Welcome to the
Jacobs' 2014 Adventure
May 28 – Aug 2

Tuesday, May 27 – Wednesday, May 28, 2014
WE SURVIVED!

The view from our balcony

Our Top 5 Survival list:
5. Carrying luggage on our laps because the Mercedes' trunk only held 3 pieces when we were picked up at the airport.
4. Drinking the water at the hotel and restaurants.
3. Time change.
2. Lack of sleep for over 24 hours.

And the most important thing we survived today…
1. A harmless earthquake hit off the coast of the Dominican Republic, west of Puerto Rico. Just a 5.8. We rolled through sin problemas.

Pool fun!

EARTHQUAKE! (but it wasn't a problem at all)

The day was ended with a delicious Puerto Rican meal at the ocean.

Thursday, May 29, 2014
Old San Juan

We visited the Castillo San Felipe del Morro today. We enjoyed walking and climbing the entire fort. Fort-selfies are not easy!

Later we ran into some friends while waiting for dinner…

Friday, May 30, 2014
Old San Juan, parte II

After fighting the internet and eating lunch at the Cuban restaurant (where the President dined once - Kasalta), we ventured back to Old San Juan and visited Castillo San Cristóbal. It was extremely windy on the roof overlooking the city.

Silliness as we waited for dinner at Yeyo's House of Mofongo. Scroll down to experience Mofongo!

This is Mofongo!

Okay, it doesn't look that appetizing just sitting there leaking on the plate. Don't judge a dish by it's sloppy appearance. We learned on Day 1 that Mofongo is the national dish of Puerto Rico. Y es muy rico. It is basically plantain mush in a bowl, filled with any type of meat you want - chicken, steak, pork, fish, octopus!, shrimp, etc. - cooked and flipped out onto the plate to be served. We have had chicken with onions and peppers in a tomato sauce. We had steak with sweet onions. Tonight we had chicken, again, with peas, peppers, etc. It's been served with salad of some sort. We've enjoyed each one.

Saturday, May 31, 2014
Moving day! as told by Isabelle

Daddy took Katherine and Isabelle to feed the fish crumbs of old bread in the ocean. After that we went to the hotel's Tropical Garden and fed the peahen and her two babies, ducks, a goose, a chicken and rooster, a turtle, iguanas, and a swan. A chauffeur came to pick us up to get the rental car at the airport. Then we ate linner (lunch + dinner) at Fuddrucker's. Soon after we went shopping at Costco, Walmart and Econo for food.

Feeding the fish - can you see them in the water?

Fuddrucker's in San Juan - it's very narrow because it shares a building with Pizzeria Uno

New food offerings at Costco!
Maybe they will make their way stateside?

Sunday, June 1, 2014
Meet Fajardo, as told by Katherine

We went swimming after breakfast. After that we went shopping at Walmart and National hardware. We had McDonald's for lunch. We ate hamburgers and mango-pineapple smoothies. We headed home to practice snorkeling in the pool. It was super fun!

Fun in the pool!

Tropical relaxation pose.

Monday, June 2, 2014
Last day before camp!

It was a lazy day. We went to get the internet connected - they're sending someone in the next day or two, hopefully. Then we shopped some more. After lunch we went to the beach up the road and snorkeled. There were numerous small, colorful fish to watch dart to and fro, and Isabelle pointed out several sea urchins, too. We cooked lasagna for dinner before an early bedtime. Camp starts at 7am Tuesday.

Bad sun making us look so tanned.

Ready for adventure.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Camp!

Campers are ready.

The school where camp is.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Water free day

We are into the swing of things here in Fajardo, enjoying camp, working hard, and swerving around potholes while inching down narrow streets lined on both sides with parked cars. Then, sometime after lunch, – BAM! – we have no water in the apartment! It seems the former tenants ran up a huge bill and skipped out without paying so the water department shut off the water. But we managed to survive. No, we didn't have to get water from the ocean, but from the faucet by the pool. The owner is going to get the water turned back on tomorrow. Such drama.

Thursday, June 5, 2014
Tingity-tingity, aka, schlepping around PR

We awoke to tropical rain pouring down outside our patio. It lasted less time than it took Christianne to come from the bedroom to see it. The kids went to camp and we went shopping. The apartment needs ceiling fans and a new microwave, and we needed some groceries - especially milk. First stop, K-Mart; what a disappointment. It's a beautiful, huge store with every shelf and rack filled with new items, but when we looked at the prices we thought we were in Beverly Hills. Next to National Hardware, but they were sold out of fans. Walmart had fans, but no microwaves. Ivette found microwaves at a nearby Walmart in Humacao, about 15 minutes away. We ran into the 99¢ AllWays store, but they did not have rain ponchos (Walmart did not either). Off we drove to Humacao, through lush green fields dotted with cows and plantain trees (like banana trees, but shorter). The mall in Humacao was huge - Walmart Supercenter, JCPenney, Marshall's, Office Max, a food court, and more. We got the microwave and a basket-full of groceries, ponchos, too. Later we picked up Isabelle and Katherine from camp, the electrician came to install ceiling fans and the girls went swimming. By the way, milk here is very expensive - $5.58 per gallon, and the price is part of the label, regardless of the brand.

Friday, June 6, 2014
Happy Donut Day!

On the way to camp this morning, the main street through Fajardo was closed by the policía because a tree that was next to the power lines was being trimmed. We ended up on a mini-tour of the city trying to drop Isabelle and Katherine off. Later we had a new garbage disposal and a new hot water heater installed - hot water finally! We finished our day off by celebrating National Donut Day at Dunkin' Donuts. Yum!

Saturday, June 7, 2014
El Yunque, almost, as told by Katherine and Christianne

Today we got up early so we could be on the road by 9am. Daddy made waffles. Then, we got dressed into t-shirts, pants and hiking boots. Mami insisted that we wear pants when we hike in the forest. We got in the car and drove to El Yunque. We finally found the rain forest. However, we were on the south side of El Yunque and not the main forest and visitor's center in the north side. Nevertheless, we started hiking the long walk up to the top of the mountain. We saw big snail shells, butterflies, lizards, spiders and heard the call of birds and the tiny frog coqui. It sounds like this: co-qui, co-qui, qui! Hence, its name. This frog is the symbol of Puerto Rico, but some are in danger of extinction. So sad! When we were hiking it started to rain. This was a heavy downpour, but luckily Mami had brought our ponchos. Mami saved the day! Yeah! After one and half hours of hiking, we saw some people coming back from the top. They told us there was not much to see at the top so we turned around and headed back down. It was 1pm and we were tired and hungry. When we were done with the trail, we went to one of the barbecues and ate our sandwiches. Then, we drove to the nearby city Humacao where we went to the beach. We continued driving on the back road toward the city of Naguabo. That city's slogan is "El pueblo de enbuchados" (The town of the soaked people) because it constantly rains in that area but not when we were there. We stopped at the malecon by the beach and walked around to watch the ocean, take pictures and walk to the kiosks. Hungry for dinner, we headed toward Punto Latino where Mami and Daddy had more Mofongo. They said it tasted very good. I didn't like it. Wow what a day! Mami and Daddy are going to read and then we are going to go to bed. Good night!

On the road to El Yunque

Funky house on the road up to El Yunque

Eager to embark on our hike.

Isabelle amazed by the gigantic leaves!

We survived the rain forest downpour!

