Today was an exciting day full of travel! We all arrived safely in San Juan, Puerto Rico by noon after an early-morning start. We greeted each other at the airport, and then we hopped into two taxis and began our commute to the ferry station in Fajardo. The taxi drivers were energetic, fun-loving individuals that truly welcomed us to Puerto Rico. While waiting for the ferry, we dined at William’s Pizza and interacted with some jealous pigeons. The ferry ride to Culebra was full of beautiful, mountainous views. Some would say the temperature on the ferry was a nice, breezy 75 degrees, and that was because they chose to sit on the top of the ferry, which was an excellent move.

Once we arrived in Culebra, which is our destination for the next five days, we got into a Jeep and a golf cart to make our way to our wonderful residence. The Fish and Wildlife Service  has agreed to house us. We then travelled to the eclectic downtown Culebra to go out to dinner. A group of us went to Zaco’s Tacos and the rest of us went to Mamacita’s where we enjoyed a few Puerto Rican specialities such as mofongo and tostones. Mamacita’s was right on the water, which was crystal clear, so we were able to see large tarpon swimming about. Once we were full, we travelled back to the house, where we all quickly fell asleep due to the exhaustion that had accumulated throughout the day. We also had a wake up call of 5:45 for the following morning so that we could patrol beaches for turtle nests. We are all elated to be in the beautiful Culebra, Puerto Rico and can’t wait for the adventures to come!