A few times a week our other machine C-FIZA picks up dialysis patients in the morning from the small island just 8 miles east of here called Vieques and then returns them home in the evening. Our mission today was to take over around 16 passengers from FEMA to see how the process was all working and talk to the locals on each island on how things could improve and needed around 2.5 hours at each location. Aaron had been to each location a few times before, but this was my first opportunity to see a few new spots!

Stop number 1 was Culebra and upon approach I could tell I was going to like it already! It’s a sleepy little island that you definitely would want to come back to and feel right at home. It’s 17 miles east of the Puerto Rican mainland and the ferry flight over was stunning. Residents of the island are known as Culebrenses. With a population of 1,818, and total land area of 11.6 square miles, it’s Puerto Rico’s least populous municipality. We had a chance to rent a jeep and check out the island….yes…the entire island in less than 2 hours!!! If you are ever wanting a place to get away from it all and don’t want the hustle and bustle of tourists…this is your place!

Our second stop was Vieques, which measures about 21 miles long by 4 miles wide and has around 9300 people. The island’s name is a Spanish spelling of an American Indian word (likely Taino) said to mean “small island”. Vieques is best known internationally as the site of a series of protests against the U.S. Navy’s use of the island as a bombing range and testing ground, which led to the Navy’s departure in 2003. Today the former navy land is a national wildlife refuge. After a quick jeep trip into town and a quick bite to eat….we gathered up our passengers and headed back to Isla Grande Airport to get ready for the next days mission!