Sunday, June 8, 2014
It's a beautiful day in the Botanical Garden

We started our Sunday with a trip to another Costco - there are 4 on the island. This one is in Caguas, which is near the eastern center of the island. (I've added a map of the island here.) Isabelle tried the hamburger and fries and said it was good. After some quick shopping we followed Marc's cobbled together directions and finally ended up at El Jardín Botánico y Cultural William Miranda Marín - the botanical garden. We enjoyed an afternoon of walking the grounds, seeing plants, trees and animals - lizards, iguanas!, chickens, fish, and turtles. Everything is so green - including the wildlife. We crossed a suspension bridge over a ravine, we listened to bamboo trees "sing" in the wind (very eerie), we looked at petroglyphs, we walked and walked. The sun darted in and out of the clouds, which kept the temperature down. It rained on the road on our way home.

Isabelle's gigantic burger - both in circumference and weight

lily pads photo by Katherine

photo by Isabelle

Monday, June 9, 2014

Isabelle and Katherine went to camp. Isabelle's group took a walk through town and saw the tourism office, the electronic library - no books, but they did watch a Disney DVD in the kid's area theater in English (!), and a cathedral. Unfortunately she did not bring her camera. After dinner, Christianne brought out special dessert she had made - bolitas de yucca and sorullos, which are a corn meal and cheese mixture that is deep-fried. We dipped both in honey for extra deliciousness.

Isabelle enjoying a bolita de yucca

Katherine, too!

Bolitas de yucca

Sorullos

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

An ordinary day in Puerto Rico. We didn't do much – camp, work, swimming for Isabelle and Katherine, and dinner. Marc and Christianne tried a new restaurant, Pollo Tropical, for lunch. Their menu wasn't quite the same as the one online, but the food was delicious! We will try it with the girls this weekend for dinner.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Meet Fajardo

After dropping Isabelle and Katherine at camp, we circled back around the block to stop at a book store (libreria) in the downtown area. The school is downtown, but we live out by the harbor. The bookstore was of the typical Latin American variety - a sparse offering of items, several that looked by the dust accumulating on them to have been there since the dawn of time; a glass cabinet counter holding the higher priced items; and, stacks of useless items, like adding machine tape rolls. I also took some pictures of the general downtown area, which also looks more like Central America than North America. The rest of our day was ho-hum - work, dinner - delicious stir-fry Christianne made, violin practice, iPad, bed.

There are a lot of unmarked one-way streets, although
beware sometimes someone is coming the other way.

We have not tried eating here.

This intersection has no traffic control of any sort - signs, lights, police. In fact, the street splits into two one-way streets and is also joined by another street (far left) - whomever arrives first or dares go, goes. This is on our way to and from camp. Also notice that cars park either direction on both sides of the road, sometimes hanging out into traffic and you have to swerve around them while avoiding oncoming traffic.

Even roads that you would think are one lane, or are not striped, become two laned if there is enough room for someone to squeeze by you, on either side.

Thursday, June 12, 2014
Downtown Fajardo

Marc and I walked around downtown Fajardo before picking up the girls from camp. We started at the park with the cathedral, which was locked. Maybe it was siesta time for the priest. We crossed the street to the Office of Tourism where we met an eager young lady who told us about all kind of attractions nearby and loaded our hands with brochures. We thanked her and walked toward City Hall where we met two other ladies who were happy to tell us about the sugar cane industry of many years ago, the beauty of Ponce, the fun attractions in Fajardo, and many more. We thanked them for their time. We crossed the street back to the park where we found the Biblioteca Electrónica Ricardo S. Beleval (Digital Library). We were curious and went in. We met a librarian who told us about all the different areas in the library, its history (built in 1910) and about the printed books that were damaged by water and mold, and they had to throw them away. Hence, a Digital Library. We thanked him for his time, and ran to pick up the girls. We have found out that everyone in Puerto Rico is so friendly. As soon as they hear me talk, they know I am a foreigner and are willing to help. Nice town! Nice people! Beautiful island!

Cathedral

City Hall

Central park

Biblioteca Electrónica

Friday, June 13, 2014
Bioluminescent

Isabelle and Katherine had a field trip today to the Fajardo Inn pool - it's like a mini water park. Despite the spotty rain showers this morning, they enjoyed their day in and out of the pools. By the afternoon, most of the clouds had cleared. We were excited that we could take our bio-bay tour after dinner. We drove out to the Reserva Natural de las Cabezas de San Juan for the tour. The tram first took us up to the top of a hill where the lighthouse is perched protecting the Eastern Caribbean. We heard about the history of the lighthouse - built in 1880, second oldest operational lighthouse on the island - as well as the reserve. Then the tram took us to a boardwalk where we walked out to the edge of the lagoon where the bioluminescent aquatic creatures live. The guide handed us each a long tree branch (about 7 feet long) and instructed us to reach over the railing and "stir" the lagoon's water. As we did it lit up! Splashing the surface made little specs light up all over. It was fascinating to watch. Unfortunately the cameras could not capture the lights. Our last stop was a nature hike through the forest of mangrove and other trees to the beach. We saw a baby green iguana - no bigger than my thumb, and sleepy; a variety of spiders - small ones waiting in their webs, larger ones clinging to the underside of a leaf, and one that was nearly flat; an anole (another type of reptile); and, a long, black millipede, which Isabelle and Katherine were eager to hold. We thoroughly enjoyed the two hour tour.

Sunset selfie - take 6!

Hearing about the reserve at the lighthouse.

The lighthouse.

Isabelle still wants a millipede as a pet.

Katherine wanted a turn to hold it, too.

Back where we found the millipede.

Saturday, June 14, 2014
Re-attacking El Yunque

It was a beautiful day and National Get Outdoors Day so we decided to visit El Yunque National Forest - this time from the main entrance. After the movie and a pep talk from a ranger at the Visitor's Center, we drove up the mountain road to hike the forest. We stopped at Coca Falls for photos and Marc, Isabelle and Katherine climbed over the rocks to get close up. The water spray was cool and refreshing. Driving on, we discovered lots of other people had decided to join us. The parking lots were packed. Eventually we parked near the road's end and decided to hike up to the Mt. Britton tower - at 3,088 feet it is the second highest hike you can make. (The hike to the peak of El Yunque, which is at about 3,500 feet, takes 2 hours each way!) This hike was about 40 minutes up on a paved path - as are most of the trails on this side of the park. The view from the top (third floor) of the tower was amazing - El Yunque peak was covered in clouds, but below them we could see all the way to the ocean. We stayed and enjoyed the breeze for a while before hiking back to the car. On the way out of the park we stopped and hiked down to the La Mina waterfall. This is a popular place for people to splash about in the river. Look below to see just how many people are crowding our photo. On all of the trails we walked today we only saw a couple of lizards and snails, heard some coqui frogs (never saw any) and saw one lonely San Pedrito bird - a disappointing lack of animals in the forest. Eventually we hiked back up and out and made it home for dinner. It was an enjoyable day.

Ready to hike!

Sitting under the Coca Falls

Mt. Britton tower - a hike to 3,088 feet!

The view of the cloud-covered peak of El Yunque from the top of the tower.

We hiked down, down, down to the La Mina waterfall where everyone likes to jump in the pool and get splashed. The water was cold. (It was a lot of stairs to climb and uphill hiking on the trail back.)

