Kedd reggel még havazott Baltimore-ban, amikor felszálltunk, majd pár órával (ill. egy szundítással) később már ragyogó napsütés fogadott minket San Juan-ban. Puerto Rico egyike az USA 5 extraterritorális régióinak. Columbus fedezte fel a szigetet 1493-ban, és ő alapította San Juan-t, ami az újvilág második legrégebbi települése. Az öböl egyike a legjobb természetes kikötőknek a térségben, és fontos stratégiai támaszpontja volt a spanyoloknak 400 éven keresztül, hogy megvédjék az anyaországba tartó (kincsekkel megrakott) hajóikat más nemzetektől és a kalózoktól. 1898-ban, a spanyol-amerikai háború révén került az USA fennhatósága alá. A tized MO-nyi sziget a karibi szigetek közepén foglal helyet, 4 milliós lakossága mellett egész évben turisták hada látogatja. Az átlaghőmérséklet 30 fok körül van még télen is, és legfeljebb csak a hurrikánok veszélyeztetik a pihenni vágyók nyugalmát.A bérelt autónk (KIA Rio) és a szállás átvétele után San Juan központja felé vettük az irányt. A spanyol stílusú óváros hangulatos utcáit 400 éves házak szegélyezik, és monumentális erődrendszer veszi körül. A tenger felől a Morro erőd védte a várost, amely több mint 200 évnyi fejlesztés és bővítés révén érte el mai formáját, és a térség legnagyobb spanyol stílusú erődje. A falai legtöbb helyen 7 méter vastagok, és a tenger fölé kinyúló őrtornyok San Juan szimbólumává váltak. Ezen kívül még két nagyobb erőd is áll a falak mentén, valamint belül több kúria, templom és piactér, mint látványosság. A kikötőben ma már 10 emelet magas óceánjárók sorakoznak, amelyeken több ezer ember élvezi a karibi körutazásokat. A város távolabbi, újabb építésű része tipikus tengerparti szállodákból és lakóközpontokból áll.
Északába nyúlóan sétálgattunk a hangulatos utcákon és a hatalmas falakon, ittunk pina colada-t ananászból, és kipróbáltuk a sziget legtipikusabb ételét, a tésztába csavart, olajban sült húsos pitét. A kikötőnél egy híres francia fotográfus, Yann Arthus-Bernard képeiből volt egy kültéri kiállítás. Elképesztő légifotói vannak a világ minden tájáról, amelyek különleges módon mutatják be varázslatos természeti kincseinket (és pusztulásukat). Szállásunk Ocean Parkban nem volt semmi különös, viszont a tengerpart végig gyönyörű a város mentén is már.
Másnap Puerto Rico észak-keleti részének híresen szép tegerpartjaival kezdtünk. A pálmafák a legtöbb helyen egészen a homokos tengerparton nőnek, amiket lagúnák szabdalnak. A föveny és a pálmák után a különleges mangrove mocsarak következnek, otthont adva több tucat fajta gyíknak, madárnak és egyéb állatnak. A gyönyörű partok mellett láttunk helyi falvakat is, ahol az emberek láthatóan szerény körülmények között élnek. Eljutottunk egészen a sziget csücskéig, ami egy zárt természetvédelmi terület (Las Cabezas de San Juan Natural Reserve), és csak vezetéssel lehet megtekinteni. A Laguna Grande körüli természetvédelmi területet 1975-ben alapították, és azóta komoly erőfeszítéseket tesznek a helyi élővilág megőrzése érdekében (ezért pl. tilos fürdeni a tóban). Rögtön a bejáratnál két méretes iguánával találkoztunk, és a két órás túra alatt sok egyéb szépet is láttunk. Egy kiépített sétánynak hála körbenéztünk a mangrovék által övezett Laguna Grande-nél. Három féle mangrove fa nő itt a sós és az édes víz keveredésénél, különböző technikákat fejlesztve a vízben lévő só leválasztásához. A vörös mangrove levelei tövénél elhelyezkedő könnycsatornákon választja ki a sót, a fehér mangrove levelei egész fonákján teszi ezt, emiatt különleges léggyökereket növeszt, míg a fekete mangrove gyökerei nem engedik felszívódni a sót, csak a