Puerto Rico, April 2007

Yum and I traveled to Puerto Rico for the first time in April.  It was a business trip for me part of a recognition award. 
Having been on these before without her, (I am miserable) I was happy that she could come along.  We went a day
earlier and got to squeeze in a few great venues and adventures.  We had a little red Honda Fit and zipped around
the North west and east side of the island.

Our first day was in San Juan near the airport.  Being near the airport does not sound great but for our first day it
worked out fine.  Old San Juan is near the airport and there is a really nice large resort beach two blocks from our hotel
for the day.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Isla Verde on Tartak.  The hotel has a very nice lobby with excellent service. 
Rooms are a bit small compared to Hilton or other Tier 1's.  We got the room on points so we were not out to be too
critical.  If you are a Priority Club member the hotel offered breakfast and evening drinks/snacks and a very nice pool
area.  It was a much nicer Holiday Inn than we expected as typical Holiday Inns go.

Old San Juan (OSJ) was a $19 cab ride from Isla Verde and took about 15 minutes.  The taxis here do not run on meters
despite having one  but instead have set rates for going from each area.  Most of the cabs will drop you off at Colon Square
which is the begininng and end of OSJ if you take it in on a loop (this is where you catch a cab back to your hotel as well). 
Heading North West you can walk up the hill to the first of two forts in OSJ, San Cristobal and Fort Moor.  The forts charge
a fee to go inside and check things out.  $3 for one or $5 for both.  We just paid for the 2nd fort since it was on the point of
OSJ with panoramic ocean views of the coast and harbor, which explains why they put the fort there.

After Fort Moor you can walk straight out the entry way and step into down town OSJ where museums, restaurants, bars
and shops dot the bustling area.  We skipped the museums and shops but searched for a restaurant.  Looking for where
the locals go we asked around and found a bakery / coffee shop, La Bombonera.  This is a hidden gem of a place since
you get to taste what the locals eat versus what OSJ thinks tourists may like, which is tacos or local beer plus a hamburger. 
At La Bombonera we had the beef stew and the roast pork. Both were very tasty and came with fried plantains, fresh baked
pre-buttered french bread and beans and rice, which we would have almost every day there after.  The beef stew was a bit
salty but still very good.  The roast pork was very good, untrimmed with some skin and fat still on but this added to the excellent
taste.  I enjoyed seeing the locals come and go along with the workers greet them and catch up on gossip and late breaking news. 
Everyone seemed to get a coffee which was served out of a very old coffee urn.  The urn was very large with several brewing
stations sticking out of it.  One station had a pot of expresso which was very thick like dark motor oil which they poured into
every cup and topped it off with hot water from one of the other stations attached to the urn.  Another popular drink was the
fresh juices, an orange concoction seemed to be everyone's favorite.

Colon Square monument, head up the street from here to hit the first fort and begin you loop around old San Juan	These look out turrets dot the forts and provide the post card for the OSJ forts These look out turrets dot the forts and provide the post card for th	Not sure if this was an old out house or more likely a sentry station	views along the forts were worth the walk, a bit hazy due to sand dust from Africa coming up the Carribean chain	La Lombonera bakery and coffe shop off of San Justo and San Francisco streets.... order the roast pork with beans and rice!	Panorama of Old San Juan Harbor

From Isla Verde we drove to Rio Grande East on Route 3 to the Westin Rio Mar Resort.  Route 3 is the main road out east (not a freeway like we are used too but more of a local route) but plan on extra driving time because there are many intersections with lights that can make the trip seem longer than it should.  Once on the road you may adapt to Puerto Rican driving which means moving a bit above the speed limit while lane dodging slower cars driven by older drivers or delivery trucks some filled with bananas.  The Rio Mar is a great resort about 5 minutes off the urban Route 3 road.  Gated and enclosed with two on-site golf courses and villas before you reach the hotel.  Don't get frustrated if you don't find the hotel entrance or parking on your first try, the signs are not intuitive for your first day.

The hotel is laid out like a "W" with the top facing the ocean view and the bottom facing the golf course and views of the El Yunque rainforest, located just across resort off Route 3.  The Rio Mar has eight restaurants, pool, spa, golf and other amenities (see their website).  We ate at Aqua Luna a short walk past the hotel in a neighboring villa.  They specialized in grilled seafood or meats and we had the grilled grouper which was excellent and the seafood paella which was good.  We got one of their four outside dining spots overlooking the pool area (ocean not visible at night) and enjoyed the weather, birds and coqui singing.

The Rio Mar has a spectacular beach which really needs no describing.  The pool is large but split into smaller areas for adults, families, laps, a slide and jacuzzi.  Complementary ample beach chairs & umbrellas are there for the claiming and you can rent at resort prices ocean toys.  Pool and beach bar, towel hut, massage cabañas and fresh water showers complete the beach resort experience.