Sunday, June 15, 2014
Father's Day National Holiday

I awoke to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and juice prepared especially for me at my own personal "Ocean Side View Restaurant" complete with "wait staff". After breakfast, we decided that instead of going to Ponce (2 hour drive each way) after yesterday's amazing, eventful day, we should explore the nearby southeast end of the island. So we packed up and headed towards Guayama. Suddenly we found ourselves going up, up, up over the mountains. Google maps left out the drastic change in elevation of our route. It was another harrowing drive around narrow, winding roads, with sheer drop-offs and speeding oncoming traffic. But the views were remarkable. At times we felt like we were driving in the Hollywood hills - big, nice house, breathtaking vistas, and green hills. Coming down the other side we were greeted by the beach nearly at our fingertips. When we reached the outskirts of Guayama we noticed something strange - all of the stores, including Walmat, Sears, K-mart, etc., restaurants, even gas stations were closed. We were perplexed - was everyone at church? It turned out that Puerto Rico treats Father's Day like a national holiday and everything shuts down. With no other choice, we were forced to dine at McDonald's for lunch. We were surprised by some of their new menu choices - a ham and cheese sandwich (which Katherine gobbled up), wedge fries, and a crispy chicken Big Mac! Is rural Puerto Rico McDonald's new test market? Because everything was shut down, Guayama was a disappointment and we decided to drive on to Salinas. Along the way we saw many roadside trees filled with mangoes, and we stopped to pick some. As we were passing farms of plantains and papayas we noticed that the surrounding vegetation, and the hills in the distance, were all dried out - brown as far as the eye could see. The weather was also significantly warmer - in the mid 90s. Perhaps this part of the island receives less rain? We did not find the beach at Salinas, but drove by many seaside restaurants rocking with music, as well as the busy harbor. Further up the road we stopped oceanside for mango smoothies in Santa Isabel. Eventually we headed back, this time by the tollway. It was a fun outing discovering the southeast part of the island.

Around another turn, looking down to the valley below.

Ocean ahead!

Museo Casa Cautiño in Guayama - closed for Father's Day!

Roadside mango collecting

click to see larger version

Monday, June 16, 2014
Price check on isle Puerto Rico

Today was a work day. And camp – Isabelle and Katherine went on a field trip to a Vias Seguras (Safety Town) to learn how to drive safely in little motorized carts. In the afternoon we shopped – the 99 AllWays store, Walmart and groceries at Econo. From the moment we left the apartment at a little after 1pm it was crowded no matter where we went – the roadways, the parking lot, in the stores. Lots of people out and about. Prices here are higher than at home - which we expected since it is an island. However, we thought fruits and vegetables that are grown on the island (a surprising small number of items) would be cheaper, but they are not. And our McDonald's has lower prices than the McDonald's we ate at yesterday in Guayama. I took some pictures today on our shopping trip.

4 rolls of Walmart brand toilet paper for $2.25 seems very expensive.

A loaf of Walmart brand sandwich bread is $2.38!

Iceberg lettuce, which is imported from mainland USA, is $1.99 a head!

Melons - priced each.

Pears - from Chile.

I expected these to be much cheaper.
Locally grown pinapple were also 99¢ per pound today - the average one weighed 4 pounds. And huge, locally-grown watermelons were 38¢ per pound and were well over 10 pounds each.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

We made a Latin-inspired dinner tonight - chicken fajitas with peppers and onions, salsa, tortilla, white rice, plantains and freshly picked mangoes. Delicious. We did not have flan, so we ate helado de galletas y crema (cookies & cream ice cream) for dessert. Mmm.

Friday, June 20, 2014
Date night

We decided we needed a dinner date without the kids. Earlier in the week Christianne asked Isabelle’s camp teacher – maestra Alba – if she would be interested in babysitting tonight. She has a daughter Isabelle’s age, who is in Isabelle’s camp group. She agreed and inquired where we were thinking of going for dinner. When Christianne told her DiYukas she informed her that her husband is the chef there, but Friday is his day off (which is strange since the restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday – but it turns out that he also teaches at the culinary school) but he came to cook just for us! We had been intrigued by DiYukas after driving by it several times heading up the road – to the beach and to the bio-bay. Chef Rios introduced himself and explained some of the dishes on the menu. We started with a lightly battered croqueta de pescado - fish croquette. The fish and batter were equally tasty. The dollop of sauce and salad bed all combined for a tasty appetizer. (Imagine, Marc eating fish and enjoying it!) Having discovered the Puerto Rican staple mofongo since arriving, I was intrigued with the "trifongo" listed on the menu. Chef Rios explained that it was similar to mofongo, but is a combination of green and yellow plantains and yuca. I ordered it with chicken with a criollo sauce. My date, Christianne, ordered the coconut encrusted salmon with rice and beans. Both orders arrived looking like works of art. And they were topped with crispy yuca sticks – a delightful new presentation for yuca. The trifongo was delicious - the chicken moist, the criollo sauce flavorful and the trifongo was an amazing combination, each flavor coming through bite after bite. Christianne raved about her fish, and quickly gobbled it up before I could sneak a bite. After dinner Chef Rios indulged us in the scrumptious yuca tiramisu with yuca chips coated in sugar and cinnamon. The bill was presented with an after-dinner “shot” of coconut milk topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. It was all delicious! We drove down the road to maestra Alba’s apartment to pick up Isabelle and Katherine. As we stood talking, Chef Rios came home. It was getting late, and we felt like we were being eaten by bugs, so we came home.

fish croquettes

coconut encrusted salmon (hiding under the orange slices)

trifongo with criollo chicken

Saturday, June 21, 2014
PONCE

We drove south, past Humacao and Caguas, through and over the mountains, through the parched landscape. Continuing south the landscape turned green again and soon we encountered gigantic letters spread across the roadway announcing our entrance to PONCE. And then we drove some more, because that was not really the entrance to the city. After parking on a side street we wandered up Isabel street, past the Teatro La Perla and entered the town square across from the famed, red and black striped Parque de Bombas (the firefighter museum). Inside we discovered a vintage fire truck along with a few historical firefighter items. Part of the second floor was empty – perhaps a new exhibit is in the works? We walked through the surrounding park and discovered a series of painted lions, a la Chicago’s cows. The church, which was situated behind the Parque de Bombas, was grand. Christianne knocked on the door, but not even the Holy Spirit answered. After a picnic lunch we went to King’s Cream Helados where we discovered a line out the door. Delicious ice cream for all the piña (Isabelle and I both chose that) was sweet and good, the almond (Christianne’s choice) delicious, the chocolate (Katherine’s choice) was smooth and creamy. We would have had more if the portions weren't so huge! Very reasonably priced - $1.95 for a huge medium. At the northern edge of town we went to the Centro Ceremonial Indigena de Tibes - a museum and archeological site of the natives who first inhabited Puerto Rico during and before Columbus' arrival. Despite the "Cerrado/Closed" sign on the gate, the guard let us in and we joined the in-progress tour of the ruins - which were fields the natives used for their ball sport. They also had recreated a village scene of what it might have resembled. Then we drove to the far south end of town to La Guancha – at the ocean. On the pier we saw a pelican standing next to some tourists. After a couple of pictures, another pelican swooped down. A man was selling bags of the fish for $1 and people started feeding the pelicans – throwing the fish up and the pelicans scooping them up and swallowing them down. Threatening clouds were rolling in, darkening the skies. It was getting late and we did not want to drive home in a thunderstorm, so home we headed.

This was originally the town's firehouse, and now is a museum.

Church in the plaza behind the Parque de Bombas

Delicious ice cream! A must visit.

Muy bonitas.

Looking from the mountain top down to the ocean, Ponce is a huge city.

Move-in ready.

Feed the birds, feed the birds.

I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeVille.

