La Isla del Encanto

Last November we took a short trip to Puerto Rico. David's sister Christina and our friend Jenny joined us for the adventure.  We explored the island in our rental car, ate the local cuisine, drank a variety of frozen beverages and beer, and got to see the mountains, beaches, and cities of this unique territory.  

Where we went!

Spanish is the main language of the island, due to spending several centuries as a colony under the Spanish crown, but Puerto Rico is now a United States commonwealth (of sorts) and English is widely spoken across the island. Throughout our trip, we never had an issue that some good old fashioned pointing and Spanglish couldn't solve! We visited right after a vote where the majority of people said they do not wish to remain a US commonwealth, and in a follow-up question 61% of voters said they would like to become a US state. The political future of Puerto Rico remains uncertain.

The first thing we did after arriving was pick up our rental car and head east to Fajardo to visit the bioluminescent bay. This was probably the highlight of the trip. We joined a kayak tour and paddled in the pitch black through salt water mangroves into a protected bay. The bay is home to billions of tiny organisms called dinoflagellates. These little critters have a defense mechanism that produces a chemical reaction (like a firefly) when they're agitated in the water. The end result is a beautiful display of soft green light in the water as you kayak through or touch the water.  Unfortunately, this phenomenon doesn't lend itself to photography... but we did manage to get one shot of Jenny and Paul from the kayak company!



Jenny and Paul Ready to Kayak into the Blackness

That night we stayed at the Ceiba Country Inn, a small bed and breakfast up the mountains nearby. It's here that we were first introduced to the ubiquitous Puerto Rican Coquí Frog. These little colorful tree frogs make a unique sound that fills each night in Puerto Rico like crickets on the mainland. The Inn also had a couple of cute dogs and cats that we befriended.

Breakfast at the Ceiba Country Inn

On Sunday, we got up and set out for our big road trip day.  Our goal was to head from the far east side of the island to the far west, visiting the Arecibo Radio Telescope and the Rio Camuy Caves in the process.  This, our first full day on the island, provided us with our first lesson about Puerto Rico... it rains all of the time.  Mix one part tropics with one part sea breeze and an equally important component of mountainous terrain and you have a recipe for daily frequent showers, thunderstorms and humidity!  Our trip to the caves was delayed a few hours by the deluge that closed the site.  So, we traversed some incredibly narrow and winding mountain backroads to get to Arecibo.

The Arecibo Radio Telescope was built in 1963 with funding from Cornell University.  They wanted to build the telescope in a location that was geopolitically safe, far enough south to capture more of the sky, and in a location where the terrain could support the necessary shape.  The region in Puerto Rico the telescope was built is known for karst topography, with lots of bowl shaped valleys and mountains, perfect for a telescope.  The museum here is newly renovated and offers great views of the giant dish with plenty of bilingual staff to answer questions.  If you're an astronomy geek, this is a must see!

The Arecibo Radio Telescope - The World's Largest Single Telescope

Whee!  Look, mom!  Movember 'Stache!

By early afternoon it finally stopped raining long enough for us to go to the Rio Camuy caves. It's a large limestone cave system that's still forming, so it's quite wet inside. The Camuy river flows through it, and there's an amazing 215ft tall chamber you walk through on your way to a huge sinkhole. Just try to ignore the cheesy tourist tram you have to take to the cave entrance.

Inside Rio Camuy

Giant sinkhole in the caves.

We made a brief pitstop in the sleepy town of Lares, which is famous for one thing - ice cream! Heladeria Lares had a number of delicious flavors. It was a nice refresher before we caught the sunset at a beach on the west coast and finished driving to our motel at Joyuda Beach.

Sunset on the beach.

When they said our hotel was "on the beach," we didn't know this was what they meant!

The next morning we made a quick stop in the city of San Germán to see some of the old colonial architecture. The city was founded in 1573, and although a lot of it is in bad repair there are a lot of neat buildings left, including a couple of the oldest church buildings in the United States. For a few hours we had some beautiful sunny weather before the rains moved back in.

Church of Porta Coeli

San Germán

San Germán Christmas decorations

After our brief stop in San Germán, we made our way to Ponce, which is the second biggest city in Puerto Rico. It's a little bit run-down compared to San Juan, but it still has some interesting sights and an excellent art museum.

Streets of Ponce

Museo de Arte de Ponce

Parque de Bombas, a historic firehouse

Baby got back.  Puerto Rico is very colorful!

Our final stop before San Juan was El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the US National Forest System. It's a lush mountainous jungle, replete with snails and waterfalls. Oh yeah, it's also very hot and humid. We just had time for a quick hike, but we'd love to return to this park.

Posers

El Yunque

Rain forests of El Yunque

La Mina Falls

Our final stop was San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico. It's by far the most developed and richest area of the island. It has a beautiful (though touristy) old historic district on a peninsula. Because it was established in the early 1500s, San Juan is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States. The narrow streets, colonial buildings, forts, and bustling restaurants and shops create a very attractive urban environment. We had some fantastic food (and drinks!) and got to stay in a unique loft apartment. Unfortunately it was mostly rainy while we were in the city, and of course very hot and humid.

Condado Beach in San Juan.  The surf on the Atlantic side of the island is pretty rough.

Delicious mofongo

Lazy cat

Castillo de San Cristóbal

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery

Parrot!

Juan Ponce de Leon's tomb in Catedral de San Juan Bautista

A little bit of sunshine on our last day!

Puerto Rico is a fun place to visit. There's a wide variety of things to do - in just a few days we went kayaking, swimming, spelunking, hiking in the rain forest, and explored both historic and modern cities. It's also very easy to get around because it's a US territory, so there's no need to exchange money and it's simple to rent a car and book hotels.  If tropical islands are your thing, then you should consider giving Puerto Rico a visit!