January 6 to 10, 2014. From Fajardo, to Venice, via Auburn.

Having been in Puerto Rico for 21 days, the condo felt very much like home. I had to remind myself that the incredible ocean view, warm breezes, bright sunshine, and stunning beaches of Puerto Rico were temporary and that vacations do come to an end. Although the climate and accommodations were wonderful, the best part of the trip was spending time with family, particularly my daughters and their spouses. 

              

Although our flight to Atlanta was delayed we felt fortunate to be getting on a plane as we encountered people at the San Juan airport who had been stuck there for days due to the extremely cold, snowy weather in the north. We experienced our own blast of what felt like Arctic air as we walked from the airport in Atlanta to the shuttle bus. The temperature was around 12*F; unseasonably cold for Atlanta. The car doors needed an extra tug to open as they were frozen.

The cold snap lasted a couple of days in Auburn and so we bundled up with hats, gloves, and vests to walk the dog. However, it never seems as cold in Auburn because when the sun is shining, which it is a lot of the time, it is brilliant sunshine with clear blue skies. Jackie doesn't seem to mind the low temperatures and eagerly waited for her lead to be attached each time she saw  a hat go near my head. 

Our friend in Venice had invited us to stay with her for the month of January and so after a couple of days in Auburn we said our "see you in the spring" good byes and exchanged heartfelt hugs we hit the road for the nine hour drive to Venice. My new van, "Precious" is a pleasure to drive on the highway. Unlike my Westy, it has a speedy 8 cylinder engine which can easily handle the US Interstate highways. 

                                   

We arrived in Venice shortly after 6 and were greeted with hugs and a delicious meal. It wasn't long before we changed into shorts. Ahhh...back to warm temperatures. January will be spent hanging out, biking, golf and whatever else come our way. I love retirement!

January 5, 2014. Cabezes de San Juan Laguna Grande.

  

This night tour is an ideal way to experience bioluminescence in one of the handful of places in the world where this phenomena takes place. Basically, bioluminescence is triggered by dinoflagellates, oceanic plankton which are  able to generate a blue/green  illumination when water is disturbed. Dinoflagellates are incredibly delicate microorganisms and are very sensible to the environment conditions such as balance of salt in the water, local climate, deepness of lagoon, air, light and water pollution. 

We left the nature reserve at 7 pm, seated in an 18 passenger trolley, driven by our English speaking guide, Carlos. We stopped along the way to listen to the sounds of the many Coqui tree frogs that inhabit the nature reserve. They begin to sing when the sun goes down and they sing all night long. 

The trolley took us to the Fajardo lighthouse, build by Spaniards in the 1800's. From atop this hill we could see many constellations as well as a spectacular view of the lagoon and the coastline. Our guide talked about the  light pollution and it's affects on the lagoon as well as the history of the area.

 Fajardo Lighthouse photo taken by Patti!

We walked 7 minutes along a boardwalk, mostly in the dark and ended up at the lagoon where we were given long sticks to disturb the water and experience bioluminescence. Fortunately, conditions were good and we were able to stir with our sticks and watch the water sparkle and shimmer. It was quite amazing. 

I now understand why visiting one of Puerto Rico's bio bays is a must on any tourist's list.

  The lagoon in the daylight.

December 31, 2013. A Day on Isla de Vieques.

After trying to get to Vieques by ferry last week and encountering an impossible, never ending line at the ticket counter we decided to take the 10 minute, $35 flight to get to the island. We boarded a 10 seater and after getting safety instructions from the pilot, the props were fired up and we taxied down the runway. What a fun flight. It was my first time traveling on such a small plane...so small that we were seated by weight. 

 

Vieques is most well known for its beaches. They are truly spectacular with soft white sand and crystal clear, warm water. Sun Bay Beach was almost deserted when we arrived, except for about 17 horses grazing in the field behind the beach. Nolan picked up a coconut that had fallen from one of the many palms lining the beach and was able to break it open so that we could enjoy the milk and the soft textured, sweet meat. 