vizet. A park többi része, a körülötte lévő korallzátonyokkal szegélyezett tengerpart, az 1882-es, első puerto rico-i világítótorony és az abban helyet kapott tengerbiológiai kiállítás megtekintése után lefoglaltuk helyünket egy esti kajakozásra a Parkba. A Laguna Grande egyike a földön létező 5 olyan tónak, ahol specális fluoreszkáló planktonok élnek. Ezen túlmenően csak két olyan hely van, ahol a jelenség egész évben igazán látványos: itt, valamint a közeli Viequez szigetén. A kajakosokkal este 8-kor találkoztunk a közeli kikötőnél, majd bő húsz perc alatt a holdvilág fényénél feleveztünk a mangrovék sűrűjében a lagúnát a tengerrel összekötő természetes csatornán. Ahogy a tóhoz közeledtünk, az evezőcsapásaink nyomán elkezdett fényleni a víz, majd már minden mozdulatra ragyogni látszott. A Dinoflagella planktonok a biolumineszcenciát használják a ragadozók elijesztésére, ezért ha veszélyt éreznek (hirtelen mozog körülöttük a víz), ragyogva felfénylenek. Mivel literenként nagyjából 250.000 plankton van itt a vízben, az egész világítani látszik, ha az ember megérinti, vagy megkavarja. A holdvilág elől elbújva, egy ponyva alatt szinte teljes sötétségben figyelhettük meg a jelenséget, és egészen elképesztő volt, ahogy minden egyes kis állatka villanását lehetett látni. A kezünket a vízbe mártva úgy fénylett, mint valami karácsonyi égősor. Visszafelé is nagyon élvezetes és romantikus volt a kajakozás. Amikor visszaértünk a kikötőbe kiderült, hogy egy kóborkutya elvitte az egyik papucsomat, és elmenekült vele az egyik lezárt csónakházba. A tulajt végül felhívták a kajakosok, kijött a kikötőbe, kinyitotta a kaput, és így meglett a papucsom is.
Puerto Rico ezer arcú sziget, fantasztikus természeti adottságokkal. A homokos tengerpart, a mangrovék és a mediterrán jellegű erdők mellett néhány kilométerre már a sziget közepén magasodó Luquillo hegységben esőerdők burjánzanak. A keleti oldal leghíresebb része az El Yunque nemzeti park, amely nevét a mondák szerint a hegyen lakozó indián istenségről kapta. A park fái között találni ezer évesnél is öregebbet, bár a legnagyobb része meglehetősen fiatal, ugyanis az elmúlt évtizedek hurrikánjai jelentős irtásokat végeztek. Az esőerdő hangulata elképesztő. Számos vízesés, patak tarkítja a banánfák, broméliák, pálmák, hibiszkuok által alkotott buja zöld rengeteget. A turisták kedvéért két kilátótornyot is építettek, és a 20 méter magas Yokahu toronyba fel is mentünk. Szerencsére alig voltak mások, így szinte privát túrát tehettünk a legmagasabb hegy, az El Yunque tetejére. (Útközben egy mongúzt láttunk, amelyet indiából telepítettek be, és mára már túlságoasn elszaporodott.) A nap végén a La Mina vízesésben megfürödtünk. Bár nem volt meleg a vize, nagyon izgalmas volt a zuhatag alá állni (mászni), és az egész környezet mesébe illő. Az időjárással nagy szerencsénk volt, mert az összes többi napon vastag esőfelhők takarták be az El Yunque csúcsait, nekünk meg végig ragyogó napsütésben volt részünk.
The following journal is from Tricia, describing her feelings and experiences. (Published with permission.)
"Tuesday, February 03, 2009
This morning it started snowing in Baltimore…thank goodness Tamas and I were leaving for Puerto Rico! Although 8:30am was not the most convenient time for a flight, we managed to make the best of it. Tamas was originally planned to leave the previous day. In fact, I had dropped him off at the airport and was quite shocked to see him walking down the hall of CSEB a few hours later. It ended up that his flight had been cancelled and luckily he was able to get on my flight the next day.
