Puerto Rico

The 'boys' lounging in the boat

Our stay in Puerto Rico stretched from our expectation of a week – or maybe two – into a month. This was due to two separate waves of company – first my (Cathi’s) parents and then Doug’s two adult sons - each pair for a week with a week in between. And while this meant some extreme reorganizing of the quarter berth to convert it from the ‘garage’ it had become back into the guest berth it was meant to be, it also meant we’d have the chance to get a really good ‘feel’ for Puerto Rico...which we did...and loved it!

flowering trees

We spent the first week completing some boat jobs, exploring Fajardo and re-provisioning. Dave and Leslie from s/v Vivace were anchored nearby so we shared a rental car with them for a couple of days and took advantage of the chance to delve into Puerto Rican cuisine at a local restaurant called Estacion (the station), an old service station converted into a restaurant. The food was excellent and gave us our first taste of mofongo (a national dish made from fried plantains mashed with garlic and olive oil so the plantains line the pestle they were mashed in leaving a hollow cylinder in the center to be filled with your choice of steak, chicken, pork or seafood) and tostones (green plantains fried, squashed and refried until crispy).

The back roads

Once my parents arrived, aside from seeing the sites, it was a culinary extravaganza. Among the most memorable: alcapurrias (mashed plantains stuffed with ground beef), bacalaitos (thin cod fritters) and meats flavoured with sofrito (a sauce made from cilantro, onions, garlic and peppers), varieties of rice and bean and – of course – pina colada. We also discovered a delightful new ‘sipping’ cocktail called cocotazo made from vodka, Frangelico and cream of coconut over ice with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top. Yummy!

The Old San Juan wall

El Morro

Puerto Rico has a diverse spectrum of tourist attractions and with two sets of company to ‘show’ around the island we got to enjoy most of them twice. Among the highlights were El Morro, the fortress rising 140 ft above the sea guarding the headland of San Juan Bay built to defend against attacks by sea and Castillo de San Cristobal, a stronghold with 150 ft walls made up of a labyrinth of tunnels, moats and dungeons, intended to defend against land-based attacks – both in Old San Juan, the original Spanish Colonial city of narrow steep cobbled streets made of iridescent bricks called adoquines (originally used as ballast in ships) and lined with buildings with bright pastel facades and wrought iron balconies surrounded by a 20 foot thick wall.

 

 

Cueva Clara

At the other end of the spectrum is El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rain forest covering the islands eastern mountain range and dotted with waterfalls and natural swimming pools and the Cavernas del Rio Camay, one of the world’s largest cave systems the highlight of which is Cueva Clara the largest cavern (170 ft high) containing enormous boulder-like stalagmites and views of the Tres Pueblos sinkhole (650 ft wide and 400 ft deep) and the raging Rio Camuy far below. And while both these natural wonders were spectacular, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring - and getting lost – on the back roads enroute.

Ponce

Representing technological wonders was the Observatorio de Arecibo, the largest radio telescope in the world – a 1000 ft wide dish built over a gaping sinkhole – most memorable for its role in the James Bond movie “Goldeneye” and its focus on SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence).

We also ventured to historic Ponce on the southern coast were the mountains gave way to farmland.

And of course there was no way we were going to miss the beaches...

Hawksbill turtle

The desire to lounge on the palm lined Balneario (public beach) de Luquillo with calm water and white sand was in direct conflict with the need to find out which of the kioscos was selling whatever it was that smelled to heavenly...but nothing could eclipse the powder white sand beach and spectacular snorkelling on the island of Culebra.

El Yunque

 As our month drew to a close with the departure of Doug’s ‘boys’, although we were looking forward to new adventures we knew we were going to miss Puerto Rico...where plantains seemed to be part of every meal, lizards were the Puerto Rican version of squirrels and the sounds of salsa were rarely out of earshot.