the water, and they looked like glow-in-the-dark fish! Every once in a while a fish would leap out of the water, leaving a trail of glowing water in its wake. And if you cupped the water in your hand, it looked like someone took a glow-in-the-dark Sharpie and drew tiny little dots all over your hand -- slowly, they would twinkle and then fade away. It was gorgeous.

So, the bioluminescent creatures showed up for my party even if the whales didn't. That's okay. I have my eyes on Alaska for the whale watching ... as we told other people on our cruise about our failed whale watching experience they all said the same thing, "You should try Alaska!" Apparently the whales dig Alaska or something. I'll let you know how it goes.