William and I decided to spend our last week of 2012 in the neighboring island of Puerto Rico. We had our reservations about PR when we were planning a December trip. William wasn't sure how we would get around because the transportation systems did not seem reliable and honestly, to me PR was like traveling in the states...and on top of that we all know I'm not a beach girl. We soon decided that PR wasn't really for us. Not soon after that, I learned of one of the world's most magnificent wonders: the bioluminescent bays. These bays contain one celled organisms called dinoflagelellates that light up when something disturbs their cell walls. SO basically, they light up when you interact with them. How the heck do they light up? Exactly what I wanted to know. They get their light through photosynthesis. So, on sunny days, they absorb light and at night time they give it off when something irritates them. After learning about this, I HAD to see it for myself. As excited as I was, my expectations for it were low. We saved this activity for the last day of our trip.
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| Condando Beach |
On the day we arrived we were able to grab a cab quickly. When we climbed in, the elderly man looked at us suspiciously from his rear view mirror. Then asked me if I was a teacher. Shocked, I responded that I was and asked him why he thought that. He explained that he was a cab driver in NYC for many years and learned that Indians were very intelligent, and therefore made the presumption that I was a teacher. No joke, ask William if you don't believe me. Ah, stereotypes. We traveled to Condando-the part of San Juan we were staying in, only to find little Miami. This place was glitz and glamour. Our hotel was next to a Cartier and a Salvatore Ferragamo. We ignored the over priced stores because we were next to a stunning beach. Condando Beach sported crystal blue waters, rough waves and some hard bodies that ran up and down it at all hours of the day. We watched those runners often, usually from the comfortable seating at Ben and Jerry's. The water was cold, but the weather was perfect. There were high rise condos everywhere, and a street that could compete with 6th for busiest night life. It was a bustling, and frou frou part of town, we didn't complain.
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| Colorful Old San Juan |
The next morning was Christmas Day. We had looked into what all there was to do and were fearful that everything would be closed. During the day we decided that it would be smart to go to Old San Juan so we could get a good look at the buildings without the crowds. Smart thinking. We were able to get some great pictures of the area without having to dodge other tourists and cars left and right. The cobblestone streets, colorful homes, and unique doors give this part of the city a very romantic and charming feel. The city has great European influences, and of course American influences because luckily Starbucks was open. Christmas miracle! We walked around and looked in some of the cute shops, ate a yummy snack and headed back to Condando to get some rest and get ready for our Christmas dinner! I had been looking online everywhere about Christmas Day meals in PR. They described a traditional Christmas meal included roast pork, mofongo, rice and beans, plantains and cojito. Cojito is homemade eggnog spiked with rum. When we arrived at our hotel, there was an advertisement for a little, local restaurant that would be serving Christmas dinner. That night when we went to Orozoco's for dinner we were not disappointed. We ate everything listed above and rice pudding that tasted like a gooey, delectable mix between rice and bread pudding. Good times. After we devoured our meal we walked some of it off at the beach.
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| Traditional Christmas Dinner |
The next day we went back to Old San Juan, this time to see the old forts. These forts were like any other, and none really compare to the ones in India. They had big heavy doors, underground tunnels, cannons, hideouts, etc. Whatever. I'm a huge history buff, but forts don't do it for me. BUT, the views from the fort did. The views were breathtaking. You could see the coastline clearly and the sparkling water. In fact you could see the other forts from the one you were at including the historical and colorful neighborhood of La Perla settled in between the two forts. Most importantly, it had beautiful views of the city and the ocean. I wouldn't have minded being the lookout guard from the forts back in the day. The fun part about the forts was that you could climb up and take pictures and feel as though you were on top of the world. I sat on top of the forts for a while. I even took a jumping picture at the edge of the top of a fort that made a bunch of Asian tourists gasp in disbelief!
