Featured Photo: Tinge of Tangier (Tangier, Morocco; Africa)
Tangier, Morocco is a bustling frenzy of activity at street level. Children run and play within the maze of narrow streets, blending with the pleading persistent voices of swarming market sellers. The aged rooflines leaning into deep blue sky presented a steady, quiet contrast to the lively crowds just below.
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One of the best ways to avoid crowds is to go where the crowds won’t go. This is not a suggestion to frequent dark alleys and condemned restaurants but rather a prodding to allow yourself the full wilderness experience when you venture into the wild.
If the trail is paved and/or easy to follow, you haven’t gone far enough. If you know where the next public restroom is, you’ll need to hike further —beyond the water spigots, educational trail side signs and maybe even your comfort zone to where you’re thankful for your map and beef jerky —and are aware of little more than your next step on the trail.
Difficult passages tend to keep one focused in the present. It’s why grief blurs adjunct memories and why athletes rarely hear the cheers of their fans. In lives spiraling with multi-tasked peripheral events, intensity can grab a moment and cement it as an elevating foundational experience. My hike through The Subway of Zion National Park has permanent status, as does mountain-biking in Mammoth Lakes, free diving through a coral tunnel in the Caribbean, crossing Gibraltar’s airport runway on foot and getting stranded on the island of Vieques with two of my kids.
Climbing, biking, hiking, swimming… beyond the crowds is well worth the fear, effort and delays to ordinary life because extreme moments tend to be unique moments that will be yours alone.
We claimed an isolated stretch of Silver Beach (Vieques, Puerto Rico) as our own. Angling into one of only two parking spots and tossing our towels onto the sand made it our unofficial second home for two lovely August days a couple of years ago. Our private spot was well beyond Red Beach and Secret Beach and required a bouncing crawl of a drive down the pitted narrow road that meandered out east of Blue Beach.
Secreted behind sea grapes, mangroves, beach vines and coconut palms, our chosen place had the feel of a well appointed deserted island. The shallow waters were clear and the sand was soft. After gathering food and water en route at La Tienda Verde (The Green Store), we needed little more than our sunscreen, snorkel masks and a few fish to chase.
We had read about a coral bed located on the far side of the island just to our west. And after trailing a turtle (video) and stalking various fish in the shallows, we crossed the sea grasses and swam through deeper waters over a sandy sea floor to find out for ourselves…
More underwater photos (and video!) from Isla de Vieques.
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