  

 

After enjoying the water and lying in the sun, it was time to walk to the small town of Esperanza via the beach. Along the way we picked up a pocket fullmof beach glass. We settled on a small restaurant, enjoyed our piña coladas and waited and waited for our lunch orders to arrive. After waiting for well over an hour, two of us had to leave to catch plane back to Cieva and so were forced to cancel our order. The others were taking a later plane and got their food shortly after we left.

We were lucky to find a taxi within about 10 minutes. Back at the airport, we discovered a small open air cafe serving drinks and food. Since we hadn't eaten since breakfast we were ready to eat just about anything. Fortunately there were two local guys sitting near us. Seeing our dilemma as we perused the menu they quickly recommended the fried vegetable dumplings. We took their advice and were glad we did. 

We were again seated by weight on the flight back. After 10 minutes of spectacular scenery from the air, we landed in Cieva where Joanna was waiting to take us back to the condo. 

What a wonderful way to spend New Year's Eve.

December 27, 2013. El Yunque National Forest.

We started the day early, thinking that we could catch the ferry and go to the island of Viques for the day.unfortunately, the line for ferry tickets was very, very long and our chances of getting aboard we're next to impossible. And so, we switched to plan B and headed for the El Yunque Rain Forest for a hike to be followed by a swim at Loquillo Beach.

The El Yunque Rain Forest is a cool, mountainous, sub tropical rainforest.

The true sub tropical 'Rain forest' occupies very little area in Puerto Rico, only a single, crescent shaped, band on the windward side of the El Yunque mountains. It lies wholly within the El Yunque National Forest Reserve. This life zone is characterized by an annual total of 3,400 mm of rain. 

The trade winds blow from the north east and these mountains ( 3,500 ft elev. ) are in the north easternmost part of Puerto Rico. As the warm moist air rises when it meets the mountains and cools off, it dumps the rain...and intensifies the  wind. 

We hiked the steep Mt. Britton Trail which ended at an observation tower from which we could see the ocean when the mist cleared for a few seconds. The hike down was much easier than the trek up.

A stop at the beach for a swim was very refreshing. 

When we returned to the condo I made malanga chips. Malanga is a root vegetable native to the tropics. When I saw it Ralph's (the local grocery store) I was intrigued and decided to buy it and then figure out how to cook it. Thanks to online recipes, the chips were a hit.

Tomorrow: Seven Seas Beach.

  

December 24, 2013. Best Beaches...huh?

Sometimes it is best to take advice from TripAdvisor postings and travelers' blogs with a grain of salt. It is best to check the posting date and then be suspicious of words and phrases like "best ever" and "so amazing". We now have first hand experience with that kind of advice.

So many postings appeared about the southern side of the island when we looked up "best beaches in Puerto Rico". We certainly had already experienced some great beaches here in the eastern end and on the island of Culebra. However, we wanted to swim at the best even though it was about a two hour drive away. 

It was cloudy when we set off and it wasn't long before the torrential rain hit. However, like most rain events in Puerto Rico it passed quickly and the sun came out. We drove through  both urban and rural areas and again experienced the aggressiveness of many Puerto Rican drivers. Passing on the inside lane appears to be acceptable, as is passing on the shoulder if an inside lane is occupied. 

The scenery through the mountains was beautiful with colourful houses seemingly jutting out of those hills with cattle grazing on the slopes. Banana trees were a common sight. 

After two and a half hours of driving we arrived at Ponce where we stopped at a Burger King to ask directions to the beach. A crude map drawn on a sales receipt got us nowhere and so we asked the GPS to find us a beach. After another half an hour we ended up at a small beach at the Guanica Dry Forest. Since we expected to find white sand and crystal clear water, we were sorely disappointed. The beach was nothing spectacular. Even so, we all went for a swim and had some good laughs about being in the water after such a long drive as we watched an approaching thunder and lightening storm. 

