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Published: August 20th 2012
Our plan for today is relatively easy and should help us avoid the need to search for dinner. We are supposed to drive eastwards mostly following the coast then to check in early afternoon in our motel to leave all luggage and then drive to the dock and take a boat tour to the nearby Vieques island to see the Bioluminescent Bay. The tour is supposed to also include, besides the passage from the main island to Vieques and the Bioluminescent tour, a dinner at a restaurant in Vieques.
As a result we leave the hotel relatively early after a short breakfast from our provisions and carry our luggage back to the nearby parking lot. At first we are not sure how exactly to pay for the parking but in the end figure it out - pay the parking attendant then run/use the elevator to the car and make sure that in the 10 minutes allocated you actually make it with the car to the exit. We do it fast enough and then it's a matter of navigating San Juan towards the highway that is leading eastward. On the way however we stop near the Laguna del Condado and take a short hiking trail to view birds in the Laguna, unfortunately there are very few but there are quite a few good sized lizards and interesting vegetation. Also we like the view of the water with the "skyscrapers" in the background.
After we leave San Juan the traffic eases and we can enjoy the views more as we drive towards Luquillo where we plan to eat lunch at one of the well known kiosks close to the highways. The weather is cloudy however no rain yet when we arrive in Luquillo so we walk around searching for the most interesting offer. Many of the kiosks are closed but still we find one that has a few interesting things on offer, such as alcapurrias (fritters typically made from green plantain and filled with meat) and arepas (deep fried fritters of cornmeal mixed with mashed yuca root stuffed with a roster of fillings including beef, chicken or shrimp), and take a sampling of them. Everything here is fried so it is difficult to distinguish between the different foods but they are good and eating inside the kiosk with a few locals is also a interesting experience. As we exit we notice a bird that is actually waiting on our car for food and is not happy when we have to shoo him away. We then try to access the beach in the back of the kiosks, unfortunately there is a lot of trash there so we decide to leave the beach for later.
We move on and decide to try a different beach close to the NE tip of Puerto Rico and close to the Reserva Natural de Las Cabezas de San Juan. The road is becoming more narrow the closer we get and also curvy so we slow down to ensure we have time to react if somebody is coming at speed from the other direction. We arrive at the official beach but unfortunately it is closed so we go further and notice a few cars parked close to the road and we assume that it likely is another spot to access the ocean. We walk to the beach and take a few pictures but we do not get far as suddenly it starts to rain hard - we run to the car with all the other families on the beach but even though it is a short distance we arrive drenched at the car.
It is already early afternoon so we drive towards our hotel, the Ceiba Country Inn, so we can check in change in dry clothes and go on the boat tour. The road to the inn is narrow and picturesques as we ascend in altitude through the rainforest. We find the inn easily, it has great views and a very friendly dog and few cats. We like the inside painting of a flower on the wall and also the fact that we have a hammock outside to relax. Before leaving for the docks we decide to call to ensure everything is fine and are surprised when they tell us that the tour has been cancelled due to rough weather - we decide to try for the next day but now we are without food quite far from civilization and the inn doesn't have a restaurant.
In the end we decide to drive towards Humacao,a nearby city, that we hope also has some stores where we can buy some provisions. After about 1h drive we get to the city and find that it has a supermarket where we buy provisions and a shopping mall where we buy some food from the food court. Before driving back we explore the area further and find an interesting park dedicated to a local cacique (head of the Tainos/Native Americans) named Jumacao who fought against the Spanish after trying to negotiate with them. The park is quiet and has nice flowers and some sculptures but after a few pictures it starts to rain again so we return to the car and to the inn for the night. With the rain ending there is a chorus of frogs outside and we feel like in a jungle as we go to sleep.
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