PR Part 3: Vieques and Old San Juan

After hiking El Yunque and soaking in the natural pool near Casa Cubuy, and after one last delicious breakfast, we headed to the tiny airport to catch a tiny plane to the tiny island of Vieques.

The big debate was Culebra (great beaches) or Vieques (kayaking in a bioluminescent bay).

Vieques won.

The flight lasted about 10 minutes. The pilot taxied down the runway with his elbow out the window!

 

And then read the instructions ...

 

But the view on the way there was great!!

 

Upon landing, we (eventually) got our jeep, dropped our bags at our guest house (Casa Ms. Brown), and found a place overlooking the beach for lunch.

We liked Bananas so much that we ate there twice!

Next up, SNORKELING!

The water was a little rough, and we had to watch out for leftover explosives from when the U.S. Navy used the island as a bombing range.  But it was a great time anyway!

(I wasn't kidding about the explosives!)

We didn't see any bombs, but we did see all kinds of cool things!

Finally, the skies darkened, and it was time for our kayaking adventure!

J, B, K, & D

The sun had been bright all day, and the moon was a mere sliver, which made for a dark night with the brightest bioluminescence possible.  The kayak paddles left streaks of light in the water, and dripping water left streaks of light through the air.  The fish (even the one that jumped into B!!) left streaks of bioluminescence everywhere -- including on B!

The best place for seeing the light? Under the branches of the mangrove trees, where it was the darkest of all!

Alas, our trip to Vieques was for only one day, and the next morning, we flew back to the mainland for our final Puerto Rican adventure: Old San Juan.

We visited the San Juan National Historic Site, Castillo San Felipe del Morro, and then wandered around a nearby cemetery before heading back to the hotel for one final nap.  (B kept wandering around much longer than the rest of us, missing his nap!)

For our last night in Puerto Rico, D stayed at the hotel, while the rest of us coaxed dinner recommendations from the most excellent Miguel, who worked the front desk of the Casa Blanca Hotel and (literally) ran our luggage up to our room on the 5th floor.  We chose a nearby restaurant and loved it!  We watched silent black-and-white movie playing on one wall and enjoyed delicious -- and beautiful! -- drinks while we waited for our meals.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel rooftop with cocktails to enjoy the lovely view of Old San Juan.  After a while, the rain came, telling us it was time to go home.

The next morning, J and K had breakfast in the hotel while B and D slept.  J and K got the better end of the deal: complimentary breakfast "Passionate Red" cocktails!

Finally, though, it was time to go.  We packed our things and headed to the restaurant next door for one last delightful meal in Puerto Rico.  No mofongo this day -- we were all plantained out! 

But we are all ready to return.   To snorkel, to swim, to hike, to eat, to drink, to explore ... we are definitely all ready.

PR Part 2: The Rainforest

One of the priorities on this trip was to spend some time in El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. national forest system. We were very lucky to find Casa Cubuy, an ecolodge on the southern edge of El Yunque, where our senses were filled with sights of the rainforest and sounds of wind, water, and little coqui frogs who called "co-qui!" all evening and night.  

After a restful sleep, we awoke to coffee on the porch while awaiting breakfast. From the porch, we could see waterfalls in the distance, and we were eager to hike the trail to the natural pools ... or swimming holes, as we call them in south Louisiana.

   

But first, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast! Each morning, Casa Cubuy serves a full, family-style breakfast with the other guests of the lodge. Breakfast included the creamiest oatmeal, boiled eggs, fresh fruit (including bananas, mango, papaya, pineapple, and grapefruit!), coffee, juice, milk, and a bread (coffee cake the first day, pancakes the second). All of the guests we met were so interesting! 

 

After breakfast, we ordered lunch for our hike. After we dressed and returned to the dining room, lunch bags were packed with sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, meatloaf), fruit, chips, and brownies. We stowed our lunch bags in our backpacks and headed down~down~down the trail.

  After a short while, we arrived at the first natural pool. It was like something from a movie!

   

A waterfall fed into the pool, which had another waterfall flowing below it. Two of our fellow guests were already sunning and swimming, and we visited with them for a few minutes before scooting across the slick rocks to continue on the trail.

   

We walked through a super-lush forest filled with ferns and tropical plants, but eventually came to another river crossing with yet another waterfall. 

Crossing a little log bridge.

K on the log bridge.

This is what we found in our lunch bags.

 

We stopped for lunch, after which D and B inched ever closer to the waterfall ... until B fell right into the water.

   

With his phone.

And his camera.

 

The rain came -- it is a rainforest, after all -- and we decided to head back to the natural pool rather than continuing to the next and final river crossing. After the rain, the giant snails come out en masse!  

Finally, we arrived back at the pool and hopped right in. At first, the water was COLD! But after only a couple of minutes, it was perfect ...

 

... and the view was spectacular!

After a long swim, we hiked back to the lodge and took afternoon naps. The hammocks on the porches were perfect for an afternoon snooze!

After a delicious dinner (with even better pina coladas!) in town, we again slept well, awoke to another scrumptious breakfast, and packed up for our flight to Vieques and the bioluminescent bay ... details coming in PR Part 3!