Land of (the) Lost; or, Daytripping to Ft. Conde

Happy 2015!
I'm focusing on health and wealth this year.
Health is obvious (see previous blog); by wealth, I mean a wealth of experiences and adventures, not monetary wealth.

And speaking of adventures. . . I took a trip with friends and my youngest son over to the Leeway side and Conde Beach to investigate Fort Conde during the break.

My first trip to Ft. Conde was a fun adventure and I've been itching to get back---with a camera---for another look. Thankfully I brought a camera for this trip (even if the battery died after taking only a handful of pictures).

Fort Conde was built in 1907 and never finished because of budget issues. Eventually the fort was abandoned. There is a lot more info on this site that also goes into the long, long history of Fort Conde and the rest of Naval Station Guantánamo Bay (it was here way before there was ever a prison). It's now covered with hutia poo, graffiti, and some wild vegetation. Bats are everywhere and the unmistakable waft of guano is in the air.

I love it because, corny as this sounds, it reminds me a bit of the show Lost. I expected smoke monsters or the Dharma Initiative to show up.

But no. Just this.

And this.

"Insert token" here: 

Vintage graffiti (or is that Physical Graffiti?): 

Screen shot from Google Earth of Ft. Conde

And THIS view: 

We had to travel there via boat---it's a lot more trouble to get to than our regular beaches, such as Windmill, Cable, Glass, or Ferry Landing. It's even more trouble than Chapman on the Leeward side, which "only" requires a ferry ride and then a walk or bus ride. 

You can't see the fort once you get to Conde Beach on Leeward; instead, you just kind of have to know where it is. I remembered that it's close to a watch tower, which I guess was good since I was the only person my 2nd trip over who had actually been there. 

Then you hike up a steep hill and through some vegetation---thus the Lost comparison---and voila!---it sits on the top of a bluff with the magnificent view above. 

Did we ever figure out the Dharma Initiative, anyway?

I didn't see any polar bears from the Dharma Initiative, but I did see wild dog tracks. My first trip there, my friends and I actually saw a small pack of mangy wild dogs running down the beach. We have another pack that occasionally roams my neighborhood, including my favorite one---the feral wiener dog. 

It was totally worth it. In addition to the abandoned fort, there is the BEST thing about the trip: you haven't lived until you've held a live sand dollar in your hand and felt and watched it breathe. (We left them there---we never take shells or sea life from the beaches if they are alive). There were hundreds in the water on what, to me, is the nicest stretch of beach on base. I'm going back, if just to hold sand dollars again.