Playa Santa

October 22, 2012

Playa Santa

Oct 17, 2012

The other day during one of our breaks we went to Playa Santa. At the end of the 301 highway it turns into a dirt road with tons of muddy potholes. The Cabo Rojo refuge (where I work) lies to the north and the Bahia Sucia lies to the south. There is an array of wetland birds on salt ponds, which brings me back to my Don Edwards day (saw some Stilts!). Playa santa es muy linda. It is a crescent shaped beach that is home to the occasional manatee, although we only saw Brown Boobies, which was still an awesome sight. They were fishing and through our binoculars we watched them skim the turquoise waters then plop their large bodies on top of the waves and drift around-just chillin*.

Leanne and I swam around in the mini-waves (which really excited me because it was like baby body surfing and I haven’t seen any waves at playa sucia) while sipping on our 10 oz Medalla’s (the ones in the shiny gold cans). Drinking in the ocean is a big thing in Puerto Rico, which is cool but also people tend to let their cans go underneath the water, which is NOT cool. Erica went off to bird because she has a number of birds she wants to find (she had never seen a Booby and she also still had a sunburn from when we went to Playa Buye in Boqueron last Thursday… see “turtleneck bikini” for thoughts on sunburns). On the west side of the red cliff there is a path to the lighthouse that overlooks the Caribbean. It is a really beautiful and peaceful place and I cannot wait to take my family when they come to visit! And to Annie’s the popular bar that had a total of 18 people in it when we went- we were 5 of them. Ok now that I reconsider 18 is kind of a lot for Combate.

The best part about living in this area (although there are few people and no town really) is that I get to enjoy the nature. I think that the beaches and the refuge are really beautiful and peaceful. It is nice to nap on the beach with no one else in sight, or get caught in a rainstorm that’s moving through and having to seek refuge under a tamarind tree, or sitting and watching the cows stare at you from the farm, or head up a hill on the refuge and find yourself overlooking the whole southwest of Puerto Rico and out to the sea. I may prefer the life of the jibaros**.

* Apparently “chillin” has become a Puerto Rican slang word and is pronounced like “cheeelen”

** Jibar(o/a) is a term that refers to rural peoples. It used to be used in a sort of derogative way, like the jibaros were primitive people. But now I am not sure of the use- I read it in my book “When I was Puerto Rican”.