My Solo-Rican Adventure: An Existential Journey

Ever since I turned 16, my car has been a symbol of my independence.  It gives me a freedom that I have sorely missed in Puerto Rico.  I decided to rent a car and take a drive around the island on my own.  I hadn't seen the west coast yes, so I planned a drive through the central mountains, up the west coast, and back across the north.

Seth dropped me off to pick up my Jeep Wrangler on Saturday morning.  I left Rio Grande around 9 am and drove about an hour and a half to the Coamo hot springs.  Here, geothermal water is the source for two pools that where geriatric locals made the majority of the clientele.  I soaked the warm water of one of the pool feeling the cool mountain breeze around my shoulders.  I felt relaxed and detoxified.  After about 20 minutes, I was ready to get on my way.

Coamo Hotsprings nestled in the Central Mountains

Unlike the cloudy north coast, the sun shined brightly on the south side of the island.  Before leaving Coamo, I removed the roof panels from the top of the Wrangler.  With the sun on my shoulders, I drove a long the south shore through the dry forest to Cabo Rojo on the south west corner of the island.  I had read that I would have to park my car and walk about half an hour to the beach and lighthouse.  But I just kept driving as far as the road would let me and ended up parking right at the coast! I followed a trail up to the lighthouse on the hill.  The bright blue-green water of the Caribbean Sea lapped against the limestone cliffs.  I couldn't resist taking a dip in the water when I hiked down.

The Cabo Rojo lighthouse 

Playa Sucia in Cabo Rojo

On my drive out of the park, I stopped at the visitor center.  Two artisans and a conservation worker were inside and I chatted with them for a while.  The tipped me off to a bar in Rincon, where I was headed next.  After taking a few pictures of the salt flats, I pointed the Wrangler north and continued on my journey.

Clouds had been moving towards the west, and the rain started just as approached Rincon.  I pulled over at a gas station to reattach the roof panels.  I was a little bummed, but it would be getting dark soon anyway.  I found the bar that the people in Cabo Rojo recommended.  It was actually an open air bar in the Villa Cofresi resort.  I ordered coconut shrimp to snack on and a "Pirate Special": Coconut water, rum, and a little cinnamon served inside the coconut!  It was the perfect Caribbean drink.  I enjoyed my  treats and watched the storm from my beachfront stool at the bar.  I let my drink settle and finished my shrimp then drove through the rest of the adorable little surf community, stopping to take pictures of the lighthouse and beautiful coastline.

The bar at Villa Cofresi

Snack time!!!

It was almost 6 pm when I departed for my last destination in Isabela.  The sun was setting, and I wondered if I would have enough light to find El Pozo de Jacinto.  Along a rocky coast is an eroded blow hole.  Local legend says that a cattle herder named Jacinto lost his favorite cow down this hole.  He went in after the cow and both died.  If you yell into the hole in spanish "Give me the cow," water will rush in and push the straight up and out.


Curvaceous roads led me to the coast in Isabela.  I parked at a resort and ran down to the beach.  I was too far.  I doubled back and parked at a campground.  The sun had set and only a little twilight was left.  I jogged down the beach and scaled the craggy landform.  Waves crashed against the side of the rock.  I don't know why I was so determined to find it.  Its just a hole in the ground.  But I was.  I needed to find it and yell into it.  Finally, there it was.  A giant hole open to the ocean.  With no one around me I screamed at it, "¡Da me la vacaaaaa!!"  The waves may not have been strong enough that night to return the cow.  But at that moment, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be in my life.  No more, no less.

Sloped side of the rocky coastline.  This sign told me I probably shouldn't go up there...  but I did anyway.

Waves struggle to return the cow from El Pozo de Jacinto

I celebrated with dinner at Sonia Rican, a beach front restaurant that was featured on No Reservations.  I claimed a stool at the bar facing the beach and ordered an iconic Puerto Rican dish... Shrimp stuffed mofongo.  I washed my food down with a Medalla while the waves crashed on the shore behind me. Anthony Bourdain was right; food tastes better when you aren't wearing shoes.

My delicious celebratory dinner

It was the perfect end to my trip.  I drove back to El Verde in the dark feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the final stretch of my time in Puerto Rico.

Mom and Dad Visit Puerto Rico: Part 4

Monday was my last day with my parents and probably my favorite day of the whole weekend.  We read about a nature reserve on the south side of the island called Bahía de Jobos (insert brief uncontrollable laugher ;) )  The bay is part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System that includes sites all over the United States.  It includes an extensive mangrove forest, and I was so excited to explore them.  We drove around the east coast to get there.  My parents got a taste of the poorly marked, narrow mountain roads that are all too common in Puerto Rico.  After a few wrong turns and back tracking, we finally found the reserve in Aguirre.

