Puerto Rico, Nov 2021

Puerto Rico, Nov 2021

After Greece, we visited Puerto Rico in Nov 2021. Covid restrictions were still present in many parts of the world; and since Puerto Rico is a US territory, we were not restricted in traveling over the seas to Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island, for the nice sun, sand and sea waters.

The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno people’s numbers went dangerously low during the latter half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare.

Puerto Rico (Spanish for ‘rich port’) was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain’s final outposts. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded by, and subsequently became a possession of the US. The Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, (but with limited rights e.g. residents of PR could not vote in US elections) paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico’s Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the U.S., remains an anomaly. As a  Commonwealth, and unincorporated territory of the United States, Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indian reservations as they are not sovereign entities. Each state (like Texas, Florida, California, etc) has a sovereignty separate from that of the federal government). Politically and economically, the territories are underdeveloped. Residents of U.S. territories cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, and they have only non-voting representation in the U.S. Congress. According to 2012 data, telecommunications and other infrastructure in the territories are generally inferior to that of the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Poverty rates are higher in the territories than in the states. So Puerto Rico (PR) is like a poor step-child of the US, so to speak. With roughly 3.5 million residents, Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish significantly predominates. In 2017, PR was hit be several hurricanes, and Hurricane Maria wreaked significant damage to the island, and power was out on the island for 5-6 months.

We flew into San Juan, the capital of PR. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521 and is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, which was founded in 1496. In San Juan, Condado area and Old San Juan (El Viejo San Juan), together with the Castillo San Filipe de Morro and Castillo San Cristobal are the most popular spots for tourists along with the vibrant night life. We stayed in the Condado area at the Marriott San Juan & Stellaris Casino hotel, where we found very good rates as they needed the tourists. Below are some pictures around Old San Juan.

We then checked out Castillo San Cristobal and Castillo San Filipe de Morro (or El Morro) in the old part of the city; below are images from these well preserved Spanish fortresses.
The Castillo San Cristobal is the largest Spanish fortification built in the New World by the Spaniards.

The Castillo San Filipe de Morro fortress was perhaps the most iconic fortification built by the Spaniards starting in 1530. It is a 6 level fort that was built and added onto, in over 250 years. After the Spanish-American war of 1898, the American were victorious and took over the island, and it was a US military base during the world wars. In 1949, it became a US National Park Historic site and a World Heritage site. Some images from outside El Morro below

After 2 days in San Juan, we left to explore the rest of the island in a rented car. We drove eastwards towards Luquillo and then headed south to the El Yunque National Forest; located in the Sierra de Luquillo mountain range (3,500 ft above sea level). This forest is the only tropical rainforest in the USA, but it is also a sacred place in Puerto Rican culture. Many believe its name comes from the Taíno word Yuke, or “white earth,” a reference to the clouds that gather around the forest’s mountainous peak. Unfortunately for us, being a rainforest, it rained heavily when we drove there with no let up. We did not stop here due to the rain; some pics below of the rainforest

We kept driving from El Yunque to the town of Cayey and being late afternoon, we were looking for a dinner place, but all restaurants and cafes were strangely closed. We then realized that it was Thanksgiving day and being a public holiday, all places were closed. Before panic could close in, we found the “Peace N Loaf” café open but about to close. They had some decent menu items but the only item they had left for us to eat was some pasta, rice and some veggies. We were very thankful for what we received.

After our Thanksgiving dinner, we drove into the Sierra de Cayey mountains; we had booked a mountain lake cabin for the night while we were at the Peace N Loaf cafe. Roads into the Sierra were dirt roads and quite narrow; so driving was a little treacherous. Some scene below

We had a not-so-restful night due to the thousands of frogs croaking all night right outside our cabin 🙁 , and this strange insect/animal sounds coming from just under our cabin; wonder if anyone can identify the source of this sound (insect or animal)?

We drove back to the highway at Cayey for breakfast, and then drove onto Ponce. Thankfully, the rainy weather has moved on. On the way to Ponce we stopped at Banos De Coamo for a thermal baths break. The Thermal baths were actually very clean, nice and refreshing in the 2 natural thermal pools they had.

We arrive in Ponce and checked into the Holiday Inn, where we decided to stay a couple of nights. Some views of Ponce below as we explore the town.

