Last week, Steve and I visited Puerto Rico for the first time. I was exceptionally excited about this trip because not only was it a place I'd never had the chance to visit before... but it's also where my maternal grandmother was born and raised. My father recently bought a condo on the beach outside of San Juan, in Loiza. I had never heard of this city - and to be honest with you the city itself wasn't exactly memorable. It kinda reminded me of Hialeah. BUT, all that being said, it had one of the most exceptional beaches I've ever been to.
The sand was powdery white and the water was crystal blue. I'm used to the brown waters of lovely Cocoa beach, so I was impressed. We spent a late afternoon at the beach and I snapped a few pictures of the sun setting. I've never really appreciated the beach until this trip. It's always been a nuisance to me - the sand getting stuck in my bathing suit, and the awful sun burning my shoulders. I've made a resolution to not only "sunbathe" at the beach... I'm getting in the water.
Steve spent our time at the beach playing around with my brothers and just basically being "nature boy." He climbed a tree, taught my brothers how to open a coconut and surf waves. It was a great afternoon and for once I didn't want to leave the beach.
On our second day in Puerto Rico, we went to El Yunque National Forest. Our goal was to find a waterfall and swim in it. Simple enough - right? WELL we did find our first waterfall pretty easily. It was just a couple of kilometers into the park and right off of the main road.
Steve promptly jumped over the barrier and we snapped this shot of him in front of the small waterfall. There really wasn't anywhere for us to hop in for a swim though. We asked the cashier at the nearby gift shop where we could find a larger waterfall. She told us that just a few miles up the road there was a trail that would lead us to the second and larger waterfall. So we hopped back into our car and drove up another few miles 'til we spotted the beginning of the trail. We parked our car in the adjacent lot and set out on the Big Tree Trail.
Now I was expecting a bit of a walk - but it was actually much more strenuous that I expected. We hiked in just under a mile... which sounds easy. However, it was on a steep and sometimes slippery and narrow path on the side of a small mountain. I consider myself fairly fit - but I was panting at some points. We were determined though and were greatly rewarded with a beautiful sight after our 30 minute hike.
The waterfall was just a little larger - however, there was a pool at the bottom of it. We stripped down to our bathing suits and hopped in. It was icy cold but really refreshing. I tend to be a little more reserved and uncomfortable when it comes to nature... but of course, my Nature Boy husband was all about it. I had a really good time watching him scale all the rocks and climb into the different areas of the waterfall.
Our next day was spend taking a drive over to the Cuevas en Camuy (Caves in Camuy). Unfortunately, we didn't do our research and were only allowed to see the sinkhole. The caves have apparently been closed since January because of a tragic accident. A tourist visiting from California was hit in the head by a rock and died after visiting the main cave. It kind of made me nervous and respectful of the danger of a place like that. Despite that, we had a fairly decent time and got to see the entrance to a really gorgeous (and creepy) cave.
We were a little disappointed (and I felt really selfish for that... based on the reason it was closed) by not being able to see the inside of the caves. There was also a lot of family tension going on that day - I won't even go into that story as it deserves a whole entry of it's own. It was hot and we were all irritated by the inexplicable amount of lane closures on the highway in Puerto Rico. It took us a few hours to get home and we were basically ready to crash.
The next day, Steve and I took off and went to the beach at Dorado. We actually had never heard of this city until we saw a picture of someone snorkeling in the most astonishingly blue water on the cover of one of our travel books. (Thank you Frommer's!) We looked in the index and found out about this little beach town. We left fairly early that morning - glad to be relieved of the family tension and opressing heat of my Dad's condo. We found the beach and were pleasantly surprised - all locals! I hate touristy areas and when I travel it's my personal mission to find where the locals go. That's the way to experience a place.
Anyway, we scooped up one of the last parking spaces still available adjacent to the beach and grabbed our snorkeling gear from the trunk. We meandered down the beach and through numerous barbecues and family gatherings. I told Steve that I loved how going to the beach was a "family affair" for the Puerto Rican's. I noticed that when you go the beach here in Florida, you will no doubt see groups of girls sunbathing and guys playing volleyball. At Dorado, there was none of this. Each group was a family - portable play pens and all - and everyone had a grill and coolers full of great looking food. I loved it. I wished that I could mosey up to one of the families and enjoy the day with them.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this lovely beach. We left our camera in the trunk and spent a few hours swimming out past the shallow reef to go snorkeling. The highlight of my day was being able to swim in the midst of a school of brightly colored, tropical fish. I saw a number of different fish and sea life and quite possibly the one of the largest brain corals in existence. It was a liberating experience to float above all of this beauty.
We were really excited after our gorgeous day and decided to take a ride into Old San Juan. We parked our car next to El Morro (the Spanish fort that hugs the ocean at the corner of the city). We spent a little time walking through the big, open grass field next to the fort. There were tons of families (again - LOVE the closeness of the hispanic families) flying kites and just relaxing. Steve and I found the place we wouldn't mind being buried.
I tend to have a hard time just sitting still and enjoying the atmosphere. Fortunately for me, Steve is one of the few people in this world who can get me to just sit down and take it all in.
The sky was blue, there were families all around, we had not a care in the world on this day. That's what traveling should be about!
After spending a while there, I decided that it was absolutely imperative to have a
piragua (snowcone). We found a street vendor and grabbed a couple. We then started to just wander. Our first night in San Juan, we really had wanted to find the historic part of the city where there was some nightlife going on. We failed miserably though - it was like 100 degrees out and we were totally in the wrong part of the city. This day really redeemed that experience for us though. I completely fell in the love with the colonial Spanish part of town.
Now granted, I am probably biased because
I love anything that even remotely reminds
me of Spain. I couldn't stop taking pictures. I also fell into my "reminscing mode" where I can't resist thinking of how much I miss my Espana! All that being said - I really, really love the architecture of Old San Juan. I've always been an "architecture nerd" though. I rather take pictures of buildings than anything else.
The streets were narrow, cobblestone, and hilly. Steve and I found a few cute little shops before we we started to feel the exhaustion of the busy day. We wished that we had more time to spend eating dinner at one of the little restaurants in the city, but reassured ourselves that next time we're in Puerto Rico we will dedicate much more time to this part of the city.
We had to head out to meet the family for dinner... but I managed to snap a few pictures of the colorful Spanish colonial buildings:
Our last day in Puerto Rico was spent on mainly touristy exploits. We visited the Casa Bacardi Visitor Center and indulged in our two free rum drinks. I learned a lot of useless information about the history of the Bacardi Rum business and drank a Mojito. Rock on.
What can I say? I'm a classy traveler.
All in all - we liked Puerto Rico. We also realized that we had just scratched the surface of all that it has to offer. We hope to return sometime soon and find a few more "hidden" treasures (like Dorado!).