Sunday, June 22, 2014
Vega Baja

We packed up and headed northwest towards Vega Baja. After navigating the myriad of roads and tollways through San Juan, we stopped in Bayomón at Costco for lunch, plus some shopping and sampling. The food court again offered cheeseburgers, along with the typical offerings, but they added a “carne” pizza topped with hamburger and pepperoni. We made our way to Vega Baja to visit a writer for Iguana – Efraín Medina Rivera. He lives towards the ocean in a gated community of quaint, houses. He was very hospitable, taking us in and sharing his accomplishments. He tried to take us to La Reserva Natural Laguna Tortuguero – a fresh-water lagoon where we hoped to see turtles. Unfortunately it was closed. A little further on we got out and looked at the beautiful Caribbean. It was getting late and we headed home.

Efraín and Christianne meet

The beach on the far side looks crowded.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Water sliding fun

After camp today we discovered that the third pool in the complex where we are living has a water slide. Everyone had such fun going down.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Work, work, work

Thursday, June 26, 2014
Coco Frio

After lunch, we saw a roadside stand with a sign for Coco Frio – cold coconut water – which Christianne has been craving since we arrived. The man pulled a green coconut from his cooler, grabbed his machete and whacked it open. Christianne loved the coconut water, and quickly drank the whole thing while getting the man’s life story – he said he has two! wives.

¡Delicioso!

Friday, June 27, 2014
Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park

Up and out early today – at 7am. Campamento Sonifel (the camp where Isabelle and Katherine attend) planned a field trip to the Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park and Splash! at the Lighthouse today and we are meeting them there. It is a two hour drive from Fajardo. We had to wait to enter the park because it was too crowded with other school/camp groups to let us in. Once we were allowed to enter, we discovered that each group had a tour guide who led them through a preordained path and explained the various historical eras. A Taino village recreation, one-third scale models of Columbus' three ships, information about the slaves brought to the island and a cave of pirates (that was a poor imitation of Disney's ride). Inside the pirate cave there was a mini-aquarium with some fish swimming in circles and giant lobsters. Then we walked up to the lighthouse and, in a stiff, cool breeze, looked out over the northern Caribbean. After lunch the kids got to play in the water park splash pool until it was time to go. Slides, splash and motorboats. We got a lot of sun, it was hot and humid, but everyone had a great day. Some of them even feel asleep on the ride home.

Waiting with new friends.

Niña? Pinta? or Santa Maria?

Ahoy New World!

Saturday, June 28, 2014
Parque Las Cavernas de Rio Camuy

We repeated our long drive west – this time a bit further to the Parque Las Cavernas de Rio Camuy (Caves of the Camuy River Park) where we met with the Director of the park, Carlos Morales, who drove us in a small four-wheel vehicle down the tram path to the mouth of the cave for a quick look – he said we would go in on the tour later. We marveled at how green the area was, including the path down into the cave, and the fog hanging around. Don Carlos stopped along the road several times – to pick up a mamey, which we brought home but it was rotten so we didn't eat it; to pick up a panderosa, which was a small, light red/dark pink fruit that we all sampled, and that tasted somewhat like a pear although not as sweet nor gritty; to discuss animals and insects in the forest. Back at the visitor’s center, we watched a short video about the caves in the park. Then, we boarded the small trams for the ride down to the mouth of the cave. The cave’s entrance is a large opening to the forest. Trees, bushes and all sorts of plants grow around the entrance, including on the walls and stalactites – which is strange compared to other caves we have visited. Following the group down the slippery path, we soon were in the main room. Cavernous would seem too small a description. Far above us, near the ceiling, we saw a couple of bats flitting about (the only bats we would see in the caves). Although we were only a handful of steps from the opening, this area was dry and rocky with almost no plant-life. The path wound around some formations and past a small pond until we saw sunlight ahead. At the end of the trail was another gigantic opening to the outside created by a large sinkhole. Water was cascading down onto the trail’s end and everyone in the group gathered to take pictures. The sinkhole area was flush with a variety of vegetation and pools of water. We lingered trying to take photos of the empty cave, but the next group of tourists was already entering the cave and we needed to go back. After lunch we hopped into the car and headed north to meet another Iguana contributor – Zoraida Rivera Morales – who lives in Hatillo. The road wound through the countryside, up and down, past farms with cattle and horse, amongst beautifully blooming flamboyán trees, with houses and businesses sporadically seen roadside. Later, we followed Zoraida into the main square of Hatillo where we enjoyed ice cream – Christianne had maiz (corn!) with powdered cinnamon on top and coconut; Isabelle had piña (pineapple) and Hawaiian Punch; Katherine had Oreo and almendra (almond); Marc had almendra and chocolate. Unfortunately, nobody tried the uva (grape). After a stroll around the plaza and to view at the Caribbean, we headed home.

Following the tour into the cave.

This area is very dry.

See how small everyone looks.

The other end of the trail, where there's another sinkhole.

Katherine had a mix of Oreo and Almond ice creams.

Isabelle enjoyed pineapple and Hawaiian Punch.

Hatillo beach - they are all beginning to look alike.

Sunday, June 29, 2014
Festivals

In the morning we went to the pool with the water slide. It was crowded. The sun played peek-a-boo with us for the hour or so that we stayed. After a bite we headed out to the Fajardo Fiesta de los pescadores at the pier. It was a handful of tented tables lining a section of the street at the water’s edge. One was selling copper bracelets; another had strange, hand-made lotions and soaps; another was trying to save the turtles. There was also a stage that was empty but the speakers were blasting music. Under one tent some people were working a contraption by turning a giant axle. They were squeezing sugar cane. For $2 (the going rate for everything in Puerto Rico) they gave us a cup of freshly made sugar cane juice on the rocks. It was slightly brown, but sweet and tasty. After strolling a while we drove to the Kioscos of Luquillo – a row of restaurants and bars that are adjoining one another and across from the beach. There are about 60 of them and they range from upscale (like #2, La Parilla, where we ate) to dingy, dark bars, to utilitarian (#8!) to middle of the road. When we reached La Parilla we decided to eat there (plus it was the end of the line and everyone was hungry). The service was good, the food was tasty and plentiful – shrimp for Christianne, chicken mofongo for Marc, chicken breast for Isabelle and chicken strips for Katherine – and we have leftovers, mmm. Time flew and we rolled out and back to the apartment.

Isabelle squeezing the sugar cane.

Katherine takes a turn, too.

Oops, blurry - but you get the idea of what the sugar cane juice looks like.

This is the Luquillo beach that you cannot see from your seat at the kiosco because of the traffic and parking.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Today was the last day of summer camp for Isabelle and Katherine. Tomorrow they start Spanish tutoring in the mornings for two weeks.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014
The real Caguas

After tutoring we drove straight to Caguas to meet another Iguana writer, Haydee Zayas. Despite having explicit directions we still managed to get lost – mostly because there seems to be a lack of street signs in this country. We eventually found our way to the Catedral Dulce Nombre de Jesús and walked around the adjoining Plaza Santiago R. Palmer. A huge, green, birdcage-looking structure on the far side of the plaza beckoned. Inside we spotted two beautiful, red macaws walking around. We met up with Haydee and together we walked to the tourism office. They provided us with a map and description of local attractions, that they call the Ruta del Corazón Criollo (see info here). We set off for the nearby Casa del Trovador Luis Miranda “Pico de Oro” – which was in a tiny museum with displays about famous musicians from Caguas. An overly excited museum guide, the only person working, talked and talked. Finally, we moved on to the Museo de Arte de Caguas, up the block. We strolled through strange depictions and sculptures before ascending to the second floor, where the main gallery housed an exhibit by Puerto Rican artist David Zayas (no relation) entitled “Animalia” which showed animals in strange situations, painted on pieces of square cardboard boxes ranging in size from about four inches square to one that took up an entire wall. (The art is hard to explain - see images here.) We crossed the street to the Centro de Bellas Artes (performing arts center) that has a three-story wall of stained glass windows that are illuminated from within at night but it was day and we could only see the beautiful colors from inside. We walked on back to the plaza for an ice cream snack at Rex Cream, next to the cathedral. After eating and talking we realized that our parking meter time was about to expire so we said our goodbyes and drove home.

