A Thousand Miles Story

No, this is not a 90's song. It is the story of two little backpackers on a journey throughout Puerto Rico. Even if we were warn more than needed on the dangers of going to this part of the country, we couldn’t resist the temptation of this adventure. Who would blame us? Have you seen the landscape?

This exceptional day started around noon when we woke up from a good night sleep in the Lazy Jacks hostel on Vieques, a charming island lying east of the Puerto Rican mainland. The weather was mild, warm enough but not overwhelming. We decided to quickly eat and go to the beach. In no way we wanted to waste any more of this sunny day.

Along the way, we ran into Tim, a native we had met just the day before. He told us he and his friends were going to their secret beach where no tourist was ever going. Of course this was tempting. The beach on the other side of the road was beautiful, but it was small and crowded with fishing boats so my acolyte and I decided to go with them. This hidden seaside was a few minutes walking from the principal road, we had to climb some rocks and go thru water when we finally arrived. At first sight, this place had nothing so special about it, there was sand, palm trees and waves, everything you can expect from a Caribbean beach. But when I took the time to look at the details, the waves were much bigger than everywhere else, making the noise you often hear in movies and producing a slight breeze. The music was good, we were all alone talking about our hopes and dreams in this peaceful spot, getting to know people with a different culture, but the same aspirations.

Sitting there, enjoying the sun with old and new friends was already a pretty good moment, but it became magical, breath taking, unreal. I felt like time started to go slow motion when I saw Tim get up slowly and head to a little pond of freshwater. He told us to come with a sign of hand. There was a horse and it’s foal calmly drinking and swimming. They didn't seem to worry about us, they were just there, drinking and posing for our cameras. The time passed and we just watched them come and go. We went closer and got the chance to touch one of them.

It suddenly felt like time was on slow motion, like time stood still.

I came back to reality when I realized the sun was setting and we had to go back before dark. And this wonderful day ended up with a magnificent sunset.