Upon arriving in Puerto Rico, we shed our winter coats and scarves and were greeted with beautiful 80 degree weather! It was gorgeous flying in, as our plane flew over the northern part of the island and we could see San Juan. We picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel Mont Caribe in Ocean Park. Elena, the reservations manager that I had been in contact with, checked us in – she is very nice, but so talkative!
We spent the afternoon in Old San Juan. The city actually reminded me of Rome in a way, with its narrow streets lined with cobblestone, humid weather, and stray cats wandering the sidewalks. But the smart cars and mopeds were replaced with trucks and motorcycles, and the buildings were much more colorful. For lunch, I had garlic chicken with mashed green plantains and garlic…not nearly as good as the sweet fried plantains, unfortunately.
Our first stop was El Morro, a huge fort at the tip of the peninsula. As we walked up to the fort across the huge green lawn, the thick fort walls grew taller against the bright blue ocean in the background. Inside the fort, we had a gorgeous view of the water below. The most interesting thing about the fort was that once it had been built to its current massive state, it had only been attacked for three hours in its entire history, which was during the Spanish-American War.
Afterwards, we walked around the San Jose Plaza, which was a very lively area. We saw a small exhibit of art students’ work, kiosks with homemade jewelry and clothes (where we bought a yummy non-alcoholic pina colada in a pineapple), and many bars. I noticed that many of the homes, like the bars, have entrances or large windows that are left open to the street, so you can see directly into the rooms – not enough privacy for me. Another area seemed more commercialized with more brand name stores. We went to buy some snorkeling gear and a waterproof camera at Walgreens. Our last stop was the southern harbor area, where a huge Carnival cruise ship was docked. There were more kiosks with crafts and food, where we tried a fried fish pancake and a beef empanadilla. We walked through an outdoor photo exhibit (by Yann Arthus-Bertrand) of aerial views from around the world. There were over 120 photos of fantastic sceneries, each with a caption about the negative effects that man has had on nature. By the end, we were exhausted and went back to our hotel to catch up on some much missed sleep.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Today we set off to explore the northeastern part of the island. Soon after we began driving along the shore, we were already compelled to stop and take pictures of the beach. The view was seriously something you’d expect to see on a postcard. As we neared the town of Loiza, the road was lined with tons of kiosks, only a few of which were occupied, selling all sorts of fried snacks. We also took a short hike along a path through the nearby mangrove forest. We were most amused by the abundance of lizards darting across the path and on the plants – one was especially photogenic! It was interesting to see the different towns that we drove through – Loiza looked very small and run down, with many people bicycling through the streets. Other cities along the main road C3 looked more modern, with large brand-name stores.
We continued driving all the way to the tip of the northwestern part of the island to the Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve. Luckily we arrived there just before the 2 pm guided tour and were able to get on the list for the tour. We were immediately greeted by a big iguana upon driving into the parking lot! For the tour, we rode in a small tram while the tour guide pointed out certain features of the environment. I was amused because we were by far the youngest people on the tour (there were mostly senior citizens). The first stop was the mangrove forest. The plants in this area must be able to survive the salt water that comes in and out with the tide, so they have special adaptations for dealing with this. Some plants “sweat” out the salt, while others have roots that stick out of the ground, pulling oxygen from the air. We saw a small swamp lined with mangrove trees, which have roots that stick out of the water, some coming from their branches, in order to get oxygen. The second stop was the ocean shore, where there were many pieces of old coral scattered among the rocks. The last stop was the lighthouse, which is the oldest in Puerto Rico. At the top of the lighthouse, we had a great view of Puerto Rico and some of the surrounding islands. Looking inland, we could barely make out the rainforest, as it was covered with gray clouds. Looking beyond the lighthouse, we could see Culebra and a few other islands. There was a marine exhibit inside the lighthouse. In the touch tank, we got to touch animals like the sea cucumber and the sea urchin – we even saw the sea urchin move quite fast across the tank floor! The coolest part was when we went into an almost pitch black room and touched some plastic bags filled with sea water and bioluminescent microorganisms. They are not the same kind in the lagoons in Puerto Rico, since those are so fragile and hard to keep in captivity. But their glow was still amazing and a great preview for what was in store for us later tonight.
