Into the Caribbean Sea

Because the wind grows steadily stronger over the course of the day, we try to get our sailing/motoring into it done early. On Tuesday, April 15, we set off at 6:30 a.m. for an anchorage that was to be one of the finest both in terms of bottom (made WW so happy) and what we found there. We also, finally, entered the Caribbean Sea.

The bay at Gilligan’s Island (don’t ask me) is a regular stop for cruisers travelling along the south coast of Puerto Rico. The island itself is a red hot weekend spot for puertorriqueños. The whole area is surrounded by mangroves which keep the water green and fertile and are, as we are informed repeatedly, the nurseries of the sea. They are also flat-out, no question about it, totally impenetrable to persons without implements of hackage and hewage.

It’s all part of the Bosque Estatal de Guánica or Guánica Biosphere Reserve: 9,500 acres of preserved land with 36 miles of trails and 10 miles of undeveloped coastline. Most important, a significant chunk is subtropical dry forest. Just 1% of the world’s dry forests remain, making this an exceptional bit of land. The central cordillera captures all the moisture, putting this region in a serious rain shadow. Temperatures remain between 80F and 100F all year, and about 35 inches of rain per year (which WW thinks is a guidebook error…seems too much to him)—compare that to Puerto Rico’s El Yunque rain forest, which gets one inch a day. The park is a haven for 700 plant varieties, 40 bird species, toads, crabs, turtles, and more. Sadly, mongooses, introduced to control rats, have found turtle eggs much to their liking and the turtle population is in severe decline.

We launched Boffo and followed a mangrove-lined channel between one of the islands and the mainland until we reached a beach near the sea. WW scanned the mangrove roots hopefully (and in vain) for oysters, while I scanned the birds…great egrets, black-necked stilts, magnificent frigate birds, black vultures, bridled terns, and the charming brown pelicans.

Stilts among the mangroves of Bosque Estatal de Guánica

We followed a path that took us from the sodden mangrove swamp, past brackish pools, to dry coastal growth of tough grasses, coconut palms, and a variety of plants and shrubs clearly adapted to receiving little water. In one of the ponds, a gaggle of stilts muttered imprecations as I photographed them. Kingbirds nagged each other. The clear liquid notes of yellow warblers trailed after them as they flashed like gold between shrubs. Then we arrived at the dry forest. The mangroves and low coastal growth gave way almost instantly to thorn trees and cacti. Bright orange land crabs scuttled into their burrows as we passed. Alas, it was getting late and we had to turn back if we were to make it to the boat before sundown. It is a fascinating place I most definitely want to visit again.

We didn’t go straight back to the boat. Instead, we set foot briefly on Gilligan’s Island. Why? Silly not to.