Portrait of us from our room over looking the ocean and pool	Yum at her favorite shaded spot on the beach just off the resort path	Ocean view from room 6098	grounds at night	Sunrise from our room	Panorama view from Rio Mar room 6098

The food we will mostly remember in Puerto Rico is the local non-resort food.  At the Rio Mar and Route 3 intersection is a bakery sandwich shop called Ismar's (you see it on the corner as you make the turn onto the road leading to the Westin).  You can skip the pastries but order the Cubano or other sandwiches which are fresh grilled on their cuban style bread and served with their house sauces.  Grab these if you off to a hike or need a meal for your flight.

Also near the Rio Mar is the local's popular Luquillo kiosk eateries located just East of Rio Mar on Route 3.  You will see it on your left headed East and you need to make a U-turn at the next light about a half mile past the kiosk.  Or if you can there is a left turn into the kiosk area but it is hard to see ahead of time due to slight bend on Route 3.  The Luquillo kiosks are about a 1/4 mile of food - bar - shops of which half are closed.  They all serve about the same fare (deep fried treats with crab, beef or plantains) but some have specials that win you over.  We ate mostly at the East end at kiosk #58, 60 and skewer tent in between them.  We got to choose from rice and beans or seafood spanish rice with roast pork, deep fried treats, fish and my favorite roast pig on a spit.  The pig on the spit was the a bit of heaven, moist, salty edges, crispy skin and just a touch of smoky flavor.  Our meals from thus road side buffet was $8-12 and fed both of us.

kiosk fried treats	spanish rice with may varieties, seafood, crab and mystery	best find of the trip, pig on a spit... I was pretty happy	they guy cut your serving with a knife and metal club

We got to enjoy some of the many gems of Puerto Rico, thanks to Yum's research, and would strongly recommend these on you visit.  El Yunque "L Junke" rainforest, located off of Route 3 at the the Rio Mar intersection.  The road up El Yunque is narrow and very windy so have fun but be careful.  It is best to go early in the day as possible before the Sun heats up the area and forms clouds and obstructs the views of and from El Yunque.  There is a visitor center about half way up where they have exhibits and a video.  Pick up a map here from the guard but don't pay to see the center if you want to skip the videos, etc.  Another 15-20 minutes higher you will find the Ranger station and you can pickup a $5, 1 hour ranger tour which I like but some "go it alone'ers" may not.  The ranger point out to us in 10 minutes more about the life in the forest than we could find all day.  Things like snails, bugs, lizards and plants are everywhere but you walk right by them unless you know what to look for.

At the ranger station or from your map you can find long and short trails, waterfalls and picnic areas.  This visit to the rainforest gave me an appreciation for how precious our environment was, truly a gem in Puerto Rico.

Ranger Cynthia gave us our El Yunque tour	There are many waterfalls and streams throughout the forest	one of the many territorial lizards	there are thousands of species of ferns	beautiful tropical flowers	pair of snails tucked under a leaf...again ranger Cynthia points out what and how to find these guys
another ranger find, one of the world's smallest orchid flowers	one of our tour mates looks at a lense to see orchid close up	trees here have to grow around other trees, this one has grown legs around a partially but still thriving palm tree	many trees send down exposed roots to get food and for footing	one of several abandoned outposts on the trails

We also got to got to the Las Cabezas Nature Park and we had another ranger tour which took us around the park which began at the beach, up to the highest point to the lighthouse and then down to the wetland adjacent to the Laguna Grande lagoon (bio luminescent bay).  At the park we saw a local Iguana strolling across the sand looking for its next meal and spot to hang out.  We also saw the various mangrove trees along with the lighthouse that partially serves as a museum.  Some of the views from the lighthouse appear hazy because, as we learned, dust from the deserts in Africa can bet carried all the way to Puerto Rico by the lower equator jet stream.

View from the top of the Laguna Grande lagoon	Our Iguana encounter	Steve and Yum at the roof of the lighthouse over looking the East coast of Puerto Rico	walkway through the wetland park	roots that go backwards from the ground up needed to peer above the salty tide to breathe	bridge over the mangrove lagoon
Termite nests were scattered throughout the park	Steve on the beach of the nature park	Steve relaxing in a large web	Panorama of Laguna at Nature Park

While on our trip, which was an IBM recognition trip, I had activities to choose from so went to cooking school at the resort.  We prepared skirt steak with Puerto Rican spices, cassava, Spanish Rice, salad and learned about fruit carving.  It turned out to be one of the best meals I had on the trip.  Our instructor was the executive chef of the Rio Mar, Chef Pablo.

Spanish rice...mmmm!	Cassava with garlic and broth	Cassava, rosemary and sweet potato	the final exam and time to eat!	Steve taking his turn at carving

One of our last adventures was back to San Juan to see a cock fight, which is legal in Puerto Rico.  I know this a controversial subject but I wanted to take the opportunity to see this Puerto Rican cultural event.  It was mostly men and they intensely yelled out bets as the cock fight ensued. 

Fighting cocks are inspected and placed into the center of the ring	before they start the cocks square off	they challenge each other then the fight begins	they take turns trying to get the higher ground