By the time the tour ended, we were hungry and tried to look for some restaurants. The road here only had many roosters and dogs. Very few restaurants were open near the reserve, and those that were fairly expensive. So we ventured onto Fajardo, the biggest city in the area. It was very strange here because the town seemed completely deserted. One funny story – the supposedly one-way streets here are not marked. The first time we accidently went down a one-way street the wrong way, a girl walking by informed us of our mistake. After driving through the streets looking for an open restaurant, we almost repeated our mistake on another road, but the same girl just happened to be walking by and again warned us. After finding what seemed to be the main square of the city, Tamas and I were shocked at the lack of people (some locals, but only one other tourist group) and open businesses. The only three places that were open (besides Subway) were two Chinese restaurants and one pizza parlor – so we settled for the Chinese.
Having satisfied our stomachs, we headed back to the shore to embark on our kayaking trip. It was nice because our group was relatively small – six people and two guides, in 5 kayaks. We kayaked single file through the narrow mangrove grove. The moonlight faintly illuminated the surrounding trees and their roots, and the sounds of birds were the only sounds heard. As we neared Laguna Grande, we noticed that the water began to glow with each stroke of our paddles. Once we emerged into the lagoon, the glow was stronger. You could see when fish darted by, as the moving water glowed around them. Unfortunately there was a moon tonight, so the sky wasn’t completely dark. However, our guide had us cover our kayaks with a tarp so we could see the bioluminescence better. And what an improvement! Our guide had told us that we would be able to see the individual glowing single celled organisms, and I originally didn’t believe him. But once we got under the tarp, I realized our kayak was filled with these glowing dinoflagellites! I could see individual bright blue, glowing sparkles everywhere – in the kayak, flowing down my arms and legs, in the surrounding water – it was such a magical, surreal experience. After rowing around in the lagoon for a bit, we headed back towards the dock. As we made our way back through the mangrove grove, the glow got fainter and fainter. Back at the dock, we retrieved our slippers, but Tamas was surprised to find that a dog had stolen one of his shoes! (Luckily he was able to get it back from the owner though). A funny end to a magical night…
Thursday, February 5, 2009
After picking up some food at a local grocery store, we headed out to El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s rainforest natural reserve! First we drove along, stopping every so often at lookout points. At one point, we climbed up a tower and got a great view of the surrounding forest. The main adventure was our hike up to El Yunque Peak, the highest peak in the rainforest. The 2.4 mile (one way) El Yunque Trail was nice because, although it was well-marked and easy to follow, it didn’t disturb the scenery of the surrounding environment. As we hiked up the mountain, bird calls filled the air. The ground was still muddy from an earlier rainfall, perhaps from the morning. We were surrounded by green palm trees and lush, green plants. Pink flowers often lined the trail, which was also littered with huge white leaves that had fallen from the towering trees above. Just before the top of the peak, there was a rocky lookout point from which we got an amazing view of the rainforest and cities beyond. The sky was clear blue and there was a nice breeze as our reward for finishing the hike. As we got to the very top of the peak, we saw a mongoose dart off into the bushes! Like in Hawaii, they were brought here as pest control, but turned into a pest themselves. There was a small concrete tower with graffiti at the top of El Yunque Peak, but both Tamas and I enjoyed the previous lookout point much better.
After hiking back down the trail, we took a short hike to Mina Falls. This path was made of concrete, but was so narrow that it reminded me of a snake winding through the trees. At the end of the ~20 minute hike, we were greeted by a waterfall! It was gorgeous – just the right amount of water flow, and there was a large rock in the middle of the fall that made the water spray out. There were only a handful of other people swimming beneath the falls. Tamas and I braved the cold water and got to swim beneath the waterfall!