Are we inside the giant birdcage?

Beautiful macaws

Caguas plaza Santiago R. Palmer

Oreo and almond ice cream for Katherine

Parcha and chocolate chip for Isabelle

Today was going to be another day of tutoring for Isabelle and Katherine, but Christianne was able to arrange an interview for Iguana with the director of fish and wildlife services at his office in a suburb of San Juan, in the morning. Therefore, no tutoring and we all piled into the car to drive to Rio Piedras. After the interview Christianne wanted to visit the museum at the University of Puerto Rico. To cross the main street, we headed down to the subway station and popped back up on the other side of the street – Isabelle and Katherine loved doing that. The museum –Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte del Recinto de Río Piedras – was, in one room, an art museum, and across the walkway, anthropology. In the art section, we saw masks and costumes used in the Carnival celebrations in Puerto Rico. Surprisingly, in the anthropology room – it was the tiny entryway to what looked like offices – were an Egyptian sarcophagus and mummy. Not what we expected to find. When we were finished looking, we discovered it was pouring rain outside. We waited about ten minutes and it ended. Our next destination was Jardín Botánico – the University of Puerto Rico Botanical Garden – where we arranged to meet another Iguana contributor, Magalia Quinonez. Again, we were early and decided to walk one of the trails. Despite the rain, it was still very humid. And the sun was hot. The path took us past a Chinese garden area with red bridges over the streams and pagoda-like structure. It started to rain again and we ran to the structure to don our ponchos. Safe and protected, we continued walking on the path as it wound around the stream until we reached a damned-up pond of murky water. Our time was up so we headed back. Suddenly the drizzle turned into a downpour. We huddled beneath some trees and quickly donned our ponchos again. Waterproof, we made our way back to the visitor’s center. And then home.

Visiting a bookstore - but the books were too childish.

Lots of the buildings around the university were decorated.

Hiking at the Botanical Garden.

Downpour!

Rainbow on the way home.

Friday, July 4, 2014
Oh, say can you see!

Saturday, July 5, 2014
Westward ho!

Bright and early start to our adventure today. With no formal plans, we set out to reach the southwestern tip of the island and make several stops in between. After two hours, our first stop was the Bosque Estatal de Guanica (dry forest). Uphill through a neighborhood of small houses we went. When we entered the forest grounds the road narrowed to a bit more than one car width and was lined on both sides with dried out trees interspersed with green ones. The tiny information booth at the end of the winding road was closed, despite the posted hours. We briefly enjoyed the spectacular view down to the ocean from the Visitor’s Center porch. The forest below did look very, very dry. It was already hot – about 91° – and we decided not to hike. From there we descended to the oceanside town of La Parguera. After lunch we boarded the Fondo de Cristal III glass-bottom boat along with about fifty other tourists for the forty minute harbor cruise. The ocean ahead was blue and calm under bright blue skies, but behind us the clouds were growing ominous. As we cruised we could see the ocean floor though the glass - it was very shallow, and way out into the harbor people were still able to stand waist deep. Further out there is a 1,500 foot dropoff called La Pared (the wall). Unfortunately we did not see any sea life under the boat. Jumping back in the car, we continued on the road towards the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge and arrived at the visitor's center ten minutes before it closed, which was enough time to watch the educational video before heading out for the Murrillo Lighthouse. On the way we saw the huge salt flats area, which looked like white sand beach, without the water. Further on we stopped at the salt drying ponds – huge rectangular areas that have a shallow amount of sea water that is in the process of evaporating to leave the sea salt. Bravely reaching into the pond, we sampled the dried salt crystals – very salty. In fact, so salty that later in the day my hand still tasted salty. At the gate to the Morrillos Lighthouse of Cabo Rojo despite the sign indicating that it closes at 5pm, it was still open. We parked and walked uphill to the lighthouse. It was too late to be able to go inside the lighthouse, so we walked around the cliffs – NOT TOO CLOSE! – and took lots of photos of the waves crashing on the rocks. We had made it to the farthest point southwest on the island – 176 miles kitty-corner from Fajardo. Leaving there we drove to Cabo Rojo in time for dinner. We stopped at the Shalom bakery – they knew the word means "hello" but nothing esle – and drove past the central plaza and requisite church. It was getting very late and starting to rain again, so we skipped our last planned stop in San German and turned for home, arriving exhausted nearly three hours later.

No hiking today.

View from the Bosque Seco out to the Caribbean.

Cruising.

Storm is here - just rain though.

Sea salt ponds.

It's salty!

Lighthouse with quite the view!

Not too close to the edge.

Cabo Rojo cathedral

Sunday, July 6, 2014
Soon.

After our whirlwind day trip to the southwest we decided to relax the morning away. In the afternoon we set out to listen to Bomba y Plena music in Luquillo. The flier we saw said the band was performing from 3-6pm in the street outside a bar - El Coco. We arrived at 2:45p to find parking and only the tent was there. Christianne asked some people sitting by the tent and they said it would start "soon". But there were no musicians. We went to the beach and came back an hour later and the musicians were just arriving. When will they start? "Soon." Again we drove around the neighborhood. Around 4:15p we came back, parked and waited for "soon". Finally they started. It was very Afro-Caribbean sound with bongos, maracas, snare drum, cow bells and guitars. Enjoyable sounds but lots of repetitive, long, drawn out Spanish-sounding words that were hard even for Christianne to understand. Plus it was so close the speakers were right there. They only played about 30 minutes before needing a break. It was past "soon" and everyone was ready for dinner, so we headed home.

Concert on the corner.

Monday, July 7, 2014
The Jacobs go native! – as told by Katherine

Today we got up and had breakfast. Then we did all the stuff that we have to before going out. We got in the car and Daddy drove us to school so we could be on time to Spanish classes. When Spanish classes were over we went home and had lunch. The kids played on the iPads for a little while. Then Katherine went to practice her vioiln. We waited a little while and then we went to the pool. Daddy had made dinner. Mami cooked Mac and Cheese for Katherine. When the kids were done with their dinner Daddy poured us milk and then for snack Mami cut the skin off of four mangoes but she didn't cut it up into pieces instead we ate the mangoes like natives. The natives eat mangoes with their hands. They take the mango and they bite all the meat off and then they suck the pit. You suck and suck the pit until there is nothing left to suck. Then we all got into our pj's. Mami and Daddy are reading and then the kids will go to bed. Good Night!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014
A shopping we will go

We visited a bookstore at the Carolina Plaza mall to discuss carrying the Spanish-language magazines. We parked in the parking structure outside of JC Penny and walked into the mall. We thought we were in Paradise Valley mall, although with two stories and a lot of shoe stores. As we strolled through to the bookstore we noticed that most of the stores are the same as at home – Children’s Place, DSW, Foot Locker, etc. The mall was very new looking, and clean. In the center there is a large fountain shooting up nearly to the second story room. The bookstore was big and full of Spanish and English books. Isabelle and Katherine enjoyed browsing the kids’ section and bought a couple of Spanish books each. When we walked out of the store we saw groups of men standing around TVs watching the World Cup game between Argentina and the Netherlands. It was as if they told their wives to shop while they watched. And they just stood there mesmerized by the television.

