In the spring of 2012 we visited the island of Puerto Rico but at the time I never really
got around to editing that video, but now I did, so...
Here's our recollection of that trip, enjoy.
Hello and greetings from Puerto Rico.
We're staying right here at the Miramar Hotel and now we're going to take a road trip around
the Island.
We are staying at the Miramar Hotel located in the historic Miramar neighborhood.
The rooftop deck offers a great view looking towards the west, the Saint Augustine Church,
the San Juan Marina; it is such a beautiful day.
Then we have this building here which is actually obstructing our view of the Caribe Hilton
Hotel.
The Condado Lagoon to the north and the Condado neighborhood to the northeast.
Let's explore the island, shall we?
Welcome to Puerto Rico.
We take the Jose De Diego Expressway towards the west of the island.
We stop by the coastal town of Arecibo, and it feels like a ghost town today.
It is early and yesterday was Easter, so people are probably sleeping late.
The main attraction lies about 20 Km inland, so we take this winding road though the mountains
towards the Arecibo Observatory.
And we have arrived.
There's a short walk from the parking lot into the place.
They have all these signs forbidding cell phone use.
I guess they have some pretty sensitive equipment in there.
The Arecibo Observatory was built in 1963, and it is the largest radio telescope in the
world, measuring about 1000 feet in diameter, and we'll get to see it soon enough after
this small exhibit we have to visit.
Yes, it is a meteorite from Mars.
How the heck do they know?
Here's a model of the telescope, and finally here's the real thing!
The giant dish has been part of the plot of many films and TV series, most notably the
movie Contact, The X Files, and one of the bond films.
TALKING
OK.
Fascinating!
And
the nature around us is quite beautiful.
Well worth a quick visit, but right now, it is time to go.
We are on our way to our next destination and Google Maps has taken us through all these
narrow and bumpy country roads.
Makes me wish I had rented an SUV and not a crappy Hyundai.
They get better after a while and eventually we arrive at the Camuy River Caverns.
There's quite a long line, over an hour wait actually, but at some point it is finally
our time to go in and we get on this tram that will take us into the Empalme sinkhole
which is where the main entrance is.
Let's just say that it was worth the wait, and here we are just scratching the surface
of this place.
This is just part of a great network of caverns carved by the third largest underground river
in the world, the Camuy River.
And this is the entrance to the Clara Cave.
The Clara Cave is a huge chamber, wait 'till you see inside but first lets take a look
outside, look how beautiful this is with all the mist and all that.
The chamber is 700 feet long and 215 feet high.
We are dwarfed by the magnificent size of this cave and its many interesting rock formations,
and stalactites, and stalagmites.
After a pretty long walk we reach the other entrance to the cave.
We find out part of the tour is closed because of safety issues.
Somehow that seems to happen too often in these types of attractions.
Here's looking back inside.
At least we get to see the muddy Camuy River at the bottom of the cave.
We go back to the main entrance through the other side of the chamber.
And it is time to go again.
We continue driving towards the northwest and end up at the town of Quebradillas.
We are looking for something to eat and luckily we found this great place.
Like they say, full stomach, happy heart.
We just ate some fabulous seafood at this place called arrecife.
And the views of the Caribbean are fabulous!
We continue towards the town of Isabela, driving along this hilltop residential neighborhood.
Apparently this town is called Comunidad Coto Isabela, so the actual town of Isabela must
be near by, and sure enough, here it is.
This lower area of the city is called Villa Pesquera, or Fisherman's Village.
It's very nice, quite modern.
We are now down by the beach area, and we see the beautiful colors of the Caribbean
Sea, and the waves breaking.
The locals chilling by the water, and at the bar.
If we hadn't had lunch already, we would have definitely stopped here for some alcapurrias.
Hmm, yum.
Look at those waves!
We drive further west by the Borinquen golf club near Aguadilla, and we descend towards
the ocean through this road.
This is Punta Borinquen, the site of the ruins of an old lighthouse, which we'll visit some
other time, not today.
We are very near the westernmost tip of the island.
I'm fascinated by the waves here in Puerto Rico, and I'm sure you've noticed by now.
Let's keep going.
A few miles further south we find Crash Boat beach, full of locals enjoying the warm waters
of the late afternoon.
We pass by the town of Aguadilla and roam some of its streets trying to capture snapshots
of daily life.
A little further south we get to Aguada, which is a little further inland.
And we continue in the southern direction into the town of Rincon, its motto: "the own
of the beautiful sunsets".
They are having some kind of religious procession celebrating Easter.
We also stop by this place called Maria's beach, apparently very popular with American
surfers.
In fact, many of the beaches in this area are considered some of the best for surfing.
We have a couple of authentic Presidentes at this bar, which actually is more reminiscent
of some place in the Florida Keys than Puerto Rico.
By the way it is not a myth, the Dominican Presidentes do taste better than the ones
available in the US.
We continue, as we want to experience the sunset at the Rincon lighthouse, located at
Punta Higueros, Puerto Rico's westernmost point.
What a beautiful place this is.
And of course the surfers are here too.
This beach, Domes beach is also very popular with surfers.
The mysterious island we've been seeing in the horizon is Desecheo Island.
It is uninhabited, and a National Wildlife Refuge although at one point it was used by
the army for survival training.
The reef around the island is a very popular diving spot.
And here's another view of the famous Domes beach.
A rainstorm lurks in the horizon.
The green dome you see was originally the site of a small nuclear reactor.
It hasn't functioned since 1968.
Well, lets go back to San Juan, shall we?
We spend the last few hours of our vacation in the islands capital city.
As we arrive we see the Morro Castle in the distance, a staple landmark in Old San Juan.
To our left the Capitol building.
To our right the historic community of La Perla, supposedly notorious for its high crime
rate and lack of police presence but I wouldn't know because we didn't visit.
There's a real bad traffic jam as we approach the epicenter of Old San Juan.
We park at an underground lot under the Quincentennial Square Plaza, also called Plaza del Totem.
We decide to explore the Morro Castle grounds.
Many people are flying kites and everybody seems to be having a great time.
Besides, it is such a beautiful afternoon.
Right next door we encounter the Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, the final resting
place of many prominent Puerto Ricans even dating back to the colonial times.
It sits overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, right outside the fortress walls.
On the other side of the cemetery the aforementioned La Perla neighborhood, which despite all the
warnings, I intend to visit the next time I come to the Island.
As night falls we return to the Totem.
The square commemorates the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus.
The 40 feet tall totem was designed by Puerto Rican artist Jaime Suarez, and the youngsters
seem to be having a great time at the fountain.
We decide to enjoy some of the nightlife.
A little bit of Don Q rum here and there, if you know what I mean.
We walk along the streets of old San Juan at night, passing by the San Juan Cathedral.
They are having some kind to activity celebrating Easter.
Then we take a stroll along Paseo de la Princesa and at the end we find the Raices Fountain,
raices meaning roots.
Completed in 1992 it also commemorates the 500th anniversary of Columbus arrival.
And the cruise ship has left.
There was some kind of fair earlier but it looks like it is winding down... and, guess
what, so are we.
With this we are going to say good-bye to Borinquen, the Island of Enchantment, for
now.
We shall return soon.
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Oh, by the way, if you like all these road trips, here are four of my best ones, for
your enjoyment.
As always thank you for watching and see you on the road.
Bye, bye now!