Our rainforest adventures had left us quite hungry, so we went to Luquillo in search of food. For some reason, although all the tour guide books and websites had told us that this would be high season, it seemed like we were the only tourists around. We found the Luquillo Kiosks, a long row of stands selling fried snacks, food, and alcohol. About every other kiosk was closed, and those that were open had at most one or two other locals there. The prices for food were surprisingly high, around $15-25 per entrée. We eventually settled on a kiosk because it offered sweet fried plantains :) I ordered beef on a mountain of mashed garlic plantains, along with sweet fried plantains. Tamas ate shrimp, fruits, and vegetables in a “birdnest” of shredded fried plantains with mango and kiwi sauce. Afterwards, we drove into the main part of town, where people were walking around the streets or sitting in the square with their laptops. We had a quick walk to the beach, then went to check in at our new accommodation, the Anchor’s Inn (near Fajardo and the nature reserve). The room was relatively cheap, $50/night if we paid with cash, but the downstairs restaurant was very expensive. We don’t understand where all the tourists are, why all of the restaurants/stores are always closed, and why all the food that we do manage to find is so expensive!"
Északába nyúlóan sétálgattunk a hangulatos utcákon és a hatalmas falakon, ittunk pina colada-t ananászból, és kipróbáltuk a sziget legtipikusabb ételét, a tésztába csavart, olajban sült húsos pitét. A kikötőnél egy híres francia fotográfus, Yann Arthus-Bernard képeiből volt egy kültéri kiállítás. Elképesztő légifotói vannak a világ minden tájáról, amelyek különleges módon mutatják be varázslatos természeti kincseinket (és pusztulásukat). Szállásunk Ocean Parkban nem volt semmi különös, viszont a tengerpart végig gyönyörű a város mentén is már.
Másnap Puerto Rico észak-keleti részének híresen szép tegerpartjaival kezdtünk. A pálmafák a legtöbb helyen egészen a homokos tengerparton nőnek, amiket lagúnák szabdalnak. A föveny és a pálmák után a különleges mangrove mocsarak következnek, otthont adva több tucat fajta gyíknak, madárnak és egyéb állatnak. A gyönyörű partok mellett láttunk helyi falvakat is, ahol az emberek láthatóan szerény körülmények között élnek. Eljutottunk egészen a sziget csücskéig, ami egy zárt természetvédelmi terület (Las Cabezas de San Juan Natural Reserve), és csak vezetéssel lehet megtekinteni. A Laguna Grande körüli természetvédelmi területet 1975-ben alapították, és azóta komoly erőfeszítéseket tesznek a helyi élővilág megőrzése érdekében (ezért pl. tilos fürdeni a tóban). Rögtön a bejáratnál két méretes iguánával találkoztunk, és a két órás túra alatt sok egyéb szépet is láttunk. Egy kiépített sétánynak hála körbenéztünk a mangrovék által övezett Laguna Grande-nél. Három féle mangrove fa nő itt a sós és az édes víz keveredésénél, különböző technikákat fejlesztve a vízben lévő só leválasztásához. A vörös mangrove levelei tövénél elhelyezkedő könnycsatornákon választja ki a sót, a fehér mangrove levelei egész fonákján teszi ezt, emiatt különleges léggyökereket növeszt, míg a fekete mangrove gyökerei nem engedik felszívódni a sót, csak a vizet. A park többi része, a körülötte lévő korallzátonyokkal szegélyezett tengerpart, az 1882-es, első puerto rico-i világítótorony és az abban helyet kapott tengerbiológiai kiállítás megtekintése után lefoglaltuk helyünket egy esti kajakozásra a Parkba. A Laguna Grande egyike a földön létező 5 olyan tónak, ahol specális fluoreszkáló planktonok élnek. Ezen túlmenően csak két olyan hely van, ahol a jelenség egész évben igazán látványos: itt, valamint a közeli Viequez szigetén. A kajakosokkal este 8-kor találkoztunk a közeli kikötőnél, majd bő húsz perc alatt a holdvilág fényénél feleveztünk a mangrovék sűrűjében a lagúnát a tengerrel összekötő természetes csatornán. Ahogy a tóhoz közeledtünk, az evezőcsapásaink nyomán elkezdett fényleni a víz, majd már minden mozdulatra ragyogni látszott. A Dinoflagella planktonok a biolumineszcenciát használják a ragadozók elijesztésére, ezért ha veszélyt éreznek (hirtelen mozog körülöttük a víz), ragyogva felfénylenek. Mivel literenként nagyjából 250.000 plankton van itt a vízben, az egész világítani látszik, ha az ember megérinti, vagy megkavarja. A holdvilág elől elbújva, egy ponyva alatt szinte teljes sötétségben figyelhettük meg a jelenséget, és egészen elképesztő volt, ahogy minden egyes kis állatka villanását lehetett látni. A kezünket a vízbe mártva úgy fénylett, mint valami karácsonyi égősor. Visszafelé is nagyon élvezetes és romantikus volt a kajakozás. Amikor visszaértünk a kikötőbe kiderült, hogy egy kóborkutya elvitte az egyik papucsomat, és elmenekült vele az egyik lezárt csónakházba. A tulajt végül felhívták a kajakosok, kijött a kikötőbe, kinyitotta a kaput, és így meglett a papucsom is.