World Cup "menia"

Friday, July 11, 2014
Lost in Loiza

We set out this afternoon with the easiest of directions and still managed to get lost! Where we thought we needed to go straight ahead to stay on PR-187, a sign for PR-187 pointed left so we followed it and got all turned around. We later discovered, thanks to Google maps, that we were at the intersection of PR-187 and PR-187 – how confusing! Finally, we did arrive, in a drizzle, at the colorful, roadside shack of Don Raul Ayala, who is known for making vejigante masks from coconut husks for the parade before Carnival. People dress in colorful costumes and scary, horned masks to represent the vejigante, an evil spirit. Christianne interviewed him. An artist friend, Samuel Lind, stopped by to chat and we hopped across the street to visit his gallery/studio/house. He paints the vejigante parades, as well as other Afro-Puerto Rican scenes. The road along the Rio Grande de Loiza was closed, for no apparent reason, but we did come across another cave. It is inside a park and looks like a small mountain with its front cut off. It is very rocky with large trees and bushes growing around. The sign says that it is Cueva María de la Cruz. It is not very deep, and parts of the ceiling have eroded. The path walks in and circles a large boulder. As we walked around the buzzing inside grew louder and we quickly exited. On the way home we stopped to eat dinner at Metropol, which was a mistake - mediocre food at gourmet prices with slow service.

Don Raul's shack

One of Don Raul's masks

Loiza plaza

River next to the closed road.

The cave in the park. Note the swings on the right.

Inside looking out before we fled the buzzing.

Saturday, July 12, 2014
Ponce vejigantes and Pañuelas waterfall

The vejigantes!

Christianne lined up an interview with another man who is known for the vejigantes masks he makes – Edwin Marin Perez, in Ponce, which is a two hour drive from Fajardo. Don Edwin, a very friendly man, showed us some of the colorful, horned and toothy vejigantes masks he made of papier-mâché. Then he talked about the history of the Ponce vejigantes and the parade. We watched as one of the students applied papier-mâché to a mask. Then the student and a teenage boy put on their costumes and masks to pose for pictures. Don Edwin invited us to see other masks he has made at his house. It was an amazing collection. After an ice cream snack at King’s Cream Helados – yummy! – we drove to a festival in nearby Peñuelas. Outside of the town we searched the mountainous forests for a waterfall. After reaching the end of the road, an old woman directed us where to find it. We found it! By then it was getting very late and we headed for home.

Don Edwin's gallery/studio in the outside foyer of his house.

Festival del Flamboyan in Peñuelas

Being goofy!

Flamboyan overlooking the valley and Peñuelas

We found the waterfall - hooray!

Sunday, July 13, 2014
Cruisin'

After lunch we drove up PR-3 past Luquillo to Rio Grande and the turn off for La Paseadora – the Río Espíritu Santo river cruise company. Parking past the barking dogs, we hustled onto the already full pontoon boat ready to embark on our cruise. The river starts way up in El Yunque and flows down to the ocean, but we started closer to the ocean. As we slowly motored down the river we saw a variety of different animals: birds gathered on the shore or sitting in the trees displaying their wings; iguanas, also sitting in trees, as well as one swimming! in front of the boat; crabs – well, the narrator thought she saw one, but no one else did; and, tiny fish jumping out of the water alongside the boat. The river was muddy green and there was a slight breeze. Dark clouds were gathering over El Yunque, but the sky ahead, over the ocean, was a powder blue with white clouds. After about an hour we approached the mouth of the river were it empties into the ocean where we gazed out to the waters of the Caribbean as the captain slowly turned the boat around. The return trip went quickly. The animals we saw were all peaceful and relaxed – perhaps because it was Sunday. After we docked, we drove back to Fajardo.

Captain Isabelle turning the ship around at the mouth of the river -
you can just see the blue Caribbean ocean (line) on the horizon

Ready for adventure

An old friend

Looking from the river to the Caribbean across the private beach of the St. Regis resort.

A new friend

Monday, July 14, 2014
A scary adventure –  as told by Isabelle

Today was another day of Spanish class. After lunch Mami’s friend Chef Rios wanted us to come try his food. We drove to MBTI, a school, where he had prepared Puerto Rican appetizers: sorullos, papa rellena, bacalaitos and alcapurria. Chef Rios is a teacher at MBTI. After that we drove back to the apartment. Katherine and Isabelle played on the iPads. Isabelle really wanted to go to the beach We hadn’t been since June 2. We got into the car and drove to Seven Seas, the beach down the street. Daddy and Isabelle got their snorkel gear and headed for the water. They saw fish, kelp, giant sea urchins, crabs and seaweed. Then Isabelle spotted something long and orange with black spots. Daddy went to find a big rock to turn it over. It looked like a giant sea cucumber. Katherine saw a big crab and Daddy and Isabelle went over to see where it was. After searching for the crab without any luck we headed back to the sea cucumber. It had started moving under a rock. It was scary. (Not really, said Daddy.) Katherine and Isabelle searched for shells where the water had reached on the beach at high tide. Isabelle found a sea anemone and Mami went to touch it. The anemone gently squeezed her finger. It was cool. We drove home and ate dinner.

Chef Rios and his class

The appetizers - and the special dipping sauce which is the mayo-ketchup,
the condiment of choice on the island.

Snorkeling

This is exactly what the sea cucumber looked like!
(we did not take this picture – thank you internet)

Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Rainbow connection

In the morning, before tutoring, Katherine asked if we could swim later. The sky was overcast and it drizzled off and on all morning. But, by 4pm the sun was shining in a partly cloudy sky, so we went to the pool. There we spotted a huge rainbow out over the ocean. We stood and marveled for a few minutes before Isabelle and Katherine resumed their splashing and sliding.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Chef Rios dazzles

While Isabelle and Katherine were at tutoring, Christianne and Marc went to Carolina to meet with the bookstore owner and convince him to carry Iguana and the other magazines. The meeting seemed positive. After lunch, we left to have a a photo shoot with Chef Rios at the culinary school. Driving through Fajardo to the school we passed by a police car stopped at a cross street, which quickly turned and followed us. Uh-oh. No sooner did we make another turn and start to pull over to park for the school than the lights and siren went on. The police woman came over and talked to Christianne. She said that they pulled us over because our Puerto Rico registration sticker on the front windshield was expired. How she saw that from behind us is a mystery. We explained that it is a rental car and she wrote the rental company a ticket for us to bring them. We were free to go. Chef Rios, who is going to be a “guest chef” for Iguana for the next year, then made six delicious Puerto Rican items - cornflake chicken over salad (fried chicken is huge on the island - Popeye's, Church's, KFC everywhere); pastelon – a layered potato, shredded cheese and ground beef dish; delicious soft tacos with sautéed pineapple, steak, peppers and onions; a beef and vegetable stew reminiscent of tia Marina's in Nicaragua; arroz manpostado – a rice dish with ham, cheese and red beans; and, tiramisu. Isabelle and Katherine tried them all and each had different likes and dislikes, but everyone loved the tiramisu. We were all too full to eat another thing. Instead, Isabelle and Katherine went swimming before bed.

Chef Rios sautées the pineapples and steak

Waiting to try everything.

Thursday, July 17, 2014
Katherine put on a marvelous concert

Bravo!

Friday, July 18, 2014
Iguana photo shoot

Today Christianne arranged for us to take photos of kids we met through the summer camp at the Waldorf Astoria El Conquistador resort in Fajardo for the cover of Iguana. Walking into the hotel we were dazzled by the wonderful, breathtaking, elegant resort. We took pictures with Isabelle, Katherine and seven other children all throughout the resort and on their private island off the coast. We spent nearly seven hours in the sun.

