Tuesday in Puerto Rico


Tuesday was Michelle's day off. Everyone else got a little rest at the house while she headed off in the Jeep. The number one thing on her list were the caves of Rio Camuy, since El Yunque Rainforest was set for later in the week. Since I didn't go, I don't have pictures.

But Michelle does!

There obviously won't be descriptions, since I wasn't there. The pictures are pretty damn cool, though. Here's Rio Camuy!





































That's what I missed the most. I would have liked to have my picture taken with a giant frog. Who wouldn't? The purple flower shot was pretty awesome, too, wasn't it?

She actually finished in the early afternoon. We had both been jonesin' for some internet for several days, so she ran by the house to get me and we both headed out in search of internet cafes or free wireless. We actually found 2 internet cafes. Both closed. Permanently. This is why you didn't hear from us for over a week. We did find one cool thing though...



Fresh pineapple! They had free samples that were sweeter than a pineapple has any right to be. She bought a couple and I... took a lot of pictures.



I should mention that roadside stands are a huge, fun part of Puerto Rican culture. You can find anything being sold by the side of the road, any road, but usually it's something cheap, local and delicious. If you ever go, which I highly suggest, you need to stop at several roadside stands. They're fun, inexpensive and definitely part of the whole experience.

I also got some interesting shots of PR while traveling, though, so that was nice.



Some of these shots aren't as glamorous as they could be, but I wanted to show you Puerto Rico, not the tourist attractions of PR. I want it to be almost as real to you as it is to me. This is what most of the real Puerto Rico looks like.











I really liked this house. If any of you make it big and want to do me a favor, this house will do nicely ^_^



This next shot is one of the twin statues by the gas station on the road that led to the house. Puerto Rico seems very big on statuary. Note the ad for Salitre, which is an excellent restaurant that you should make every attempt to visit.



We also tried to see a little more wildlife by stopping at the river closest to the house.



We did see a lizard! But our stop at the river was Frog Free, which was a disappointment. Michelle and I were All About the Frogs at this point.





After our Complete Fail at internet, which took several hours and took us pretty much to the west coast and back, Michelle was Magnanimous and called the rest of her day off as finished. Karen wanted to head over to the south side of the island to see the bioluminescent bay, and honestly, that was pretty damn high on my list of things to do, too (water that GLOWS in the DARK!) It's not like we could have headed over to see the water glow in the dark during the day, anyways. As usual, when we headed off I had camera in hand.

I do that.







About now I should probably mention something about the Puerto Rican road system. It's... sporadic. Also, hard to follow. Our map showed the 10 going straight over the central mountains from the north side of the island to the south. This next shot... is part of the 10. To be.



...because it abruptly ended. We actually wandered over the central area of the island for a couple hours before we really found our way to the rest of the 10. I got some good shots, which you'll see, but being in the back of a jeep on twisty roads when you can't see out well doesn't do well for Impending Carsickness. Well, actually, it does a LOT for Impending Carsickness, it's a huge boon, but I was able to fight it off valiantly, because that's the type of Warrior Bitch I am ^_^

I was quite pleased to get back on the 10, though.

This is what most of the interior of the island looked like. Well, the towns. Most of it looked like overgrown rainforest, for the main reason that that's what most of it was.



More Interior Townage.



La Parguera, as the link mentions, comes alive at night. It was small, but the only thought that came to me when describing it was "party town." The main tourist area was all shops and bars and dancing. First we bought tickets for the bioluminescent bay...



...and then we wandered about the town of La Parguera for a while.



Sorry they're on the blurry side. I have an almost pathological fear of the harsh lighting caused by using a flash.



Birds!



It was only after taking 3-4 pictures of the birds I saw a sign saying you were expected to PAY for taking pictures of the birds. I quietly sidled away...



Is NOTHING sacred??

See, the top of the statuary thing says "Nada". Spanish for "nothing". It's Martin's joke, and I think quite good. The other side of the art said something else, but that's not funny.

Karen had seen somewhere online that some killer Sangria was available here, so she got herself some. I got, I think, a pina colada. Here is Karen with her Sangria de Awesomeness.



This is the boat we headed out on.



So. We all got on the boat. It went at a decent speed to the bay. There was festive music playing. It was a warm balmy night in Puerto Rico on a boat with the wind wrapping around it. I had just had a pina colada, was standing next to my Beloved Boyfriend and was about to see the water glow. Karen had just taught me how to find Scorpio in the sky. This was a magical moment for me. It is one of the few things my mediocre memory will always hold on to.

On the other hand, it was a moment that the digital camera could not capture. The water in the bay doesn't glow very brightly. A couple gentlemen jumped into bay and made glow angels in the water for us, which looked Awesome. If I could make a living at their job, I probably would. They jump into the bay a couple of times a night, which is warm and comfy, and play in the glow water for five minutes. Jealousjealousjealous.

After that we headed back to Arecibo and the beach house by the coast road around the far western end of the island because we were not about to feel our way through the interior of the island in pitch darkness.

Next: What most people think of when you say "Arecibo"