There were only a few short trails at the reserve.  Record rainfall had flooded most of the trails last year, and the reserve was in the process of rebuilding them.  Still, the open trails made me feel like a kid in a candy store.  They followed the coastlines to backwater canals, all lined with mangroves.  I geeked our telling my parents about the different adaptations of the various species.  New kayaking trails were also being built around the bay.  I was disappointed that they weren't open yet.  Kayaking though the mangroves would have been a blast!

Red mangroves on a canal in Bahía de Jobos

One of the guides in the visitor center told us to check out the trails on the other side of the bay.  The trails are at a campground that was closed due to budget cuts, but they are still in good condition.  A large part of the trail is a boardwalk that winds though the mangrove swamp.  And the mud flats were loaded with tiny crabs that burrow in the ground.  As we walked past, we could hear their little feet scurry across the leaves back to their holes.  Mangrove ecosystems are so fascinating to me.  They were the inspiration for my senior thesis, and hopefully I'll work in a mangrove swamp someday.

A large stand of Black mangroves

Tiny crabs living in the mangrove roots

Late in the afternoon, we drove back through the central mountains.  We ate dinner at El Verde BBQ at the bottom of the hill to the field station.  Our meal was delicious.  It was a wonderful end to our weekend together.  My parents were leaving Tuesday morning, so they drove me back to the field station and said our goodbyes.  It was so wonderful to show my them the island where I have lived for three months.  I'm so happy that I got to share a few adventures with the people who have always supported my endless wanderlust.

Mom and Dad Visit Puerto Rico: Part 3

After a long day of driving, my parents and I decided to spend Sunday relaxing in Luquillo.  First we grabbed breakfast at a local bakery. I introduced my family to quesitos, a flaky, sticky pastry that I love.  We took our time and wandered down the beach to a calm area inside a barrier reef.  My dad and I snorkeled around in the shallows for a while then swam out closer to the reef.  During my time in Puerto Rico, I've had the pleasure of snorkeling in some incredible sea grass beds and coral reefs.  I have to admit, the reef in Luquillo was a little underwhelming.  The water was more turbid, and the reef was severely bleached.  But my dad seemed to have a lot of fun looking for fish in holes and crevices, so I was happy :)

Early in the afternoon, storm clouds rolled in from the east, and the waves swelled.  When it started to rain, my dad and I swam back to shore.  My mom was still on the beach and I felt bad that she was caught in the rain.  She had her towel wrapped around her head like a babushka.  But she smiled and waved at us, and I had to laugh.

Rain clouds over the ocean

Rainbow following the rainstorm

The rest of the afternoon we bummed around Luquillo.  We ate a late lunch, wandered through a few souvenir shops, then brought ice cream back to the hotel.  The rest of the night was low key.  We listened to the rain and planned our excursion for Monday.  All of the sight-seeing has been fun, but tonight was nice to just hang out and relax.

Mom and Dad Visit Puerto Rico: Part 2

On Saturday, we drove to the west side of the Island to visit the Aricebo Observatory, home to the world's largest satellite receiver dish.  The observatory is in the middle of karst country, eroded limestone formations shaped like haystacks.  This landscape was perfect to build the receiver.  A sinkhole depression was they perfect size, and they didn't need to do any digging.  The large dish reflects signals into another receiver that is suspended above, and the signals travel through fiber optic cables to a lab on the other side of the hill.  One of the main projects is the search for intelligent life elsewhere in outer space, but several other important discoveries have come from the observatory.  I knew my engineer dad would think it was really cool, but we were all impressed.  The dish was was also featured in a James Bond movie.  That's right... its Goldeneye!

Goldeneye!

My mom and me being a little silly

We stopped in Old San Juan on the way back from Arecibo.  It was the frist time I had seen the city in the daylight.  The colonial Spanish architecture is really pretty.  My mom said that's how she imagined streets in Europe.  There are also two old forts on the north coast.  We walked around Castillo de San Cristobal.  The views of the ocean were beautiful.  I was amazed by the size of the fort.  It seemed like you could easily get lost below ground!  After getting a pizza from Pirilos, this great Italian place, we walked to Castillo San Felipe del Morro.  It was a breezy evening, and the park was filled with kids flying kites. We watched the sun set behind the fort.  The coast of Old San Juan was stunning at night.  It was a great end to the day.

