During the first week of February we traveled to Puerto Rico for a vacation.
We stayed at Palmas Del Mar Club Cala, a time-share condo on the east coast of the island, in the town of Humacao.
This was a really big unit.FIRST FLOOR laundry, SECOND FLOOR kitchen, dining and living area and porch, THIRD FLOOR two bedrooms and two baths, FOURTH FLOOR loft bedroom, and one more level to a roof top porch. There were a lot of steps to keep us in shape.
On the first day, we took our little red Ford Focus to El Yunque (JUNE-kay), Caribbean National Forest. This is the only Tropical Rain Forest in the National Forest system.
The Forest's main visitor center, El Portal, is just inside the entrance. An elevated walkway takes you into this beautiful open air structure. The forest which takes it's name from the 3,533 foot mountain peak with the same name covers 28,000 acres. El Yunque was designated in 1903 by Teddy Roosevelt.
We took a moderately difficult hike on Big Tree Trail through the rain forest. Annual rainfall is extremely heavy and exceeds 200 inches per year. Hundreds of streams pour down the mountainsides creating falls and pools. The rain forest receives more than 100 billion gallons of rain per year. We took our rain gear along, but the sky was clear and blue that day.
Reaching La Mina Falls, we took a short rest and then returned to the trail head. Birds such as tanagers, woodpeckers, cuckoos and the very rare Puerto Rican Parrot inhabit the forest. The vegetation is so thick you can hear them, but they are hard to spot. Coquies, tiny inch long tree frogs fill the forest with their high pitch two-note chant, which resemble the singing of their own name.
Sometimes called the "Gibraltar of the Caribbean", El Morro was one of the stops on our walking tour of Old San Juan. This massive fort started in 1533 was the largest ever built by the Spanish in the New World.
Six levels of impressive batteries rising 140 feet out of the sea provide a beautiful harbor view. A network of ramps and stairways connect the levels.
El Morro repelled attacks against the Bristish, Dutch and French for over 300 years. This fort, active through World War II, protects this deep water port of San Juan. Most of the massive fortifications were built between 1589 and 1660. This fort was captured during the Spanish American War in 1898 when the island became a U.S. Territory. Now we can all enjoy it as part of San Juan National Historic Site.
Here we are afforded a view of San Juan, standing on top of Castillo San Cristobal, another Spanish Fort in Old San Juan. The first shot of the Spanish American War in Puerto Rico was fired from this fort.
After completing one of the best city walking tours we have ever taken, we decided to eat at a true Puerto Rican restaurant. Punto de Vista, across from the cruise port, was highly recommended. We reached the restaurant in time for happy hour and enjoyed a couple of Mojitos while sitting outside. Punto de Vista, meaning viewpoint, claims to have invented the Mojito. For dinner Kurt had Mofungo (baked plantain shell) stuffed with shrimp and Virginia enjoyed a Churasco (marinated skirt steak).
On Tuesday we took an all day drive around the perimeter of the island. We visited Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge located on the southwest corner. This 773 acre refuge was added to the system in 1999.
The limestone cliffs of Cabo Rojo rise straight out of the sea. Salt has been mined in the surrounding flats since the time of the Taino Indians.
After stopping at the visitor center we took a hike to view the salt flats and then drove out to the lighthouse, Faro de Los Morillos, built in 1881.
Driving to Ponce (PONE-say) the next day we stopped at the this quiet barren beach along the south shore.
This Old Ponce Municipal Fire Station was built in 1882. With its bright red and black stripes, it is now the most photographed building in Puerto Rico.
About ten miles north of Ponce we visited Hacienda Buena Vista. This 19th century coffee plantation estate has been fully restored and offers guided tours.
A stop for drinks and dinner at Pito's Seafood completed the day. We watched as the sun dipped below the horizon at our ocean front table.
On Thursday we visited the Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope, which consists of a 1,000 ton suspended platform, that hovers above a 20 acre dish, set in a sinkhole 565 feet deep.
This telescope is used to study deep space objects, natural radio emissions, and the planets. Hollywood has used the giant dish during the filming of James Bond's
Goldeneye and the movie
Contact.
Before returning to Old San Juan for dinner, we caught the last ferry and tour of the day at the Bacardi Distillery.
Two free rum drink tickets were provided in their outdoor hospitality area.
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Iguana in Condo Parking Lot
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Beach Access from Condo
Outside of Fajardo on the island's east coast, we arranged for a 2.5 hour guided tour of Las Cebezas de San Juan Nature Preserve. Our first stop was a boardwalk hike through a mangrove swamp seeing red, black and white mangroves. Next we stopped at a rocky beach and examined coral.
The final stop was at a castle-like lighthouse, built in 1882, one of the oldest on the island. One of the most interesting things about this area was the bio luminescent lagoon. Night hikes of this area are offered. We opted to see the bio luminescent organisms in a dark room at the lighthouse during the day.
We had wonderful weather and a great week in Puerto Rico.