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| La Coca Falls and La Mina Falls |
After soaking up the warm sun of Old San Juan we decided to head east towards Fajardo. We rented a sporty, red Toyota Yaris and set out. On the way to Fajardo is El Yunque Rainforest, a popular destination in Puerto Rico for eco-tourism. Getting there was pretty easy. The roads in Puerto Rico are very similar to the ones in the US, which makes driving a familiar affair. El Yunque is just a short trip from San Juan. Probably the best part of El Yunque is the admission price: free. You won’t find too many other US National Parks that are free to enter, so passing up this park would be a crime. There is a lot to explore in the park, with numerous hiking trails and points of interests, but we decided to focus on the biggest attractions. There are a number of waterfalls in the park. Some are right off the main road through the park, others require a short hike. The first fall we visited was La Coca Falls. This was easy to get to because it was right off the road. You could not get in the waters of this fall, but you could climb up the side, so that is what we did. After climbing half way up and taking a few photos we decided to continue on. The most popular waterfall is La Mina falls. It’s a moderate 35 minute hike off the main park road. The hike offers a couple of nice views of the surrounding forest, and is well covered by the tall trees. The last part of the hike is all down-hill, and it opens up into the bottom of a rock face with a rushing waterfall that empties out into a large natural pool. The pool drains out a small rocky creek that continues on down the mountain. William and I took a couple photos of the waterfall, and then decided to jump in. The water was fresh and icy cold. After the waterfall we also visited the Yokahu observation tower. It’s an old stone tower with a winding staircase to the top. It offers great views of the entire rainforest and coastline and it’s a nice place to spend a few minutes looking down on the nature below.
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| Luquillo, PR |
After hiking the rainforest we were ready for some R&R. On the way to Fajardo you pass through a small city, Luquillo. It is a very small, unnoticeable city that happened to have the prettiest beach we saw while we were in PR. We followed local signs toward the beach until we were lost in a random neighborhood. While driving through it, we could tell we were getting closer to the shore and then out of nowhere we found this stunning beach. Because it backed up to a local neighborhood, there were no tourists and it was pretty much hidden. We parked on the street and kicked off our shoes and jumped the little seawall. It was a lovely little beach and I hope we can remember how we got there for whenever we go back.
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Google Earth Map of kayaking adventure |
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| Mangroves before night time |
We saved our biggest adventure for last. The bioluminescent bay! We arrived at Fajardo and went to the beach. When we arrived at the beach we saw the biobay tour company setting up kayaks... in the ocean. I've been kayaking several times, but never off a beach in the ocean. After about an hour of training all the old people how to kayak and rescue yourself if you flip, we were ready to go in the lagoon to see the glowing waters of the biobay. Luckily, William was in Texas Crew and is a 100% capable of kayaking against the tumulus waves of a windy evening on the ocean. I helped too! Once it was finally time to get going we got in our kayaks and worked hard against the waves to get across the beach to what seemed like a forest. Once we got to the forest, we had to get our kayaks in a single file line. This was way easier for some than others (easy for us!). As soon as we were in a line, the guide had us kayak into a skinny little path covered with trees. We were finally going into the mangroves. The waters went from choppy waves to still waters. Even though it was night time and a full moon, no lights could be seen because now tree branches were creating a tunnel and blocking out all light. In the map above you can see where we started off. Pure Adventure on the map is where the kayaks got set up on the beaches. We kayaked left into the greenery and you can see the black line through the greenery. That is the path we took into Laguna Grande, the giant lagoon where the bioluminescent bacteria live. But they're not just in the lagoon, they're in the canals as well. We probably paddled a mile or so through the still waters of the mangrove. This experience was so amazing and kind of spooky. You had to be careful because it was pretty dark and there were twists and turns, and the mangrove trees were sharp. About ten minutes into the groves I started noticing that every time my paddle hit the water, it lit up. I tried to point it out to William, but he didn't notice too much (I blamed it on his color blindness) and said he didn't want to flip us over, so he kept focusing on getting us through the mangroves. Then, it became more obvious when I decided to stick my hands in the black waters (it was dark, not really black) and all of a sudden it looked like the water had electric sparks and my hands lit up under the water. When I showed William, he suddenly showed some interest. We turned into little kids, slapping the water and splashing it everywhere. Of course, we couldn't stop rowing because we still had not reached our final destination: Laguna Grande. When we did arrive, it was breathtaking. We went from small tunnel-like pathways covered with trees above to an open, still black lagoon. Our guide told us to stick our hands in the water and we couldn't believe our eyes. The waters glowed and glimmered. He brought us all together and gave us a science lesson of how the bioluminescent bacteria actually work and stuck his legs in the water, hanging off the kayak, and when he moved his muscular legs around you could see how deep in his legs were because all of the water around was glowing. We hung out splashing the water for about an hour. I discovered that I could cup the water in my hands and throw it down on my legs and the water would glow on my legs. Eventually, William made me stop this so our entire kayak wouldn't be filled with water. Finally, when it was time to go I decided that PR is definitely a destination to return to because I cannot get enough of the bioluminescent bays. I wish I could describe in full detail what that experience was like, but you will just have to go there and see for yourself!
