April  2002 

Greetings everyone!

Bulletin! ••••••••••••••••••  Fiesta Patronales is July 17 - 21st  ••••••••••••••••••

Greetings from Vieques! This is a little late, blame it on April Fools! The island was busy for Easter, many enjoying the beaches and the perfect weather. Traditionally many of the local families camp out on the beaches during Holy Week. Unfortunately with the beaches at Camp Garcia being closed to the public, there were not as many choices for camping grounds. One of the highlights on the island is the Via Cruces on Good Friday. There is a walking "Stations of the Cross" that begins at the Catholic Church in Esperanza and then ends with a reenactment of the Resurrection of Christ. I unfortunately have missed this as I hate crowds however everyone that attends says it is fabulous. I guess next year I will participate and see it first hand. 

The island should begin slowing down a bit however I understand that the guest houses and car rentals all are getting reservations. We may be enjoying a busy Spring Season after all. The temperatures are rising during the day and still are comfortable at night, it seems like we went from winter temps to summer temps in the last week! One good thing is that the water temps have warmed so many of us will start swimming again. Northerners just don't understand that we find the weather cold in January. After you live here for a few years your blood thins out, maybe again that is from the rum that flows so freely.

Highlights of April's activities include baseball, menu and shopping specials and the Cultural Festival. The Cultural Festival is in it's 25th year and will be held at the Fort. You can expect to hear traditional Puerto Rican folk music, view works by various artisans and stroll through the Fort. The festival is paid for by sponsors and is free to the public so they hope that all will attend and learn more about Vieques and Puerto Rico! Baseball season begins the end of the month however we are still not sure if the first game will be held here or on the big island. There are a few practice games where you can watch the Caribes play! Here is the Calendar of Events:

Weekly activities include:
Saturday, The Flea Market-  mornings at the former location of Café Coconuts in Isabel II.

Sundays perhaps try your luck at a game of dominoes, many of the small colmado/bars are playing especially the one in Esperanza near the ball park! Also on Sundays ladies get to drink for half price at La Sirena from 5-7 pm. 

Mondays, call ahead to see if Duffy is still offering his famous Reggae Grill Night at Chez Shack, 741-2175. You can also play trivia challenge at La Sirena and perhaps win your bar tab! 

Tuesday hit the legendary social hour at Island Café, again win a chance to have them pick up your bar tab, enjoy great appetizers too! 

Wednesdays you can still get terrific ribs at Tropico located in the Martineau area of the island, call 741-4000 to make reservations. 

Thursdays you can still enjoy steel drum music on the deck at La Sirena from 7-10 pm.  Also on Thursdays, stop by the Mar Azul and see if Amy has cooked up a great special as she opens the kitchen for the weekend, stay and enjoy Oldies Music with Capt. Martin. 

Fridays sees the return of Karaoke but now being held at Bananas in Esperanza, crowing or rather singing begins around 10 pm, there has been lots of talent lately! Even though we are technically going into "off season" you see we still have lots of fun things to do.

Make sure you stop by the Trust in Esperanza to visit the live marine tanks. Bio Bay Conservation group also has tanks, give them a call at 741-0720 to learn more. Don't forget that you must also visit Bio Bay while vacationing on Vieques!

You may see some construction going on at Sun Bay which is being done by the National Parks Company of PR. By next year you can expect to see improved camping facilities, a volleyball court, gazebos near the beach, BBQ areas and a new administration building that will house a cafeteria, shower facilities, and lockers. Most days there is a $2 admission fee to enter Sun Bay now, we used to be able to enter for free more often than not but that has changed the past few months. The NPC is also proposing to build 50 villas or cabins that will sleep at least 6 adults in the future. There are many people that are opposed to this project as it's proposed location backs up to the lagoon that feeds Bio Bay, it would directly impact several other guest houses located in Esperanza and could potentially bring much more garbage to the beach area. I will keep you posted on what develops there.

Other news includes new services that will soon be available in Vieques, there will be a student services center that will provide tutoring, counseling, and an opportunity for students to take the High School Equivalency Exam. There will also be a Victims of Domestic Abuse Center opening on the island soon. Improvements are being made at the hospital so babies can once again be delivered in Vieques! Also at the hospital you will find offices for the Administration of Mental Health Services Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, they should be operational in the very near future. No matter how people feel about the current administration, if these programs are successful they could greatly improve life here on Vieques.

Most people know that the Navy turned over the western part of the island which included about 8100 acres. Of that land 4200 went to the municipality of Vieques, 800 acres to The Puerto Rican Conservation Trust and 3100 acres to the United States Fish and Wildlife Services. These acres have become the largest wildlife refuge in the Caribbean. The land includes flora and fauna not located anywhere else in the world, some so rare they have no common names. There are also many rare, endangered and threatened plants, birds, reptiles and mammals that are residents of the refuge. This is a big plus for Vieques and will hopefully help educate people as to how fragile our environment is and how we all need to work together to protect it. FWS has many plans for the future and will welcome visitors to their new offices located at the Dept. of Education building located just out of Isabel II. The office space should be finished by the end of this month.

Some interesting trivia about Vieques includes the fact that we are the second largest municipality by land mass however have the second lowest number of people and houses per square mile in PR. As of January 2002, there were 6408 active registered voters here. According to the 2000 census, Vieques had a population of 9106 people and 4388 housing units. When you look at the number of voters I think that the population has definitely grown in the past 2 years!

Well that about covers another month here on the island. Next month we will be adding pictures to this page so stay tuned for some of my favorite sites on Isla Nena! Thanks for reading and enjoy Spring!

Judy

PS: If there is anything you would like to see in the newsletter or have any feedback please email Ask Judy. Thanks.  askjudy@enchanted-isle.com 

<click here for the archives>

 If any of you would like to see something specific in this newsletter please contact the webmaster and I will do my best to investigate for you. 
Email: whats_happenin@enchanted-isle.com 

BACK

Past Articles

Page Design by:
Positive Image Graphix © 2002 All Rights Reserved
For information on your own Website:
E-Mail: webmaster@positivimage.com
Site was last revised: 01/26/08