Old San Juan as seen from San Crisobal

El Morro soon after sunset

Old San Juan at dusk

Mom and Dad Visit Puerto Rico: Part 1

After along day of traveling from Chicago, my parents finally made it to Puerto Rico.  Thursday evening, they navigated their way from San Juan to El Verde.  I gave them a quick tour of their station before leaving for Luquillo.  It was a beautiful night to have dinner on the patio at Boardriders, and our hotel was just a couple blocks away.  The Luquillo Sunrise Inn is an adorable bed and breakfast.  Each room has a balcony facing the Atlantic Ocean.  At night we left balcony door cracked open and could hear the waves crash on the beach.

The view from the hotel room

Friday morning I was surprised to sleep in!  For as many family vacations as I can remember, my dad wanted us awake at the crack of dawn.  Now he was the one dragging his heels!  After breakfast we explored the touristy part of El Yunque.  Several vistas and short trails dot an eight-kilometer road that winds up a mountain.  Past waterfalls and overlooks, we found ourselves in the cloud forest.  At the highest elevations, the mountain is almost constantly topped with clouds.  We walked through a thick mist to a lookout tower.  At the top, the clouds broke just long enough to take a picture of the coast before they encompassed us again.  The gray mist in the mountains made me feel like I was on the edge of the world.

My dad and me at Coco Falls

On the Mt. Britton Tower in the cloud forest

After a day of hiking, we relaxed at the hotel for a bit before our nighttime adventure in Fajardo; a kayak tour of the bioluminescent bay.  The bay has perfect conditions to support tiny aquatic creatures called dinoflagellets. When disturbed, these microorganisms emit a blue-green light, similar to the way fireflies glow.  Only a handful of these bays exist worldwide, and three of them are found in Puerto Rico.

The tour started at the harbor in Fajardo.  The biologists guided us across the harbor and into a mangrove canal.  Under the mangrove canopy was pitch black.  Barely any moonlight made its way through the leaves, and I could only see the lights on my parents’ kayak ahead of me.  I glanced down at my paddles as I moved them through the water.  Faintly, I began to see trails of light as paddled.  The trails became brighter and brighter the closer we got to the bay.  We emerged from the canal into the calm lagoon where the biologists talked more about the dinoflagellets. Then we got to paddle around the bay on our own.  I couldn’t believe how bright the bay was as we moved through the water.  Its subtle beauty amazed me.

Our group paddled back to the harbor through the mangrove canal.  When we pulled off to the side and let another tour group pass, we could see the tiny creatures spark as they bumped into the mangrove roots.  It reminded me of shooting starts or fireworks.  Back at the harbor, my parents and I shared a chicken pincho (read: tasty grilled meat on a stick) as a snack after our adventure. Then it was back to Luquillo for the night.  Not a bad start to our adventures at all!

Festival del Tinglar

On Saturday, the town square in Luquillo hosted Festival del Tinglar.  It's a celebration of the sea turtles that nest in the beaches along the northeastern shore this time of year.  Like the other festivals, this one was flooded with artisans.  I bought a stained wood burning of a coqui that will look great in my next living room (where ever that may be).  Outside of the artisans and pincho stands, there were several tents with information about conservation efforts in the Northeast Ecological Corridor.  Unfortunately, I didn't spend much time in the tents since my Spanish is still pretty rusty.  But they did a nice job of having a variety of interactive displays and activities for kids to learn about the animals in their own backyards.  Community support is so important to achieving conservation goals.  Outreach programs like this one help build awareness within the community, encouraging them to feel a deeper connection to their environment.

We spent a few hours at the festival and then had a couple beers at Boardriders.  All day different bands played on a stage at the festival, and we were sticking around to see the headliner, Cultura Profetica, a Puerto Rican reggae band.  To be honest, I didn't really feel like staying for the show.  I was tired and it was getting cold, windy, and threatened to rain.  But I didn't really have an option.  I was at the mercy of our driver and the rest of the group.

No one really knew when the band was supposed to take the stage.  In true island fashion, everyone had a different answer.  We wandered back to the town center as they finally started their sounds check.  That was when the shit hit the fan.  The winds picked up and crazy gusts started blowing the rain sideways.  What was once a sea of people quickly became huddled masses as people took refuge under tents and umbrellas.  Crew members covered the giant amplifiers with plastic bags, and I wondered if they would have to cancel the show.  I was just thankful that I had at least brought my rain jacket.  Finally, the rain calmed down and the show started.  Although I didn't understand any of the Spanish lyrics, I actually really enjoyed show.  I was glad that we stayed, soaking jeans and all.

On an Island in the Sun

For the last two weeks, we planned on taking a big group trip to Culebra, one of the two smaller islands off the east coast of the main island.  The wan was rented.  Our bags were packed.  But Friday morning, just hours before we planned on leaving, we sat in the conference room debating if the trip would be worth it.  Relentless rains had barely let up all week.  Normally the coasts are much clearer than the mountain, but it had been raining heavily at the bottom of the hill too.  The weather service had forecast a fifty-percent chance of scattered showers in Culebra.  Some people were concerned about camping in the rain, but I was looking forward to this trip so much that I was willing to brave a little rain.  Thankfully we decided to take our chances.

Seth drove us to the ferry in Fajardo, where cloudy skies still spit at the earth.  We bought tickets and waited to board the ferry.  Before anyone embarked at all, the ferry pulled away from the dock!  The ferry was sitting too high in the water for cars to drive up the ramp, so it left to top of the fuel tanks and hopefully weigh it down.  With rain still plaguing the coast, we finally boarded.  Some of us stayed on the top deck to watch the cars load via the dangerously steep and slippery ramp.  It was impressively entertaining.

Surprisingly, the little Corolla had no problem with the ramp, unlike the black Toyota near the bottom which took three attempts and at one point we were pretty sure it was going to roll its self.

Just before leaving port, the sun broke through the clouds.  I was relieved to see a break in the weather. An hour later, we approached the dock in Culebra. The low angle of the sun reflected off the few clouds left in the sky, casting a gorgeous array of color over a sailboat-dotted bay.

Welcome to Culebra!

We found a shuttle van near the port to drive us and all of our gear to the campground on Playa Flamenco.  We picked a campsite and got our tents set up just before the sun dipped below the horizon.  The clouds had cleared, and we took a walk along the shoreline under a nearly full moon.  In the moonlight, the crescent shaped beach was one the the most tranquil places that I have ever been.  The sand felt soft under my bare feet.  The waves lapped gently at the shore.  Chris, Rachel, Sheffin, and I sat on the beach a little while longer after everyone else went to bed.  We barely spoke to each other.  Words seem unnecessary.  Vast expanses of water always have a way of hypnotizing me.

I slept surprisingly well that night.  Unlike our last camping trip, I didn't freeze!  The temperature was delightful.  In the daylight, I finally saw how picture perfect Playa Flamenco is.  A white sand beach adorned with palm trees hugs the cerulean blue bay.  I'm not surprised that it ranks among the top beaches in the world.  It was perfect for a morning swim and lounging in the sun.

My morning walk on Playa Flamenco

After a quick lunch, we walked over a mine field to Carlos Rosario beach.  That's right.  Culebra was formerly an uninhabited island used by the Navy for target practice.  A few tanks still stand on Playa Flamenco where they practiced amphibious landings including training for the invasion of Iwo Jima.  The trail to beach is guarded by a sign warning of potentially unexploded munitions in the area.  I decided not to stray too far from the path.

Festive paint job on one of the tanks at Playa Flamenco

Sheffin in the Danger Zone

Playa Carlos Rosario is gorgeous, and a lot less crowded than Playa Flamenco.  outside of a couple families, we were the only ones there.  Some of us snorkeled through the breathtaking reef that ran along the coast.  It's a much different habitat than the sea grasses in Guanica.  Fan, elkhorn, and brain corals create a forest on craggy offshore rocks with ample hiding places for colorful tropical fishes.  Andy and I snorkeled around the point of the bay to a deeper part of the reef.  I caught a glimpse of of something huge out the corner of my eye.  It was a sea turtle!  We watched it glide effortlessly through the water; then we headed back towards the beach.  What we didn't realize was how strongly the current flowed around the point.  Fighting the current on the way back exhausted both of us, but just finding the sea turtle was well worth the swim.

Playa Carlos Rosario

We packed our campsite late in the afternoon before catching a shuttle back to the ferry. Sheffin and I had unofficially declared this weekend "MicSheffles Fest" in honor of our upcoming birthdays.  While we waited for the shuttle we had a couple of rum drinks to celebrate.  With an icy beverage in my hand, I finally felt like I was on a true tropical adventure.  We returned to Fajardo after a pretty uneventful ferry ride.  I don't know if I'll have a chance to go back before I leave, but visiting Culebra again in itself would be worth the return trip to Puerto Rico.  One night was far from enough.  I'm so glad we made the trip happen and can't believe we almost cancelled it.  All over a little rain that never came.