Day Four

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Geo: 18.123, -65.4163

Pictures from the fourth full day, Thursday, January 8th. Our morning walk just took us back through town and around the residential area and back to the house. Bob wasn't feeling great this day so he and Maggie stayed and played around the pool while the rest of us went to the south side of the island and checked out the little barrio of Esperanza. Had lunch there then hiked to a little almost island called Caiyo de Tierra, an area like an island except connected to the main island by a narrow strip of land. Neat hike. We then went to a few of the beaches near Esperanza and Sun Bay. This is where we found the beach with the cave where David swam out, climbed to the top of the rocks, and jumped back into the ocean.

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Photos

Horse - Morning Walk
Horses roaming at will were all over the island! Hated to see this one downtown, braving the traffic! I guess their owners round them up from time to time, but for the most part, they're on their own.

Morning Walk
Passed this little beach in the town of Isabel II. The building is a hotel right downtown.

Morning Walk View
Just a neat view from our morning walk.

Esperanza
Isabel II and Esperanza are the two towns on the island. Even though Isabel II is on the north coast and Esperanza is on the south coast, they're only about 6 miles apart.

The Malecón in Esperanza
The boardwalk in Esperanza is called the Malecón, pronounced
Ma-lay-san', emphasis on the last syllable, think.

Hiking Caiyo de Tierra
Maggie and Bob stayed at the house one afternoon while the rest of us went out. After lunch in Esperanza, we went hiking. There was a little elevation to the trail; add in the heat and humidity and we all got a workout!

Hike - Caiyo de Tierra
The group at the end of the trail.

Cayo de Tierra Point
Not sure how high above the water we were but it was impressive!

Hike - Caiyo de Tierra
More of the beautiful Caribbean waters.

Hike View
Hard to stop taking pictures when the view is like this!

Beach near Caiyo de Tierra
Had to pass this beach on the way to the trailhead.

David @ Playuela Beach
We met a guy along the trail to this beach and he told David about a cave in the rocks along the coast in this little bay. The cave had an opening at the top with a rope inside to use to climb up to the top of the rocks. He swam out to the cave, went inside, and climbed to the top, then jumped from the rocks into the water. He said he had to wait for the right time to leap into the sea! You can see him standing on the rocks in the middle of this picture. Think Anne took this one with our digital camera.

Another of David at the Cave
He said from his position, it looked like a pretty good jump down into the water! Think I took this one with the smart phone camera.

Another of David at the Cave
Everyone with a camera had to take a shot at getting David on the rocks above the cave. This one was taken by LeeAnne.

Scooter
David and Sonja rented a scooter for a few days, and Uncle Vid gave Maggie a ride around the block. She pronounced it "awesome"!!!