To be honest, I was not very enthusiastic about this trip as I wanted to go to India and the idea of staying in 3 places over a period of 9 days sounded like all we will be doing is unpack and pack.
We beat the NY snow storm and flew into Aguadilla airport. We drove through Mayaguez and picked groceries on our way to Guanica- our first destination. Nothing impressive. Copamarina beach resort was located at km 6 on route 333 - the GPS took us to km 0. Drive to km 6, which never seemed to end was uphill on a small winding road with branches hitting the windshield and it was pitch dark. The walk to our room was gruelingly long. We ordered grilled veggie for dinner and they gave us 3 pieces of zucchini, one slice of bell pepper and 2 slices of tomatoes and charged us $ 22! I was at a melt- down point and went to bed without eating dinner. Kal resolved to check us out the next morning and drive to San Juan and find us a hotel there.
The next morning the view from our room was breathtaking- palm trees and the blue ocean beyond the blue swimming pool. During the next 3 days at Guanica- we visited the beautiful Gilligan Island with clear blue water and mangrove trees. We tried snorkeling there; there were fishes all around us in the shallow water too; hiked in the Guanica dry forest reserve this was lined with cactus mixed with tropical trees; spend time lazing on the beach and in the calm waters of the bay, the swimming pool overlooking the ocean and the Jacuzzi; drove out to Ponce and took a tour of the city.
We drove through ‘Ruta Panoromica’ to our next destination: Cieba. Our hotel was a cozy place hidden by tropical trees in the middle of the mountains. The hotel offered us freshly picked fruits and coconuts, a hammock to laze on, the coci frogs crying out “Coci coci” all night long and we made friends with afamily from Wisconsin. Here we drove out to the El Younku forest and hiked to the El Mina falls. Arushi walked through half of the 2 km long hike while singing” Old Mac Donald.. eeeya eeya oo” all the time and hollering hi to everyone we passed. The densely vegetated rain forest reminded me of the Jurassic park movie and I was expecting a dinosaur to walk- out of the thicket anytime. Our brief stop at the popular Luquillo beach was a little disappointing as it was dirty and nothing spectacular like the guide books suggested.
We visited Old San Juan on our drive to Isabella- our final destination. We liked the Cristobal fort more than the El Morra fort. The Indian food at Tantra was worth the long walk through the town. The ocean view from the Cristobal fort had us mesmerized. The drive to Isabella was packed with un-wanted adventure- we got lost and had a flat tire at a road lined with rowdy looking drunk people at the street restaurant on one-side and the roaring ocean waves at the other. A good- hearted security guy (who spoke English!) working at one of the sea facing apartments helped us park in the apartment and change the tire for us.
Our room at Isabella opened right onto the Playa Montana beach; which is the Northwest corner of the island. This shoreline has the Caribbean sea and the Atlantic ocean. It was like 2 different beaches meeting at a point. One side had grainy sand and the other had soft fine sand. There was a huge rock at the corner and huge waves from the ocean crashed from the two sides and merged into each other in front of the rock. The effect was like a natural shallow Jacuzzi in front of the stone. We pretty much gawked at the waves for the better part of the 2 days. The water was so clear- I went into it till I was immersed waist-deep and I could still see the bottom, then a HUGE wave would come and I was in water till my neck for a few moments till the water rescinded.
Over the days I have fallen in love with this small island called Puerto Rico. The place has its downside- with the vegetarian- food, language, bugs and the sun burn issues. If they all spoke English; had more vegetarian food and gave one of us a decent job; I would move there. Sunny skies; clear blue ocean - calm in the bays and wild waves on some shorelines; mountains and valleys- dense with varied vegetation: deserts, mangroves and tropical rain forest; cozy bright colored homes lined with palm trees; Small winding roads with no lanes marked and stray chicken, cattle and dogs roaming around; people on horses on the streets; Coconuts, pineapples, star-fruit, papaya, banana and passion fruit fresh from the trees. What else do you need to make a home other than your family! I still wish I would have gone to India instead; but I am immensely glad Kal took me to experience this new place his way and refused to just book a pre-planned travel package for convenience and cost. Lucky me! But, there was still so much more to do there- I wonder if we ever extract all that a place has to offer when we ‘Vacation’ there. Maybe not, but it is ok- as far as you had a good time and experienced something new.
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