All about Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico, translating from Spanish as a ‘rich port’, is located in northeastern Caribbean and is only 9104 square kilometers in size.
Local people are called Puerto Ricans, or, sometimes, Boricuas in the colloquial dialect, which means ‘native to Boriquen’, which was islands original name.
Locals use the term ‘la isla de encanto’ which means ‘island of enhancement’ and it really is, as we happened to experience.
Puerto Rico is unincorporated US territory located in the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. There are plenty of beautiful beaches to admire and they are all different.
Our trip
We arrived to Puerto Rico one day before Christmas and stayed in Condado Area.
What surprised us was the weather. Even thought it wasn’t a rainy season (usually it is from May to November) and the temperature was hot (30C or 86F) there were rains every day, sometimes 5-7 times a day, however, they lasted for couple of minutes, so it didn’t disturb us at all.
We have decided to experience as many local attractions as we could.
Old San Juan
Old Part of San Juan is absolutely beautiful. It is a combination of shops, museums, open-air cafes, restaurants and bars, elegant homes and plazas. It is a quite place in the morning and happening at night. We found it very easy to find good cafes and bars. They are all different and stylish.
You can move around Old San Juan on foot or use a trolley, which is free of charge and takes you to all historical spots.
Suggested places to see are Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Castillo de San Cristobal,Paseo del Morro and Puerta de San Juan.
Don’t forget to eat at Calle Recinto, shop at Calle San Francisco, visit local bar serving home made rum Casa Melaza, dance at la Placita, try local food at Antojitos del Callejon, Turkish at Restaurant Istanbul and if you are up to burgers, then we suggest you go to El Hamburger.
Cueva Ventana
Official website: http://cuevaventanapr.com/
Cueva Ventana, or ‘Window Cave’, is situated in Arecibo Valley.
It is a short hike to see the caves and there are two of them that you can see as a visitor. You will find cave drawings, lots of bats and might get lucky to see a little snake- Puerto Rican Boa, which is a constrictor and is harmless as a hatchling.
At the end of the hike you get to this breathtaking beauty of the Cueva Ventana.
We took a tour to see Cueva Ventana, which cost us 99 dollars each. If you arrive with your own transport it will cost you 19 dollars to enter. Helmets, flashlights- provided and guide provided.
If you travelling by car you will have to find your way to the Texaco gas station on the PR-10 freeway where you will find the directions to the trail entrance. You don’t need to make booking if you are coming in less that 20 people.
Following is the short video from our trip to Cueva Ventana
El Yunque
Official website: http://www.elyunque.com/about.html
EL Yunque is the only rainforest on the territory of USA. It is very peaceful and mountainous. There are hiking trails which lead you to different destinations within the rainforest, like La Mina Falls, Juan Diego Falls, Roca el Yunque.
We have purchased a tour for El Yunque for 79 dollars and our suggestion is to go there by yourself, which is pretty much possible if you rent a car or get the taxi to bring your there.
We liked the tour, however there was not enough time to spend in the rainforest- we were given 1,5 hours for a hike and a swim in La Mina falls.
Following is the little video from our trip to El Yunque sub tropical rainforest.
Toro Verde
Official website http://www.toroverdepr.com/
Toro Verde is perfect destination for adrenaline seekers.
This adventure park has the longest zip line of 1.446 km and 260m high- La Bestia (The Beast)- which is an absolutely tremendous experience.
This was our first time zip lining and it all started from lower and shorter zip lines. There are a total of 9 of them. If you haven’t done it before then not to worry as starting from the lowest one you get more comfortable until you reach The Beast. The whole ride on The Beast takes about 40 – 60 second. Actually, depending on your body weight. The heavier you are- the quicker you go. You can even do The Beast with you friend on the parallel zip line. There are cases when people got stuck on the zip line, but friendly staff is always ready to help.
Prices for this adventure differ depending on what package you take. Apart from zip lining the park offers Toro Salvaje Tour (Wild Bull) which is a combination of suspension bridges, zip line and a rappel.
Following is our video from Toro Verde Adventure:
Bioluminescent Bay
There are several bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico: Mosquito Bay on Vieques Island, Fajardo and La Parguera. Most of the tours offer the trips to Fajardo or Mosquito Bay, but Condado Vanderbilt Hotel offers their own bespoke tour for the hotel guests- trip to La Parguera. And this is the one we took.
We were driven for couple of hours to the destination and then we embarked on a little boat which took us to the mangrove habitat where we spent late afternoon swimming in blue clear Caribbean water. When it got dark we started moving to the bay where our swimming in bioluminescent water was going to happen.
The photos of the bioluminescent bays that we see in the Internet are taken with long exposure when the camera is stable. When we arrived to the bay bioluminescent bay, at first, we couldn’t see any glow. Things changed when we jumped into water. It looked like we were swimming in glitter. People on board of the boat could see some slight luminescence, the faster we moved- the lighter it became. It was a great experience, however, it was not exactly what we see on the photos in the magazines and the Internet.
KEYWORDS:
RENT a car
STAY in Vanderbilt Address: 1055 Ashford Avenue, San Juan, PR 00907, United States
DRINK at Casa Melaza Rum Boutique Address: 74 Caleta de San Juan, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico
EAT Istanbul Address: 325 calle Recinto Sur, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico