Sunset over the Caribbean at the W Retreat & Spa on Vieques Island (pronounced "Bee-eh-kes") off the Puerto Rico mainland. I came here for my daughter's wedding on Vieques. Two ways to get to Vieques: by ferry or by small prop plane. I took a very nervous ride on the plane. It dipped twice, putting my nerves on edge.

The next day, the W's beach.

More of the W's beach.

More of the W's beach.

More of the W's beach.

Yoga in the morning.

Outside dining.

The pool area.

The lounge.

A place just to take it easy.

I took a private tour of Vieques Island (my daughter and future son in law drove around the island yesterday in a jeep they had rented, so I was on my own). Vieques Island is only 21 miles long and 5 miles wide at its widest point, with much of it off limits due to contamination by the U.S. Navy who were here for 60 years after purchasing 2/3 of the island in 1941 as an extension of the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station on the Puerto Rico mainland..

A street in Vieques, an island without traffic lights.

A friend of mine was stationed on Vieques as a Marine in the late 1950s. He said all that was here were a bar, wild horses, and hookers. Today, there are many bars, the wild horses are still roaming, but I don't know about the last one. Photo: The first wild horse that I saw. They are a mixed breed known as Paso Fino and were brought here by the Spanish.

Mural along the road.

A market.

Some of the houses on Vieques are ramshackle, others modest, and some very large and beautiful.

A church.

On Vieques.

Houses on a hill.

An iguana on the road with a very long tail.

Another view.

It looks prehistoric.

Fort Count Mirasol on top of a hill. It was started in 1843 with incomplete building ending in 1855. It is named after the govenor of Puerto Rico at that time who was known as the Count of Mirasol.

Only three walls of the fort are left. The fort was built to be a safe place for the Spanish government to control the island and to defend it. But it was never used for defense, only for a prison and a site of execution of those who were against the Spanish government. The fort's museum is on the right of the photo.

View from the fort.

View from the fort.

A defense canon never used.

Another view.

Cactus at the fort.

The main town on Vieques: Isabel II, the island's capital city and government center. It had some very nice buildings and a plaza but I wasn't able to get any photos of them. If a photo has a lot of extra blue in it, I took it from the touring van's front window.

My guide said this sign is advertising a cock fight.

A moderate house.

One on stilts.

A large very nice house.

My tour guide.

Very windy in places.

A road across the island.

A hammock and many dogs.

A group of wild horses.

Wild horses.

Wild horses.

Wild horses. Some of the wild horses have been tamed but most are still wild.

Entrance to Balneario Sun Bay Beach. Here is camping, cafes, and pina coladas.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach. You almost have the whole beach to yourself on weekdays, not so much on weekends.

This is the beach on which my daughter's wedding would be held later in the day.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach.

Balneario Sun Bay Beach.

A lone sunbather. There are many small beaches on Vieques that you can be the only sunbather on.

The El Block hotel (which is really gray in color), where my daughter and new son in law's wedding dinner would be held later in the day.

Across from the El Blok Hotel is what is left of the sugar cane industry on Vieques. In the 1920s and 1930s, Vieques was totally dependent on the sugar cane industry, which declined thereafter due to falling prices.

The old sugar cane factories.

Close-up.

A mural on one of the cement slabs.

An old locomotive used in the sugar cane industry.

Another one.

And chairs to sit on to take it easy.

The bay in the town of Esperanza, where there is boating, a number of restaurants, and places to stay.

The bay at Esperanza.

The bay at Esperanza.

The bay at Esperanza. There is also a bioluminescent bay (Mosquito Bay) nearby for which you can rent kyacks to saild around it. You might also be able to take a boat on it but this is not clear as to whether you can.

Esperanza.

A hotel and restaurant at Esperanza.

A restaurant.

Another wild horse on our drive.

And another.

This 300-year-old ceiba tree, a silk cotton tree or kapok, is just inside the danger, off-limits area.

Before new materials were developed, the fluff in the tree's pods were used in pillows, mattresses, and life jackets.

Close-up.

Closer-up.

The other side of the tree.

Close-up.

You also sometimes see free cows off the roads.

More cows. These do not look like they are finding enough to eat.

On the way to the airport the day after the wedding to fly back to mainland Puerto Rico. The W has its own service to and from the airport..

Artwork at the airport. Maybe it is meant to cheer you up or calm you down before you take your flight in a small, nerve-wracking Cesna.

Artwork.

Artwork.

The plane we are going to fly in---a Cesna 402C, a little bit bigger than the plane I flew to Vieques on. There were three other passengers beside me, with room for four more. The flight took 1/2 hour.

One of our two co-pilots.

I was allowed to take photos from the plane. Over the Caribbean.

Over the Caribbean. The haze is from sand blowing onto Puerto Rico from the Saraha Desert.

Looking at mainland Puerto Rico.

Looking at mainland Puerto Rico.

Looking at mainland Puerto Rico.

Looking at mainland Puerto Rico.

Looking at mainland Puerto Rico.

Coming into San Juan.

Coming into San Juan.

San Juan.

San Juan.

San Juan.

We have landed. Smooth flight except for one dip but I was so glad when to be on solid ground. I do not like this small of a plane.