Puerto Rico: The Vacation

And so we've returned.

Absolutely awesome vacation.
Here's the recap:

Day One
Arriving at the Andalucia Guest House

We left Newark at 9AM on Friday morning, after a twenty minute delay for the de-icing of our plane. We arrived San Juan around 2PM. Gray clouds were all over the sky (although it was clear and sunny high above them) and we drove our rental car ten miles west to the guest house in the rain.

I had found the Andalucia using Trip Advisor months ago. The reviews said it was in a great residential area, walking distance to the beach, far from any touristy-spots, and offered good clean rooms for a reasonable rate. Totally what I was looking for.


Local tropical greenery was everywhere. To my left was the hot tub and behind me was the lobby and front desk area. Our room was on the ground floor. The picture below was taken from the reading deck on the second floor. The trees along side me peek out into the open air. You can see Conadado's large resorts in the background.


A Night Out in Old San Juan
After some fancy out-of-town driving, we found a cheap parking garage, and headed out on foot through the streets of Old San Juan. The rain had let up and we were both eager to try out some authentic Puerto Rican food. Here we are at Cafe Puerto Rico. Jim had the octopus mofongo and I tried something called 'crab meat stew'. His dish was, by far, the best one we had during the whole trip. Mine... well, someone forgot to remove a few of the crab shells, and I had to eat very, very carefully. Hard to do when you are famished. The plantain sticks were delicious with balsamic vinegar topping.
Jim stands across the street from the Cafe. We returned here on our last night in OSJ and had a table outside (much warmer temperature and better for people-watching).

Old San Juan was still decorated for Christmas and Three Kings Day, which had just passed the week before. Although many of the souvenir shops were closed after six at night, we could still feel the vibe of the city (through the pulsing beat of the cars bumping up and down the roads). On our last day we spent over two hours searching for a stuffed animal that would say something in Spanish. Lesson learned: don't promise your preschooler something so specific. (Apparently, everything is imported from English-speaking countries. T ended up getting an overpriced stuffed coqui frog keychain. We convinced him that the chirping sound was what Spanish-speaking frogs made.)

Day Two
Kasalta

Ahhh... just typing that word and looking at these pictures makes my mouth water. Kasalta is a bakery located one block away from our guest house... which made it the essential place to get breakfast at every morning. They had sandwiches, soup, tapas, desserts, scrambeled eggs and toast, and enough liquor to keep you going until they closed (not sure what time...) We typically stopped here for quesitos before retiring to the hot tub each night.

The older gentlemen pictured below seemed to be regulars. They called themselves "NewRicans", as they all hailed from the tri-state area, and seemed to be spending their retirement on the island. We had a few good talks, including discussing the "chilly weather" ("I had to sleep with a sheet on!") and the safety of the city (regulations requiring casinos to have emergency evacuation plans). Check out the size of their coffee cups-- that was totally the norm.
Almost all of the native people we saw there were NOT overweight, yet most of the popular foods available were fried. I attribute this to portion control.


Aquafari Culebra
Kayaking Puerto Rico is a tour company that got rave reviews on Trip Advisor. The Aquafari Culebra tour seemed right up our alley: kayaking and snorkeling. Part of the reason we chose to rent the car was because we'd need to drive an hour from San Juan to the eastern part of the island and take a ferry from Fajardo to the smaller island of Culebra. This was supposed to be some of the best snorkeling around. We certainly did have a great time, but due to high wind and waves, we didn't go to the 'best' spots around the island. Fine by me, as I didn't want to get swept out to sea...


I have no idea what I'm holding up in the above picture. But after Jim reads this post, he'll remind me. (UPDATE: an urchin. Duh.)
Below, I allow a creature of the deep to actually CRAWL INTO MY MOUTH. Yup. Promptly after this picture was taken, I dropped it into the water. (UPDATE: small starfish)

Waterproof cameras are really fantastic for above the water shots, but don't hold up so well once underwater. We got a few good ones here of the two of us doing sumbersaults... it was hard to get close enough to get great fish shots.



Day Three
Mucaro Canyon Rainforest
Thank you, Acampa, for creating one of the best eco-friendly tours we've ever been on. This half-day tour began with the two guides picking us up at our place at 7AM and then driving us 40 minutes into the central part of the island, on the border of the Carite National Rainforest. We followed the muddy trail through the rainforest, up waterfalls, over slippery rocks, and around all sorts of trees.