Puerto Rico ezer arcú sziget, fantasztikus természeti adottságokkal. A homokos tengerpart, a mangrovék és a mediterrán jellegű erdők mellett néhány kilométerre már a sziget közepén magasodó Luquillo hegységben esőerdők burjánzanak. A keleti oldal leghíresebb része az El Yunque nemzeti park, amely nevét a mondák szerint a hegyen lakozó indián istenségről kapta. A park fái között találni ezer évesnél is öregebbet, bár a legnagyobb része meglehetősen fiatal, ugyanis az elmúlt évtizedek hurrikánjai jelentős irtásokat végeztek. Az esőerdő hangulata elképesztő. Számos vízesés, patak tarkítja a banánfák, broméliák, pálmák, hibiszkuok által alkotott buja zöld rengeteget. A turisták kedvéért két kilátótornyot is építettek, és a 20 méter magas Yokahu toronyba fel is mentünk. Szerencsére alig voltak mások, így szinte privát túrát tehettünk a legmagasabb hegy, az El Yunque tetejére. (Útközben egy mongúzt láttunk, amelyet indiából telepítettek be, és mára már túlságoasn elszaporodott.) A nap végén a La Mina vízesésben megfürödtünk. Bár nem volt meleg a vize, nagyon izgalmas volt a zuhatag alá állni (mászni), és az egész környezet mesébe illő. Az időjárással nagy szerencsénk volt, mert az összes többi napon vastag esőfelhők takarták be az El Yunque csúcsait, nekünk meg végig ragyogó napsütésben volt részünk.
**********
The following journal is from Tricia, describing her feelings and experiences. (Published with permission.)"Tuesday, February 03, 2009
This morning it started snowing in Baltimore…thank goodness Tamas and I were leaving for Puerto Rico! Although 8:30am was not the most convenient time for a flight, we managed to make the best of it. Tamas was originally planned to leave the previous day. In fact, I had dropped him off at the airport and was quite shocked to see him walking down the hall of CSEB a few hours later. It ended up that his flight had been cancelled and luckily he was able to get on my flight the next day.
Upon arriving in Puerto Rico, we shed our winter coats and scarves and were greeted with beautiful 80 degree weather! It was gorgeous flying in, as our plane flew over the northern part of the island and we could see San Juan. We picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel Mont Caribe in Ocean Park. Elena, the reservations manager that I had been in contact with, checked us in – she is very nice, but so talkative!
We spent the afternoon in Old San Juan. The city actually reminded me of Rome in a way, with its narrow streets lined with cobblestone, humid weather, and stray cats wandering the sidewalks. But the smart cars and mopeds were replaced with trucks and motorcycles, and the buildings were much more colorful. For lunch, I had garlic chicken with mashed green plantains and garlic…not nearly as good as the sweet fried plantains, unfortunately.
