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A cheap airfare
sale led to eight days in our island territory to escape cold weather. Taking
the fold-up bikes and renting a car, we made our way around the circumference
of the 120x30 mile island with a few detours into the interior mountain ranges.
Going to Puerto Rico is simple since no passport is needed, $USD is the
currency and the majority speaks English. The temps rarely vary from highs of
low 80’s and lows of low 70’s with plentiful breezes from either the Atlantic
or Caribbean Oceans.
The first two
nights were on the nearby low-key beachy island of Vieques via a one hour ferry
ride. For me, much of traveling is about experiencing “firsts”. This “first” is
about kayaking at night under a New Moon (no moon) in a bioluminescent bay.
Vieques has the best bay for that purpose with its 20’ mouth and glowing waters
caused by glowing micro-organisms. In our glass-bottom kayak, we paddled out with the group until we reached the glowing waters. Sticking in a
paddle, a hand or feet, we watched the sparkle of the bioluminescent waters
illuminate with a bright glow. A small school of fish going by lit up the
surface of the lagoon with small apostrophes as they went past.
Vieques is also
a quiet little island great for cycling its country roads and stopping along
the way to snorkel. Underwater we viewed the brightly colored fish, a sea
turtle and many spiny urchins. Another unique fact, wild horses roam the island
although they are not actually wild. These small Spanish heritage horses have
owners, lazy owners that allow the horses to forage freely. So along with
seeing the iguanas scamper across the roads, horses graze along the roads and
beaches leaving behind their smelly “piles”. Impressive was when proud owners
hopped onto their well-trained horses and strutted through town with their
fanciful gait somewhat similar to a Tennessee walking horse.
Back on the
Puerto Rico mainland we traveled clock-wise, saving the city of San Juan for
last. We were never far from the sounds of crowing roosters or blaring Salsa
music. Excursions inward to the central mountain region had us driving on
narrow, curvy roads under huge arches of bamboo. Driving to heights of 5,000’,
we admired the limestone karsts cliffs and fresh-water lakes.
Back on the
coast, we stopped in the historical towns of Ponce and San German to walk the
city streets, admiring 300 year old Spanish architecture. The southwest tip of
the island brought us to Cabo Rojo with wonderful coastal roads to cycle. The
northwest tip of the island was timed with fabulous surfing waves pounding
against the coast.
Staying in a
popular tourist area of San Juan, near the beach, we were quite impressed with
the safe and plentiful cycle lanes. San Juan has a surprisingly beautiful coast
with both plentiful beaches and pounding surfing waves. Exploring historical
Old San Juan with quaint buildings and brick streets we toured two integral
Spanish forts that successfully sustained 300 years of multiple attacks by
France, England and the Dutch. Thanks to those successes, the U.S. was able to
negotiate the ownership of Puerto Rico away from Spain when we beat Spain in
the Spanish-American War.
Experiencing new
foods is an important part of travel and Puerto Rico was no disappointment.
With a focus on seafood, every meal was a treat. The deep-fried Snapper was
worth repeating. The smoked, brined and braised rabbit was unique and
delicious. Puerto Ricans have a unique dish of Monfonga which is a mashed plantain
and carb dish (yucca, potato, cassava) formed into a basket then filled with a
protein of seafood, beef or poultry. Our lobster & scallop filled Monfonga was
delicious and certainly not something we will re-create at home. Ice cream is
named “helado” and our favorite was the street vendors serving “Coco” which is a
low-calorie coconut and coconut milk.
Let’s not forget their popular drink of Pina Colada. It’s everywhere,
either virgin or, my favorite, with spiced rum.
Puerto Ricans
are happy, friendly folks and they love entertaining. Yes, Puerto Rico is worth
exploring.
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