We then drove to the west coast to Playa Buye (distances in PR are not big) to go to one of the better beaches on this Caribbean island. The beach was well used by locals, and had shallow, warm water, nice sandy beach and lots of trees for shade. And the sunset was spectacular here over out dinner at a restaurant shack on the beach. Some views below

After Plaza Buye, we drove to the southern part of the island to La Parguera; which is where some wonderful bioluminescent pools are located. Bioluminescent bays or “bio bays” are bodies of water where microscopic marine organisms called dinoflagellates grow in quantities large enough to produce a “glow-in-the-dark” effect called bioluminescence. When you paddle or splash the water, these organisms shine in a neon blue-green color, making the water look as if it was lit by billions of glowing stars. We took a night boat tour here to a secluded bay, and witnessed and experienced this wonderful spectacle of nature.

When we got there, a member of the team (all University students) jumped into the water and as he swam, there was a glow of the with light as the dinoflagellates got disturbed; the effect is quite surreal; we had never experienced anything like this before. Photo’s did not come out good here due to not enough light, but a short video came out good enough to show the mesmerizing effect

Mesmerizing Bioluminescent Bay

After this amazing experience which we were fortunate enough to witness, we drove back to Ponce. Another wonderful nature experience chalked up.

Late dinner that evening with live music in Ponce

Next day, we drove north from Ponce along Hwy 10 towards the center of the island, to Adjuntas, a small mountainside town of 20,000 people on La Ruta Panoramico. The reason for coming here is that this region grow some of the best coffee in PR, and there are 1,400+ coffee farms in this area and we had planned to visit one of these.

We then drove along route 135 westward from Adjuntas ,a secondary road, and soon after the town of Villa Perez, we branched off into a tertiary road that went into the farms, one of which was the Sandra Farms Coffee, where we were headed. The roads were unpaved, and quite narrow, wide enough for 1 car, and it had just rained in the mountains, so muddy. We did not have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and so we gingerly and slowly made it to Sandra Farms Coffee.

At Sandra Farms, the Arabica coffee plants are grown on the steep sides of the hills so difficult to walk amongst the coffee trees They process all their own coffee. We were given a tour of the coffee plant and the processing of the coffee, followed by a tasting. The video below shows the elaborate way to make coffee used by those serious about their coffee.

How to make coffee properly

After the tour, we drove back to the main road, and back to Ponce. Next day, we left Ponce to drive back to San Juan; this time we went north on Hwy 10 past Adjuntas from the previous day, and stopped further north in Utuado town for lunch

Next stop was just after Aricebo on the north coast of PR, at a nice beach at the small beach town of Jarealito

Then we drove to San Juan, where we stayed at a Marriott Courtyard be the airport; again, great rates as they needed the business during Covid.

That evening, we drove to the barrio of Santurce, the most happening area of San Juan. And we were not disappointed, this area was around the Mercado de Santurce with many, many bars and restaurants all around, with loud and live music everywhere, lots of people enjoying and dancing on the closed off streets. It was very lively and a lot of fun.

Santurce hip neighborhood

More lively music and dancing

Next morning, we went back to the Santurce area, and the whole place had been thoroughly cleaned up, with no evidence of any of the partying the night before. We came here to do the obligatory visit to the market, the Mercado de Santurce; some scenes below.

After a wonderful week in PR, it was time for us to return to the mainland USA.

Thoughts on PR; how did we feel?

I believe this beautiful island of the United States is highly under-rated and ignored. It has everything from nice sandy beaches with turquoise waters, to mountains and the only tropical rain forest in the US. It has wonderful Spanish Colonial architecture with lots of rich history. It has nice vegetation where everything grows, to magnificent bioluminescent bays. It has good food & relatively cheap especially off the beaten path. It is a feast for the senses, and great weather. And the issues with lack of electricity and basic infrastructure is over. Well worth visiting, especially for US residents/citizens as it is on our doorstep. We did not notice any mega-resorts a-la-Cancun; so don’t expect to get that type of vacation in Puerto Rico; instead go there to enjoy the local vibe.

And the people were all very nice and very helpful even though many did not speak English. One thing we did notice is that in addition to enjoying partying, the locals like loud music; and I mean very loud music. Once, we were driving behind an SUV in the countryside, and windows were all closed due to having the AC running. And the SUV in front of us (also with all windows closed) had very loud music playing inside such that you could see the vehicle shaking. Not only that, but it was so loud that our car, behind the SUV, was also shaking with all their loud bass 😊. Another life experience to chalk up 😊 .

Our trip through Puerto Rico

This entry was posted in North America, Puerto Rico, USA

• Puerto Rico
• Spain