Riding the funicular to the boat dock.

On board the boat.

Approaching Palomino island.

Katherine posing.

Isabelle having fun.

Saturday, July 19, 2014
Jacobs phone home

Away we went through San Juan and on across the northern edge of the island to the city of Arecibo. Turning south we entered a mountainous (karst) area. Everywhere we looked it was green. We followed the directions through narrow streets, up and down hills, past nice looking, large houses and run-down shacks until we reached the entrance to the Arecibo Observatory. Our host, the Director of the Visitor’s Center, escorted us out to the view platform where we caught our first sight of the dish. It is humongous. The dish stretches out in front of you at the viewing platform to the mountains 1,000 feet away. We marveled at the dish for some time before heading into to look at the exhibits in the visitor’s center. We couldn’t leave without going back outside for one last view. On to Lares, to the famous heladeria that serves all sorts of strange flavors of ice cream – rice, beans, chicken! Unfortunately, the owner passed away in March of this year and the store remains closed. Lares was celebrating their Festival de Guineo (plantains) and the town plaza was packed with displays of various plantains, food venders selling different plantain items, arts and crafts, and music. We went to “El Grito” – the new heladeria – where we tried some strange ice cream flavors - rice! beans! – neither very good. It was getting late and we bypassed Utuado to go to a waterfall near Aricebo. We turned, by the river, down a rough path into the forest. We parked by the ruins of the Planta Electrica and walked to the falls.

It's too big for my camera!

Strange plantains we saw in Lares

Christianne about to try strange ice creams - beans (left) and rice (right)

Sunday, July 20, 2014
¡Carnaval!

Today is our trip to Vieques island. We set sail from Fajardo at 9:30am with a full boat, including in the seats behind us a teen percussion marching band, who played their instruments and blasted their favorite songs for the whole hour ride. Off the boat, luggage and children in tow, we headed uphill to the Bravo Beach Hotel, a five minute walk from the pier. After checking in we took a taxi to see the El Rompeolas/Mosquito Pier that the US Navy had built (from 1941 to 1943) with the idea of creating a land connection to Ceiba, Puerto Rico. They gave up. We snorkeled at Turtle Beach at the start of the pier on the west (calm) side. Isabelle and Marc plunged in. Nearly immediately Isabelle surfaced super excited. She found a sea star. Swimming by the big rocks of the pier we spotted some sea urchins, and more small fish. Soon it was time to dry off and go into town for the Carnaval. The city streets were packed. We watched dance groups, marching bands, floats and more go by. After the carnival princess went by the craziness began. There was a beat-up, old van with a mini UFO and mini-helicopter mounted on the roof. Then a procession of vans and trucks with people partying/dancing and loud, pounding, repetitive music. This was followed by a giant flat-bed decommissioned army truck with dancers and more music. A fleet of Jeeps with oversized tires followed by six or eight Jeeps all hooked together, each blasting different music. Every car, van or truck had loud sirens (think police or fire truck sound and decibel level) and horns. Near the end another former army flatbed truck had a live band playing loudly and nearly the whole island dancing and drinking behind it. There were even fireworks later at night after the kids went to bed.

A crowded ferry-bus

Crazy paraders

Dancers?

The end of the parade

The end of the day

Monday, July 21, 2014
¡Qui-quiri-qui!

Away from civilization and schedules, today was a perfect day to sleep late. ¡Qui-quiri-qui! The roosters started their calls before sunrise, rudely waking us up. After breakfast we took a taxi to Esperanza, on the south side of the island, to explore. Across, up and over the island we drove on a one-lane road. We snorkeled at the beach where we were lucky enough to see a giant puffer fish hiding in a discarded crab trap, alnong with an assortment of smaller fish. We walked the malecon and visited the (should have been) closed Vieques Conservation & Historical Trust Museum where we saw more sea life (in tanks). The city is basically the strip of bars that are across the road from the malecon and water's edge. After lunch at Belly Button's (disappointing) and with nothing else to see, we decided to walk to the nearby Sun Bay Beach. The beach was nearly empty. The golden sand is laid out in a horseshoe surrounding the beautiful, multi-hued water beyond. The waves and swells were much higher and faster. We were happy not to be in the water any longer. There was a pleasant breeze as we sat at a picnic table in the shade of the palm trees (watch out for falling coconuts!) and delighted in just watching the ocean. A taxi brought us back to Isabel II where we discovered it was a holiday and nothing was open. We walked to Playa Lanchita, past the hotel, where we had the beach to ourselves. Isabelle and Katherine got to go night-swimming in the pool before bed.

Malecon de Esperanza

Playa Lanchita all to ourselves

Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Row, row, row your ferry

A beautiful morning of sleep on the island of Vieques interrupted by foul fowl. With some time to pass before heading to the ferry dock, Isabelle, Katherine and Marc combed the sand in front of the hotel for treasures but only found some hermit crabs and broken shells. Then we set off to the dock. We were over an hour early and took seats near the front of the line, or so we thought. As the time ticked closer to the 11am departure time the area behind us started to fill up. And people were bypassing our “line” to sit in the fenced off area ahead of where we had been waiting for an hour. We soon learned that these were Vieques natives who receive boarding priority. All the while we kept looking for the incoming ferry to no avail. An announcement was made that the ferry was an hour late. Then we were told it was very late. Some time close to 1pm they announced that the ferry had finally left Fajardo and soon we saw it on the horizon. It arrived and they quickly unloaded both cars and passengers, and just as quickly loaded again. After all of the natives boarded, they opened the gates and we rushed on. After the hour’s journey we disembarked, we got in the hot car and drove back to the apartment and collapsed.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014
La cordillera

After the craziness of Vieques, we followed it up with the idea to drive the cordillera – the mountainous route through the middle of the island from Caguas to Mayagüez. We got off of the toll way outside of Caguas, and headed into the mountains. The road wound back and forth and down then up through areas where the houses lined the road, and others where it was green, green forests in every direction. We stopped at where we thought the Aibonita mirador was, but it turned out to be a parking lot for a restaurant. Further down the road we found the mirador, but for no known reason it was closed. We drove into the town of Aibonito and stopped to look at the plaza and impressive church. Back on the road, we continued east on the Ruta Panorámica towards the Toro Negro forest. The Villalba-Orocovis mirador was also closed, despite the sign listing the hours as open. Inside the Toro Negro we walked down to Charco La Confesora – where the stream bubbles and flows over some rocks. A man showed us a coqui frog he had caught. Christianne was ecstatic to finally see and hold one. Isabelle held a tadpole that Daddy had caught and Katherine held a tiny lizard that she named Sophie. A short time later we needed to continue our journey and trudged up the hill back to the car. After many hairpin turns, close passes with oncoming traffic and twists and turns we reached the Salto de Doña Juana waterfall. It was a disappointment. There was barely a trickle of water coming down from far above. The Museo el cemi is a building shaped like a Taino cemi figure with a tiny museum of artifacts inside. La Piedra Escrita – a rock with Taino hieroglyphs – sits in the river where the locals all come to play and relax. After Jayuya we turned south out of the forest and towards Ponce then on to San German, a very colonial town. After dinner we finally made it to Mayagüez and our hotel.

keep scrolling right for a surpise at the not quite Aibonita mirador

Toro Negro

Coqui

Katherine and Sophie

The disappointing waterfall

Museo de Cemi

scroll right to see the giant Piedra Escrita where the crazy kids jump from, and another surprise

