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Published: January 7th 2023
Rock Waterslide
Rio Pitahaya Las PaylasIt is another warm and sunny day. Today is January 6th and we have found out in San Juan today is a big day to be celebrated! It is 3 Kings Day! In Puerto Rico, Christmas is merely the midpoint of the holiday season. Three Kings Day commemorates the biblical journey of the three kings—Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior—who followed a star that appeared in the sky on Christmas Day all the way to Bethlehem, where they discovered and offered gifts to baby Jesus.
Our regular breakfast place was not open when we arrived. Opening later because of 3 Kings Day? Likely. We ate at a small breakfast place with only outside seating at the park. Watched the guy with the leaf blower cleaning up the sidewalk and deck area. We had our coffee and breakfast. There was some activity in the park. One dog with his owner had the zoomies. Then there were 2 horses that escaped from the beach? Security guys at the park made a slight attempt to corral the horses, but their technique was not effective. The horses were last seen heading down Ashford to the west for Old San Juan.
We relaxed by the pool
Pedro Ziplining
Corcovado Adventure Zipline Park after breakfast. We had ziplining and beach tour planned for the day. Pick up time 10 a.m.
Our driver for the day was a young talkative and knowledgeable guide. We also had a mom and daughter duo in our tour group. A small group for the tour. Our driver had said his name very fast, so we were not sure, but we think it was Eduardo. He told of the history of Puerto Rico, his family, some of the geology and geography.
We drove through the National Forest El Yunque. Zigzags up the narrow roads. Then it was on to a stop at a natural rock waterside. There were some people there already going down the slide. We took off our shoes and kept our socks on to help grip on the rocks climbing up as recommended by our guide. Our guide led us up. "Avoid the wet rocks" was the recommendation for the climb up. We were given instructions. Sit up. Hands to the sides. Don't lean back. Our guide demonstrated first how to go down the slide. Pedro went next and then Lori. It was a fun ride down and it was very fast, landing in
Lori and Pedro Ziplining
Corcovado Adventure Zipline Park a pool of water at the bottom. We climbed down the river a bit farther and went swimming in a deeper pool.
After the refreshing swim we went back to the van. We zig zagged back down to the Beach area Luquillo. We had a quick lunch and then had some beach time. Rented some chairs and sat under the umbrella. We took a dip in the water. Many of the beachgoers were paying to have a picture taken with a parrot. We figured that the parrot must have been making about $100 per hour at least. Lucky parrot!
We got back into the van after our beach time. We zigged and zagged back up the narrow roads, past the rock waterslide area. We were definitely off the beaten path. We were met by a pickup truck because the rest of the way was not going to happen in the van. We pulled up to a gait and the gait was opened. It was steep and the driveway was wet from an earlier rain. We were in the "rainforest", so it was expected that it was going to be wet. Up the drive we went. Tires spun a
bit, but we made it up. We got out and got geared up on a platform. We signed the paperwork letting them know who we were....just in case? We went to the first platform and got our lesson on how to hold on and how to sit in the harness. We have been through the routine before, but we listened carefully. The ziplines were short, but fast. Through the canopy. Definitely more "rugged" set up than some we have been at before. It was a double line hook up for safety with a third line for "back up" rescue situations that was not used at all during our outing. The 4 in our group had all zip lined before and everything went smooth. At the end were 2 "bridges" that were cables with wood spaced for walking. We were safety cabled in for the bridges as well. We got back down to the prep area and got out of our gear and then back to the pickup truck down the driveway. The driveway was actually more scary than the ziplines and bridges!
We met back up with our driver at our van. We drove back to San Juan. Some
traffic on the way once we got off the highway in the Condado area. We actually got out of the van at the stop for dropping off our fellow tourists as it was less than a block from our hotel and we could walk faster than the traffic was moving.
We had dinner at the fancy taco place down the road. Food was good. Sangria was good. Everything over priced, but we are getting used to that now.
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Bob & Linda
non-member comment
Sounds like fun!
We have enjoyed reading about your daily adventures. Sounds like a great experience. Look forward to seeing you when you get back and hearing more about it.