Our first stop was El Morro, a huge fort at the tip of the peninsula. As we walked up to the fort across the huge green lawn, the thick fort walls grew taller against the bright blue ocean in the background. Inside the fort, we had a gorgeous view of the water below. The most interesting thing about the fort was that once it had been built to its current massive state, it had only been attacked for three hours in its entire history, which was during the Spanish-American War.
Afterwards, we walked around the San Jose Plaza, which was a very lively area. We saw a small exhibit of art students’ work, kiosks with homemade jewelry and clothes (where we bought a yummy non-alcoholic pina colada in a pineapple), and many bars. I noticed that many of the homes, like the bars, have entrances or large windows that are left open to the street, so you can see directly into the rooms – not enough privacy for me. Another area seemed more commercialized with more brand name stores. We went to buy some snorkeling gear and a waterproof camera at Walgreens. Our last stop was the southern harbor area, where a huge Carnival cruise ship was docked. There were more kiosks with crafts and food, where we tried a fried fish pancake and a beef empanadilla. We walked through an outdoor photo exhibit (by Yann Arthus-Bertrand) of aerial views from around the world. There were over 120 photos of fantastic sceneries, each with a caption about the negative effects that man has had on nature. By the end, we were exhausted and went back to our hotel to catch up on some much missed sleep.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Today we set off to explore the northeastern part of the island. Soon after we began driving along the shore, we were already compelled to stop and take pictures of the beach. The view was seriously something you’d expect to see on a postcard. As we neared the town of Loiza, the road was lined with tons of kiosks, only a few of which were occupied, selling all sorts of fried snacks. We also took a short hike along a path through the nearby mangrove forest. We were most amused by the abundance of lizards darting across the path and on the plants – one was especially photogenic! It was interesting to see the different towns that we drove through – Loiza looked very small and run down, with many people bicycling through the streets. Other cities along the main road C3 looked more modern, with large brand-name stores.
We continued driving all the way to the tip of the northwestern part of the island to the Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve. Luckily we arrived there just before the 2 pm guided tour and were able to get on the list for the tour. We were immediately greeted by a big iguana upon driving into the parking lot! For the tour, we rode in a small tram while the tour guide pointed out certain features of the environment. I was amused because we were by far the youngest people on the tour (there were mostly senior citizens). The first stop was the mangrove forest. The plants in this area must be able to survive the salt water that comes in and out with the tide, so they have special adaptations for dealing with this. Some plants “sweat” out the salt, while others have roots that stick out of the ground, pulling oxygen from the air. We saw a small swamp lined with mangrove trees, which have roots that stick out of the water, some coming from their branches, in order to get oxygen. The second stop was the ocean shore, where there were many pieces of old coral scattered among the rocks. The last stop was the lighthouse, which is the oldest in Puerto Rico. At the top of the lighthouse, we had a great view of Puerto Rico and some of the surrounding islands. Looking inland, we could barely make out the rainforest, as it was covered with gray clouds. Looking beyond the lighthouse, we could see Culebra and a few other islands. There was a marine exhibit inside the lighthouse. In the touch tank, we got to touch animals like the sea cucumber and the sea urchin – we even saw the sea urchin move quite fast across the tank floor! The coolest part was when we went into an almost pitch black room and touched some plastic bags filled with sea water and bioluminescent microorganisms. They are not the same kind in the lagoons in Puerto Rico, since those are so fragile and hard to keep in captivity. But their glow was still amazing and a great preview for what was in store for us later tonight.
By the time the tour ended, we were hungry and tried to look for some restaurants. The road here only had many roosters and dogs. Very few restaurants were open near the reserve, and those that were fairly expensive. So we ventured onto Fajardo, the biggest city in the area. It was very strange here because the town seemed completely deserted. One funny story – the supposedly one-way streets here are not marked. The first time we accidently went down a one-way street the wrong way, a girl walking by informed us of our mistake. After driving through the streets looking for an open restaurant, we almost repeated our mistake on another road, but the same girl just happened to be walking by and again warned us. After finding what seemed to be the main square of the city, Tamas and I were shocked at the lack of people (some locals, but only one other tourist group) and open businesses. The only three places that were open (besides Subway) were two Chinese restaurants and one pizza parlor – so we settled for the Chinese.