Our guides- Raymond and Josue-- knew everything about everything. Snails, like the ones above, were all over the place. Below, Jim tries out some termites. (Yup. Jim ATE the termites.) Acampa was truly a wonderful company. Our guides took the time to learn our names and repeatedly asked us if we were enjoying ourselves. Jim and I appreciated their respect for the environment and preservation of the local ecosystem.


Once we reached the top of our mountain, we took five different zip lines down. The feeling was exhilarating! Above is a picture of me rappelling along the side of one cliff. We felt totally safe the entire time and definitely enjoyed the experience. A big thanks to Raymond for taking these FANTASTIC pictures. Jim up and joined Facebook in order to be able to view and save them.

Jimbo on the Zip Line from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

Our small group consisted of five journalists who had been paid by Puerto Rico's travel commissioners to come to the island, experience it, and then go back to write about it. They represented countries such as Curacao, the Bahamas, the UK, and the US.

The hike took place on private land, adjacent to the rain forest. The owner's name was Kike-- he was cooking dinner in a big pot over an open flame in his outdoor kitchen when we finished our excursion. Our guides had lots of fresh island fruit for us to eat-- tiny bananas, oranges, tangerines, mangoes... "Just throw out the peels downstream when you're done."

Cock fighting is very popular in these parts, if not throughout the island. Kike had probably fifty different chickens in individual cages lining this driveway up the hill. It's considered a "gentleman's sport", due to the fact that bets are placed based on one's word, rather than recorded. Strange, that they take such good care of them and stake such pride in them... and then allow them to go bonkers on each other, fighting to inflict pain... sounds a lot like some other sports I've seen.

Villa Kike from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

Nabbed this picture of the sleeping journalists. Couldn't blame them, as most got in on a red-eye flight just a few hours before. You can see on Chester's face the orange dye. Raymond gave us this plant seed which was used as a natural insect-repellent. Jim also put some on his arm and it stayed around for a day or two afterwards.



I noticed that just about every Puerto Rican around had a tattoo. Maximum exposure when you don't have to wear longer clothes in the cold weather. I dared Jim to get one-- maybe even one of those fancy fake ones. But those were actually harder to come by. You know what wasn't hard to find? Birth control! Apparently Condom World is a popular chain store out there, just like Burger King, Sizzler, and Walgreens. I believe this is a good reason why most families seemed to only have one or two children, both of whom were laid-back and quiet. Or maybe that was just the chill island vibe...

Day Four
Old San Juan
San Juan is known as "the walled city". The stone that Jim is standing next to was first built into a wall in the sixteenth century! Our original intention was to check out a possible restaurant for dinner (which was beautifully located but unfortunately closed), and we ended up just roaming the streets and stumbling across the historic highlights of the city.

As this site states: "The Puerta de San Juan (San Juan Gate) was built in the late 1700s, is one of six heavy wooden doors in the wall which for centuries were closed at sundown to cut off access to the city and protect the city from invaders. The wall is up to 20 feet thick and up to 40 feet tall. "

Old San Juan was definitely the most urban part of the island. But the fact that there were colorful buildings, beautiful balconies, and tourists everywhere made you forget this fact. Jim and I took our time roaming the cobblestone alleys and taking in the views.



Day Five
Ocean Park Beach
Flight didn't leave until 1:30, so we were out on the beach by 8 (after a quick stop to Kasalta for breakfast, of course). Clouds be damned, we sat on the beach, alone for quite some time.

"A bad day at the beach is still better than a good day at work." Right?
HERE

"Hey Guys, We're In Puerto Rico!" from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

Clouds lifted and I tried in vain to get rid of some of the tanlines I'd accquired the day before. Note to self: sitting outside during high-sun time with halter-top bikini produces severe tanlines; avoid if you're going to be wearing a strapless bridesmaid gown in four weeks.


And then it was over.
We both felt very relaxed and are still enjoying the after-effects of that relaxation today. The shells above will find a new home in our bathroom, I'm sure, after T gets a chance to sort them. I made sure to bring home a loaf of bread and some pastries from Kasalta. The authentic jellies that we had purchased for our parents were confiscated by security, so they ended up getting cookies and magnets from the kiosk in the airport.

Kids were very, very happy to see us both. We were equally happy to see them.

"Don't even THINK about leaving me, momma."


***
The earthquake hit Port-au-Prince and other areas around Haiti, just hours after we'd left the region. As I watch the news coverage, I am taken aback by how much destruction has happend to this island land of such natural beauty. I'm thankful that we had a chance to explore that part of our world, and I keep the people affected by this tragedy in my prayers.