The Carribean and lessons learned
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Well I am back from the tropics, but I can honestly say I could have easily spent another week there! The vacation started off in beautiful Puerto Rico. We spent a night in San Juan checking out the local color and enjoying the night life and then it was on too a small bed and breakfast just outside of the rain forest. It was a great spot and there was a real nice beach just across the street. The surf was really high while we were there to the point that we encountered many areas that required heavy equipment to come in and remove the sand that had washed ashore! Kind of wild! I guess that is the Puerto Rican version of snow removal!
We spent an entire day hiking around in the El Yunque rain forest and I must say it was very cool. I could have easily spent more time there but the weekend crowds made it very difficult to find a place to park so we were back to the beach! After a couple of days in Puerto Rico we were off to St. Croix to my sister’s house. She has a great place that sits up on a hill and over looks the bay at Salt River. She also has a great swimming pool and deck area that makes it very easy to relax!
I came to St. Croix on this trip with every intention of fly fishing for tarpon. There are a fair amount of Tarpon around the island and I was very egger to get a line wet especially coming from snowy Montana. This is now where I have learned a very valuable lesson when traveling. DON’T RELY ON OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!! I choose not to bring any of my fishing gear as I was told that a friend of my sisters had everything and was more than willing to take me fishing on the flats as much as I wanted while I was there. This is where this dreadful story ends. I didn’t get to sniff the flats with a fly rod and I am trying really hard to not let it ruin my vacation even though it was a HUGE disappointment. Especially since I saw more Tarpon this year than any year I have ever visited!
Anyhow, we spent a lot of time on the beach and eating and drinking at the local establishments. Here are some of the pictures from the trip!
Pctures of the rain forest in Puerto Rico.
A good sized Iguana somewhere in Puerto Rico
The view from the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at.
TARPON!!!!!!!
A scooner enjoying a windy day in St. Croix.
And last but not least the food and beverage we enjoyed the most. My brother in laws rice and beans, fresh avacado, fresh lime aide, and beer!
And this is the hard part about coming back! This is a picture of my house taken this morning!
Looks like it will be a great summer of fishing in Montana with all of this snow!!! 😉
Joel
Awesome pictures. Looks like a great trip, too bad you didn’t get to cast to those tarpon. We should meet up sometime before you get busy.
Sounds great Clint! I am heading that way tomorrow so maybe we can hook up some evening this week.
Don’t get me started on the tarpon thing. Like I said I am trying not to be bitter about it!
Hey who did you float the MO with? Sounded like a pretty good day!
Joel
And of course…thanks for the food photos. You know I alway like to see the local fare…and that bowl of rice and beans looked damn good.
Cam those rice and beans ARE damn good! He makes them with pigs feet and some plantain along with the other traditional ingredients and lets it simmer all day long! I could eat the stuff three meals a day easy!
Jay I assure you I will never leave with out my gear again! The funny thing is I had it all packed too and I took it out at the last minute because I was told I wouldn’t need it. :'(
The fishing in Montana this season should make up for it Jay! 🙂
Joel
Joel, I floated the Mo. with the other wrestling coach from here. It was kind of funny because being a gear head he was worried about me “finding a hatch” when we planned the trip. I told him not to worry about me that I would find fish rising or not. By the end of the day he realized if the fish were biting his crocadile they were biting my streamers.
Friday evening or Saturday are the only days I could do it this week.
Joel,
Nice post, thanks for the great pictures and story. I know what it’s like to see tarpon within casting distance but no rod in hand.
Tarpon, man they are great fish.
i’ve been living in the Eastern Caribbean for the last 9 months….i only got jealous when i saw the picture of the snow.
This is now where I have learned a very valuable lesson when traveling. DON’T RELY ON OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!! I choose not to bring any of my fishing gear as I was told that a friend of my sisters had everything and was more than willing to take me fishing on the flats as much as I wanted while I was there. This is where this dreadful story ends. I didn’t get to sniff the flats with a fly rod and I am trying really hard to not let it ruin my vacation even though it was a HUGE disappointment. Especially since I saw more Tarpon this year than any year I have ever visited!
OUCH!
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