Blogs from Puerto Rico, Central America Caribbean - page 14

Garret and TJ snorkle off of Seven Seas Beach in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, just off the coastline of Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve. At the nature reserve, visitors learn about the ecological importance of the mangrove forest, the offshore coral reefs, the sandy beach, the rocky coast and the bioluminescent Laguna Grande. The guys were thrilled about the variety of species they saw in the water while snorkling.... read more

BYE, BYE SNOWY MINNESOTA It’s hard to come up with something good to say about a day spent in an airplane. We woke up at 4 a.m., showered, and headed out into a snowstorm. Brr. Ordinarily, I would have hunkered down at home. Instead, I wrapped the nine-month-old baby up and out we went. She was less than thrilled. It was the first time a cold, winter wind had whipped across her face. I put her into the truck and she started to cry. Poor baby. She didn’t know what was going on. She knew it was out of the ordinary though, and had trouble napping the two days prior. My sister-in-law was right on time (thanks so very much!). Off we went. Despite the slippery, snowy roads, we made it to the airport in less ... read more

Tuesday we headed to downtown Ponce to see what was available there. It was a cute little town with some old neighborhood streets with older Puerto Rican architecture. We stumbled upon a restaurant called Rincon Argentino—an Argentinean restaurant known for its meat. I got grilled shrimp with rice and beans, since I don’t eat pork or red meat, but it was delicious just the same. And the caramel crepes we shared for dessert were the best thing we’ve eaten on this trip so far (food has generally been a great disappointment). We then made the drive back to San Juan, only about an hour and a half from Ponce. But driving here is a bit harrowing. People tend to be leisurely even on the highways, but more often than not change lanes without signaling or pull ... read more

So far this trip is turning out to be a bit more of an adventure than we anticipated, but we’re going with it and having fun regardless. We arrived at San Juan airport Saturday afternoon. It was a bit chaotic and crazy busy, but tolerable—until we had to wait 45 minutes for the Enterprise bus to pick us up. I read that you should only use the big name rental car places to avoid hassles and scams, but a hassle it was. They even gave us a car with no gas in it. But we managed to get a car and began the hour and a half drive to Aguadilla on the north shore of the island. We stayed in a Marriott Courtyard on Ramey base—what used to be a U.S. military base until sometime in ... read more

Isla Verde Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico... read more