Having satisfied our stomachs, we headed back to the shore to embark on our kayaking trip. It was nice because our group was relatively small – six people and two guides, in 5 kayaks. We kayaked single file through the narrow mangrove grove. The moonlight faintly illuminated the surrounding trees and their roots, and the sounds of birds were the only sounds heard. As we neared Laguna Grande, we noticed that the water began to glow with each stroke of our paddles. Once we emerged into the lagoon, the glow was stronger. You could see when fish darted by, as the moving water glowed around them. Unfortunately there was a moon tonight, so the sky wasn’t completely dark. However, our guide had us cover our kayaks with a tarp so we could see the bioluminescence better. And what an improvement! Our guide had told us that we would be able to see the individual glowing single celled organisms, and I originally didn’t believe him. But once we got under the tarp, I realized our kayak was filled with these glowing dinoflagellites! I could see individual bright blue, glowing sparkles everywhere – in the kayak, flowing down my arms and legs, in the surrounding water – it was such a magical, surreal experience. After rowing around in the lagoon for a bit, we headed back towards the dock. As we made our way back through the mangrove grove, the glow got fainter and fainter. Back at the dock, we retrieved our slippers, but Tamas was surprised to find that a dog had stolen one of his shoes! (Luckily he was able to get it back from the owner though). A funny end to a magical night…
Thursday, February 5, 2009
After picking up some food at a local grocery store, we headed out to El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s rainforest natural reserve! First we drove along, stopping every so often at lookout points. At one point, we climbed up a tower and got a great view of the surrounding forest. The main adventure was our hike up to El Yunque Peak, the highest peak in the rainforest. The 2.4 mile (one way) El Yunque Trail was nice because, although it was well-marked and easy to follow, it didn’t disturb the scenery of the surrounding environment. As we hiked up the mountain, bird calls filled the air. The ground was still muddy from an earlier rainfall, perhaps from the morning. We were surrounded by green palm trees and lush, green plants. Pink flowers often lined the trail, which was also littered with huge white leaves that had fallen from the towering trees above. Just before the top of the peak, there was a rocky lookout point from which we got an amazing view of the rainforest and cities beyond. The sky was clear blue and there was a nice breeze as our reward for finishing the hike. As we got to the very top of the peak, we saw a mongoose dart off into the bushes! Like in Hawaii, they were brought here as pest control, but turned into a pest themselves. There was a small concrete tower with graffiti at the top of El Yunque Peak, but both Tamas and I enjoyed the previous lookout point much better.
After hiking back down the trail, we took a short hike to Mina Falls. This path was made of concrete, but was so narrow that it reminded me of a snake winding through the trees. At the end of the ~20 minute hike, we were greeted by a waterfall! It was gorgeous – just the right amount of water flow, and there was a large rock in the middle of the fall that made the water spray out. There were only a handful of other people swimming beneath the falls. Tamas and I braved the cold water and got to swim beneath the waterfall!
Our rainforest adventures had left us quite hungry, so we went to Luquillo in search of food. For some reason, although all the tour guide books and websites had told us that this would be high season, it seemed like we were the only tourists around. We found the Luquillo Kiosks, a long row of stands selling fried snacks, food, and alcohol. About every other kiosk was closed, and those that were open had at most one or two other locals there. The prices for food were surprisingly high, around $15-25 per entrée. We eventually settled on a kiosk because it offered sweet fried plantains :) I ordered beef on a mountain of mashed garlic plantains, along with sweet fried plantains. Tamas ate shrimp, fruits, and vegetables in a “birdnest” of shredded fried plantains with mango and kiwi sauce. Afterwards, we drove into the main part of town, where people were walking around the streets or sitting in the square with their laptops. We had a quick walk to the beach, then went to check in at our new accommodation, the Anchor’s Inn (near Fajardo and the nature reserve). The room was relatively cheap, $50/night if we paid with cash, but the downstairs restaurant was very expensive. We don’t understand where all the tourists are, why all of the restaurants/stores are always closed, and why all the food that we do manage to find is so expensive!"
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