San German

Thursday, July 24, 2014
Mayagüez and the north

The symphony of bells from Santa Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria woke us up at 6am. Our hotel is across the street from the church and plaza. It is a grand church. We strolled the interior looking at the various religious icons. Walking down the steps we wandered through the plaza to the Alcaldia (city hall) at the far end. With bathing suits on we headed out of Mayagüez for the beaches of Rincon. We found the Steps beach in the Tres Palmas reserve and set up on the beach. There were people swimming, snorkeling, paddle boarding and sun bathing, but it was not too crowded. The tide pools had large congregations of tiny hermit crabs, a forest of tiny, black and red sea urchins clinging to the rocks and sand crabs skittering about. Taking the plunge into the ocean, Isabelle and Marc snorkeled out to see what was hiding under the water. There were large brain coral, huge elkhorn coral that reached from the ocean floor nearly to the surface, a school of Blue Tang fish swam by us, even a pipefish. Christianne and Isabelle went snorkelling for a short time. Then some people we talking about seeing a sea turtle and Isabelle and Marc swam out to investigate, but they only saw a humongeous school of Tang. After drying off, we drove on to the Punta Higuero Lighthouse and El Faro Park, which is as far west as you can go on Puerto Rico. During the winter surfers and whales can be seen off the shore. We only saw small waves crashing the rocks. The road on wound through more plush greenery as we made our way to the north coast. Our last stop was at a Taino stone carving on the side of the road. We were not prepared for how large it was! A giant head carved out of the mountainside at road level.

Alcaldia and statue of Columbus

Steps beach

Mami and Isabelle snorkelling

One of many sea urchins - ouch!

Whose head is the biggest?

Friday, July 25, 2014
Last swim at Peña Mar

Saturday, July 26, 2014
Waiting in Loiza

We went to visit the Seven Seas beach for the last time in the morning. It was 10am and the beach was already filling up – people camped out under the trees, with their grills and coolers of beer. It looked like these people had been there since sunrise, or earlier. After lunch we rushed to the Carnaval in Loiza. Christianne was told that the parade started at 1pm in the main plaza. We arrived and found the plaza … empty! Not even a car parked on the street. We asked and were told that the parade was starting there by the church around 2pm but that the best place to view it would be down the road out of the plaza. We drove off to find a place to view the parade, looking for people gathered on the street. Not seeing anyone, we stopped to buy a coco frio for Christianne and inquire about the parade. Later, we were told. The man who sold the coco frio also gave us some tamarindo pods. We have only had the juice and ice cream made from the tamarindo fruit, not the actual fruit. Inside we discovered a gooey, brown fruit. With some apprehension Marc popped it into his mouth. It had the consistency of a dried apricot or prune without the skin with a mixture of sour and sweet flavor. The fruit left our fingers sticky and gooey. In our mouth, the fruit easily slid off the seed, which was a hard, wood-brown kernel in the center. Each pod contained 6 to 8 seeds. Isabelle liked them right away. Katherine and Mami were slower to decide if they enjoyed them or not. 2pm and no sign of a parade. 3pm and we were still waiting. About 4pm the parade arrived. It was led by a few vejigantes, followed by the saint being carried on a small ark. There were lots of people walking down the road. People riding bicycles (and drinking beer) with speakers on the back blaring music. A bus with some musicians that went by in a blink. More people walking. Followed by some men on horseback (also drinking). Then finally more walkers. No more music. No horns honking or sirens blasting like the carnaval in Vieques. That was the parade. We did not wait for it to reach the end, turn around and come back.

Trying the tamarindo

Yummy

Openning the tamarindo pod. It just flakes open.

Tamarindo left to right: fruit, pod, seeds

The parade we waited for forever.

Vejigante

In the morning one of the writers for Iguana – Wanda Martir – who is from Puerto Rico but lives in Germany was visiting the island and came to meet Christianne. After lunch we started packing – oh my goodness, where did all of this stuff come from?! Around 2:30pm we headed to the Fajardo plaza for their carnaval and parade. As we walked up there was a colorful dance team performing in front of the city hall. We feared that we had missed the parade, but were informed we had not. There were floats from other cities around the island – Ponce, Mayagüez, Cidra, etc. – all with their own queens, mostly children wearing elaborate dresses and headwear. Numerous percussion marching bands with baton twirlers – both female and male – from around the island were in the parade as well, most seemingly playing the same song over and over. There were other dancers and noisy motorcycles and trucks. Then the biggest surprise, vejigantes! We did not know there would be any in the parade. On top of it, the next group of vejigantes included some of the people we met in Ponce! They came over to say hola when they saw us standing along the parade route. Following them were some gigante vejigantes – giant ones that people were wearing on their shoulders. They were about 15 feet tall. Giant vejigante puppets dancing down the street. Around 5pm, we left despite the parade still going – we realized that we needed to finish packing!

Meeting Wanda Martir.

Definitely not vejigantes - we aren't sure what they are?

A great vejigante

Christianne and her new friends

Gigantic vejigantes

Our Ponce vejigante friend (from July 12th, below)

Monday, July 28, 2014
Adios Puerto Rico - per Christianne

It's bittersweet to leave as we have had an amazing adventure. We were able to see quite nearly the entire island, although we did manage to leave a couple of things to do when we return. We drove 3,410 miles. Visited 41 cities. Saw 5 lighthouses. Hiked 2 tropical rainforests. Swam with schools of fish. Met the vejigantes. And held one tiny, beautiful coqui frog. We have so many memories of this beautiful island, its people and their traditions. We hope that this travelogue inspires you to have your own adventure on La Isla Encanto.

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On to Northbrook, Illinois and part two of our adventures …

Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Lemonade for nickles

Isabelle and Katherine slept over at Laura's house and had fun with their cousins. In the afternoon they had a lemonade stand to raise money for the trip to Nickel City. They had a great time with the games and collecting tickets.

Jake, (Kaitlyn - hiding), Isabelle, Katherine and Jake's friend

Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Fish, fish, fish

We visited the John G. Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago today and saw lots of fish, had VIP reserved seats to the One World show with performing beluga whales and dolphins, saw all manner of aquatic animals – penguins, otters, sharks, turtles, frogs, an octopus, sea urchins, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, shrimp, etc., touched sea stars, touched sting rays, and saw more fish. It was great. We were there for over 7 hours! After dinner the cousins all had a night swim.

Can you hear me now?

dah-dunh dah-dunh dah-dunh

Petting the sting rays.

seahorse

Jake and Kaitlyn were camera shy in the pool.

Today we went with the McDermotts to the the Apple Holler farm in Wisconsin. The kids had fun feeding the goats, running through the hay maze, riding the carts and sampling the jams and jellies. After a short rest in the afternoon, we viisted Grandma and Grandpa – they look great, are healthy and in very good spirits. At night we went to the Northbrook Days carnival with the kids and met up with Tracy, Asher and Josh, and Aunt Barbara. Everyone had a fun day!

Kaitlyn didn't want to smile, even when she knew
that the picture was being sent to Gramma and Papa.

Friday, August 1, 2014
Splashin' away

We walked around the lake at The Glen to the pier to feed the ducks but there were many more geese than ducks. And the geese were aggressive – pushing the few ducks out of the way to snap up the bread crumbs the kids were tossing into the water. In the afternoon we drove to the Grimm’s house. All is well with them – Alex and Rachel have grown up so much. It started to drizzle and we went to an indoor pool that had slides. Isabelle and Katherine had a great time. Then they went to have a "camp out" in the McDermott basement with Jake and Kaitlyn.

a new friend

Swim fun - thank you Grimms!

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