After our quick dip we looked at the time and decided we had to get moving if we wanted to be back in Fajardo before dark. The drive back was easier than the drive down and even more scenic as we took a winding, narrow, cross country route through the countryside. (Our driver, Joanna may disagree as there was some necessary white knuckling along this route).

The driveway to our condo was a welcome sight after such a long day in the car. However, it was indeed a great Christmas Eve family outing and a day that will engender lots of laughs when one of us says, "Remember that Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico when..."

December 23, 2013. A Day in Old San Juan.

Now that there are seven of us, we have two cars. With one GPS, one car has to be the lead car and the other follows. This made for some interesting lane changes with signage not the best and aggressive Puerto Rican drivers out in full force. We did make it to the municipal parking lot with not too much effort and fortunately the tourist information centre was right across the street.

With maps and walking tour information in hand we set a meeting time and place and headed out. It was a hot day.

 Founded in 1521, San Juan is a well preserved example of what was a Spanish colonial town. Sections of the old city are surrounded by massive walls and several defensive structures and notable forts. These include the 16th-century Fort San Felipe del Morro and the 17th-century Fort San Cristóbal. The main central part of the city is characterized by narrow streets made of blue cobblestone and picturesque colonial buildings, some of which date back to the 16th and 17th century.

We roamed the streets, took pictures of statues, balconies, an above ground cemetery, forts, the turquoise waves crashing on the shoreline and even San Juan cats. I read a sign telling us not to feed the cats. Puerto Rico has feeding stations for cats and provides medical attention for them when needed. We did notice a number of stray dogs roaming the streets.

          

             

By the time 3 pm rolled around, the most important site for me was the good coffee shop recommended to us by a parks person at the fort. I had the best cappuccino ever. Puerto Rico grows some great coffee. We sat at the outdoor cafe and were eventually joined my two other members of our group...beer for them and another cappuccino for me.

The seven of us enjoyed an authentic Puerto Rican meal before driving back to Fajardo. Old San Juan is a must see if you visit Puerto Rico. 

December 20, 2013. Culebra

 Taking the ferry from Fajardo to Culebra is a great way to get to what has been described as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. The round trip fare (over an hour each way) is a mere $5. However we were warned that lineups to buy tickets are often long and that many have been disappointed to find out that they waited in line for hours and couldn't get on the boat. Although we did stand in line for about 45 minutes, once we had our tickets we were pleasantly surprised to be ushered to a very short boarding lane for the 9 am ferry. We discovered that we were moved to the first line to board because there is a special line for those traveling with small children and for those over 60 and their party. Sometimes it pays to be over 60 and this time it worked out well for the five of us. I am not saying who the agent thought was over 60. 

Boarding with the first group allowed us to get good seats on deck. These were very important seats to have on the trip as many people, especially those in the cabin, got seasick. The crew was busy handing out "barf" bags, selling seasickness pills and cleaning up after those who were sick. It was really quite funny to those of us who kept our breakfast. As he offered up "barf bags" one crew member called out, "happy meals, get your happy meals here" while another tossed a full bag in the trash while saying, "pizza sauce." 

After we landed we took one of the many buses that were taking passengers to Flamenco Beach, a absolutely beautiful beach. The water was warm, the sand was soft and white, and the temperature was just right for swimming, sunning and walking on this pristine beach. The 2,200 people who call Culebra home like to keep it this way.

   

A walk to one end of the beach revealed part of Culebra's past. A derelict US army tank sits on the beach as if ready to head out.                                                                                                                           

Lunch at one of the park entrance small concession stands was inexpensive, Puerto Rican and still remains a mystery. Although we ordered what we thought were crab and shrimp turnovers, we are still not sure what we ate.

Leaving the island involved another lineup but we were again able to get good outside seats on the ferry deck. The seas were much calmer at 5 pm and very few barf bags were distributed. Our final lineup for the day was on dry land as we stood for another 30 minutes waiting to pay for our $5 per day parking. 

After the short drive back to our condo we ate a light meal and everyone went to bed early. The sun, sand and sea has a way of using up one's daily allotment of energy. What a great tired!